Kinda Izakaya — Restaurant in Berkeley

I hate to write this, but after our dining experience on July 19th, I gotta let y’all know how bad it’s gotten. I’ve eaten here at least five times before, and it used to be good. But after reading recent reviews and seeing for myself, it’s clear things have changed. Because of my past good visits, I didn’t give a one-star rating, but you need to read this before deciding to eat here.

We got there just before 6 p.m. on a Friday night and had to sit at the bar ’cause those were the only seats left. We ordered quickly, but it took about 45 minutes for our food to come out: gyoza, karaage ramen, and pork belly ramen. We knew they were busy, so we tried to be patient. But they brought the appetizer with the main dishes instead of before.

My boyfriend took a bite of his ramen, and the noodles were literally ICE COLD. The broth wasn’t even steaming!! I had just eaten a gyoza and waved down the waiter to tell her. She had an attitude and straight-up snatched the bowl with his chopsticks and bounced. When I tried my ramen, it was the same—ICE COLD NOODLES and lukewarm broth. We didn’t order a cold noodle dish, but after waiting 45 minutes, we didn’t want to send everything back. I tried to eat my ramen, even though it was disappointing, while my boyfriend couldn’t eat anything ’cause they took his chopsticks.

We tried to get any waiter’s attention, but ours walked by us at least five times without even looking our way. No apology, nothing. So, we shared my lukewarm ramen, hoping his food would come out soon. But it took another 25 minutes. It was ridiculous. No apology, and we had to ask for chopsticks again. The service was so bad it was almost funny.

As a Black woman from East Oakland, I felt we were treated differently than the European customers. Our waiter ignored us but was all nice and quick with others. It made the whole thing even worse. While others got prompt service and warm food, we were left with cold dishes and no utensils, and our concerns were brushed off.

To make it worse, this place pretends to be a Japanese restaurant but is actually Thai. The fake-out is disappointing. We also saw several health code violations: staff not wearing gloves, a tiny kitchen, and poor cleanliness overall. Unacceptable.

To top it off, my boyfriend and I both got food poisoning after the meal. That was the last straw in an already terrible experience. Also, there’s a small child behind the counter sometimes, and I believe they’re being abused. It’s heartbreaking.

I didn’t expect anything to be comped, but it’s important to note we got no apology for the wait time or the cold ramen and still paid over $70 for our meal. I really hope they can get their act together because this experience completely...

I'm very sad to write this review, but after our dining experience on Jan 19th, I believe the service and operation has significantly declined. I have dined here at least 3 times before, and had a much better time. However, reading the recent reviews, something must have changed. Because our previous dining experiences have been better, I didn't give it a 1 star, but I would recommend reading this through before making your decision.

We arrived right before 6pm on a Friday (a bit after they opened) and sat at the bar because those were the only seats available. We quickly ordered. It took around 30min for our food to come out: gyoza, karage ramen, and pork belly ramen. I knew they were busy, so we were patient. However, the appetizer was brought all together, and not even earlier. My boyfriend started mixing his ramen and took one bite and the noodles were ICE COLD. The broth was not even steaming. I had just eaten a gyoza and flagged down the waiter to point this out. She quickly took the bowl with his chopsticks and left. I then tried my ramen and found the exact same problem, ICE COLD NOODLES, lukewarm broth. I know for certain we did not order a cold noodle dish. However, since we had already waited 30min for our food, we didn't want to send it all back. I disappointedly tried to eat my ramen. My boyfriend couldn't eat anything because they took his chopsticks. I tried to track down any waiter, and our specific waiter passed us at least 5 times without even acknowledging the circumstances. There was no sorry, no apology, or even understanding of the situation. So we tried to share this lukewarm going cold bowl of ramen, hoping that our other dish would come out quickly. However, we were so wrong. It took at least another 20min to get his food. At this point it was ridiculous. Again, not even an apology, had to ask for chopsticks LOL. The service was quite atrocious and it was clear they were not attentive to customers. It was so late and comical by this point, that we couldn't even enjoy our meal.

I did not expect anything to be comped, but I thought it was important to point out that we were offered no apology for the wait time or the cold ramen and still paid over $50 for our cold meal. I sincerely hope they can improve their situation because this experience completely...

We didnt make it past the reservation list, two fridays ago I came in with a party of 5 and the servers said to put our names down and walked away which we did and didnt mind considering all the tables were filled up and for context we were also the first name on the waitlist. We waited 10-15 minutes before we walked back in to ask for a wait time since we didnt get one after putting our name on the paper just to see our name crossed out on the waitlist. We asked the server why our name was crossed out to get a reply of “we know you’re here” we again asked why with no clear answer then we asked how long would the wait time be and the server said “I dont know” and walked away. That was our entire experience. We understand if the servers felt overwhelmed full tables 2 chefs 2 servers for all the tables and in that izakaya setting where orders would fly out fast and stacked up can be overwhelming. But getting blown off like that...