O Ramen — Restaurant in Albuquerque

Worse than mediocre. Eat here only if you enjoy cold ramen. I went to O Ramen twice with friends (February and June 2023) and both times we all ordered ramen and it was served to us at no more than 120F which is barely hotter than bathwater. Some of the ingredients like the mushrooms and the egg were still cold in the center. This is totally unacceptable. In Japan, ramen is served between 180-190F -- hot enough to burn your mouth if you don't slurp it, and the heat is crucial for the right flavor and experience (source: I lived in Japan for years). I contacted the owner, and instead of apologizing and looking into it, they tried to gaslight me by saying that they never serve their ramen under 160F. Yet, on two different occasions across 7 different bowls of ramen, it was clearly under 120F when it arrived to our table. I will never eat here again.

And now the owner is lying in their response, saying I sent "multiple private messages" to them when in reality, I sent one message, and their reply was so defensive and accusatory that I didn't even bother to reply back to them again. A responsible restauranteur would have apologized, promised to look into the matter, and invited me back for a free meal to demonstrate that the problem had been solved. Read other reviews, and you can see that I'm not the only one complaining about cold ramen and/or a bad experience bringing things to the attention of the management. It's like they just don't care and their default response is to blame and berate their customers. I ate dozens of bowls of ramen when I lived in Japan and not once was it ever served lukewarm with cold...

There was a 'pupa' or cocoon like bug in my soup. I got this delivered to my work and it was absolutely disgusting. I've ordered from here before and I have loved that it's cheaper than other places, close to my work and good to eat when it's cold outside. But I was absolutely disgusted. I was at my desk eating this and I had taken a bite of food, and looked down and saw it floating in my food. I spat everything out and threw up. When I called the owner of the restaurant, he tried to blame it on the delivery driver and told me that it was 'just a mushroom.' But the bag was stapled three times. It wasn't the driver, this bug also looks like it was lightly cooked like it was in the food that was being prepared. He also mentioned that because they are down by the university, 'people try to scam us a lot.' I don't think he was understanding the impact of what this did yesterday. I was so grossed out, freaked out and all while at work. Since I was at work, I had asked multiple coworkers about it and they all said the same thing, that it was like a pupa of a worm or caterpillar. I called the health department because this is so disgustingly wrong. It's one thing to buy bugs to eat like at a ball game, but to have one surprise you in your food, it's so so gross. It seems to me like this place must be really so dirty to have that going on in their restaurant. It has completely disturbed me. Do not eat here, seems to me like it is dirty and the owner is unwilling to help, he will say the things I listed above. I would give this place no stars but that isn't possible, and I just thought everyone...

There are few things better on a cold and blustery day than a deep bowl of hot soup. O Ramen was the first place I ever tried Tonkotsu ramen some time ago when they first opened. The rich, creamy pork-bone based broth hasn't gotten any less rich or hearty in the intervening years, nor has it at all reduced in its ability to warm me pleasantly from the inside. I didn't recall the ability to shift the flavoring to shio, shoyu, or miso when I first came here, but I like the extra step in the ordering process, as well as the ability to choose the level of spice before the great, steaming bowl of yumminess comes to the table.

Raz went for the Deluxe O Ramen with shio flavoring at spice level 4. I was feeling a little less bold and famished, so I went for the basic Tonkotsu with miso flavoring at spice level 2. Level 2 is just enough siracha to make your lips tingle after every bite and helps clear my chronically stuffy sinuses so that I can fully enjoy the nuances of the rich broth. I couldn't even get a spoon of Raz's level 4 to my lips before my face started burning from the capsaicin fumes alone, thus I can't really comment on the difference that shio v miso make on the overall flavor of the broth, and I will simply have to go back more often to decide which is my favorite. What I can say for certain is that the noodles are quality product, and have just the right level of stretchiness and slurpability to make devouring the beautifully presented bowl of ramen downright fun.

I'm definitely looking forward to going back for more on the next blustery day that finds me in the...