Niseko Ramen — Restaurant in Big Sky

I went to Niseko Ramen with some friends while visiting with Big Sky today. It was the single worst restaurant experience that I've had in over 5 years. We had stopped by yesterday but were informed that they were takeout-only. We called at around 5:20 pm today to see if they were open and if they had availability. We were told that they were open for dine-in and they had little to no wait. We arrived at 5:45 pm and were told that there was a 15-20 min wait. The hostess/server did not take down our contact information until we prompted her to do so. When she did, she took our contact info after taking the info for a party that arrived several minutes after us. We went to our car for the short wait but weren't called after 30 minutes. I went inside and was told to expect another 15 minute wait. After 20 minutes, I checked back inside and was told first that we would be seated any minute, and then told by another staff member that we may have another hour wait. At this time there was an open table capable of seating our party of 4 that was being used to sort and fill takeout-orders (upon our arrival it was being used as dine-in seating). My friends and I went to another bar to get an appetizer and beverages when we received a text notice at 6:55 pm that our table was ready. We hurried over and arrived around 5 minutes later. On our arrival, we placed orders for appetizers, Gyoza and Karaage. Shortly after, the restaurant gave us two complementary beers. We placed orders for mains and our Gyoza arrived shortly after. We waited approximately on hour over the course of which several other tables were seated AND SERVED entrees. After noticing this, we brought it to the attention of a server (not ours) who said he would look into it. He informed us that he needed to resubmit our orders. After learning this we asked to speak to our server who had no explanation for the delay. About 10 minutes later at 8:30 pm we received our mains but we did not receive our second appetizer, Karaage. The food was of about average quality for a Ramen joint. At 8:50 pm after we had all finished eating, our Karaage was served. We declined the dish as we were already waiting for the bill at this point. The restaurant removed the dish from our ticket and quickly processed our bill. On a personal note, I've only a few times felt so unwanted in a restaurant. The staff seemed under significant pressure, but it felt like my party was the one on the receiving end of all the slack. While I try not to think in this sense, it was very hard not to be acutely aware that we are the only party made up of people of color. Service at every other table seemed leaps and bounds better than ours despite our coming to the restaurant the day before, reaching out in advance, and waiting over an hour. The lack of honest communication on timelines and the feeling that I wanted to be there but was not wanted make me confident that I will never visit this establishment again. My experience here made me feel that my patronage was less valuable to the restaurant management than the paper bag of food that was occupying a table capable of seating us. The small things that the staff did to make up the awful experience were honestly not nearly enough. I've always felt that you shouldn't have to say thank you if someone hands you a towel after spitting in your face. Maybe in other times this restaurant provides a better experience, but I will not be going back and cannot recommend that anyone...

We visited the the lower village of big sky and decides to try ramen for dinner. Niseko is located near the front of the village and can be seen from the man road with the bright Ramen sign on their building. We ordered the spring rolls and tried the different types of ramen. The food was very good, but it took over 45 minutes to get out food. It was a busy night in the restaurant and they did have a sign on the door looking for help so maybe that will help in the future. The cocktail that I ordered was pricey, but good and the staff were friendly. I would recommend Niseko if you are in the Big Sky area and in the...

As someone who lived in Japan for 10 years and constantly struggles to find an authentic "izakaya" taste, I was blown away by how they transported my taste buds back to Japan. I only ordered the Karaage and chashuu ramen but wow. This is a stop you shouldn't miss.

The only downside (and super minor) is they didn't have Shouchuu in their bar... But that's hard enough to get good stuff in the US.

I can only recommend this place.

(Sorry my photo is of...