Ten Seconds Noodle House — Restaurant in Austin

I agree that 4.5 out of 5 would be a fair rating, but I'm rating higher because of the excellent service we received on a busy night, with some small criticism on price.

At first glance, I thought this would be a fast casual restaurant and didn't know until the night I walked in that it was more of a sit-down hotpot blend with an excellent option for ramen. We started our night with a sesame ball appetizer filled with red bean paste - Highly recommend this if you've never tried it, they nailed my expectations and the serving was crispy!

The vibe of the restaurant felt like I was transported back to my Beijing experiences, on the street after the silk market closed there would be options within walking distance for food and my fondness of that flavor still exists to this day. Options for ramen are simple on the menu but delicious flavored miso with a nice depth to flavor. The waitstaff was ambitious, busy and excited to be there and they cared enough to ask directly for my feedback on the ramen options while paying. I felt like the conversation I had with the waitstaff was genuine and that they did care about the feedback which I don't mind sharing publicly: The waitstaff asked to rate the ramen on a scale of 1-10 and I gave a 7.5. The Chashu was soooo good and seasoned just right!! I expressed that I enjoyed the bold flavor of the miso and the amount you get, but I would have rated higher if the price was about $2-3 cheaper, even if that means I get less of a serving. Less would have been okay :)

I genuinely tried miso knowing that I normally don't like miso, and this was delicious miso that sticks with the noodles as you eat! You don't need the spoon for the broth as the noodles really absorb the miso in that way that only the soothing flavor of comfort food can provide. I may now be a miso convert because it...

The food is very authentic. Noodle soups and the rice noodle itself are tasty. The issues are mostly the service, and they really didn’t know what they are doing

There queueing system is just plainly bad. They put 2 persons with the 3-4 persons queue together, which in-evidently will cause unfairness. One time a lady just arrived with 6 people just tells the waitress they might be having trouble getting seats, which is definitely true. The waiter finds a long table with multiple customer pairs leaving at the same time, then just immediately let the 6 people group cut the line, cuz it’s more efficient I guess. The waiter inside serving the food is just terrible. I have seen multiple times someone just didn’t know what they were doing and just asking the owner (I guess) what to do. We have 3 people and lacking a set of utensils. We waited for 10 minutes to get an acknowledgment, and then the waiter brought another set of ingredients to put in the noodles, then just the chopsticks. We explained that, we need a set of utensils(also can’t you just see the table?). This is honestly the most time we have been offered food that doesn’t belong to us in ATX.

In short, I will honestly go back after they have their shit together, or honestly will just do take out. The dine experience in for this restaurant as of right now is...

Excellent service and they have 2 vegetarian broth options! My had lots of ingredients, esp fresh (no sour after taste when not fresh like some other restaurants!) tofu cubes, enoki and regular mushrooms and no thirst after because no MSG! Wife had the G1 Traditional and they made sure not spicy for her too! Ingredients prepared with care and well presented. Owner came to make sure we were well taken care of and from same part of the world! Loved the roasted peanuts too! Again fresh, oil not stale like other places and full bowl! I finished it all! Forgot to take picture of peanuts. Bathroom soap and paper towels dispenser contactless and fully stocked! Well done, in this day and age of shrinkflation, no less, to make sure fundamentals are...