Hokkaido Ramen House — Restaurant in Buford

Hokkaido has an inviting atmosphere created by a traditional sushi bar that looks like it was made out of bamboo like material which brought about a nice traditional Japanese ambience. Adjacent to it is a really nice bar sporting an intriguing cocktail menu I can see myself blowing money on. First time I came in was for dinner and had their spicy beef ramen. The portion was great and came with a whole beef rib! Flavor wise, it was a tad bland to me and was missing that umami home run that some of the better ramen shops down I-85 have. I also had the bang bang shrimp for dinner and that may be worth coming back for any time of the day (full disclosure, I have a soft spot for fried shrimp). A couple weeks later I came by for their lunch and chose their 2 roll sushi special which included miso soup and a small house salad. Miso soup was a little bland and similar to the ramen was missing the umami you'd hope for in a Japanese dish. The small house salad was not properly drained/dried so it was sitting in a puddle of water in the bottom of the bowl which mixed with the dressing that became a little unsettling. The dressing they used seems like the same house special sauce they use on everything, more on that later. As for the sushi, the lunch special only includes their simple sushi options (nothing wrong with that just an fyi). I got the shrimp tempura and spicy tuna rolls. Both rolls were good enough to briefly satisfy your sushi cravings over lunch but my spicy sushi roll had orange flesh on it indicative of salmon or fish eggs. This was probably just an oversight when cutting through the roll with the same knife prepping salmon. No biggy to me but someone else that may have dietary issues with salmon? Deducting some points for technicality there. Now I was not feeling very satisfied with my lunch experience so I wanted to try their pork belly bun. This is where I think my overall experience may have been greatly (maybe a bit unfairly) impacted. First off, I love pork belly buns and my impression of Hokkaidos version may be heavily skewed due to my bias taste for traditional Chinese pork belly buns but hear me out. I looked up their pork belly buns before I ordered it. The thickness of the cut of the pork belly in someone else's Google review sold me. It looked succulent and juicy. What did I get? Something akin to a slice of bologna sandwiched between two extra thick pieces of Texas toast. The proportions were way off! Maybe I got unlucky with the cut but any good kitchen can see there was a quality issue in how that was put together. The slice of pork I got felt like a thin slice of ham but the flavor was decent I'll give it that. Now my real issue with the bun was how it was pulled together. Just shredded lettuce was thrown in together with a spread of their special orange sauce, the same sauce as earlier (I'm pretty sure it's the same one on the bang bang shrimp). It's good sure, but to throw it on everything just seems uncreative and boring. Again, maybe my bias lust for Chinese pork belly buns is skewing my opinion or maybe I'm a little upset of the pork belly to Bao ratio I got but all in all the pork belly bun was very disappointing. I am new to the area and was hoping to find a go to spot near by that was not a fast food joint. Unfortunately due to the lack of diverse options in the area I'll probably have to default to Hokkaido some time again and hopefully get a thicker cut...

Was out running errands yesterday (Sunday) and decided to stop in on a whim and give them a try. I was greeted upon arrival, the atmosphere was calm and inviting. People were dining at booths, tables, outside at the covered patio and at the bar. I decided to head to the bar and eat in. The bartender (possible manager or owner) was welcoming and attentive. I ordered their Spicy Chicken Ramen which is a new menu item being advertised on the window. It was FANTASTIC! The presentation was on point and the spicy chili paste was added at the rim of the bowl. This is brilliant for allowing the consumer to decide how much or little of the spice they'd like....just add it all! 😀 The teriyaki marinated chicken was in a chicken and pork broth with garlic, bok choy, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, green onions, and sesame seeds. It does not come with the marinated soft boiled egg, sooo do yourself a favor and ask for them to add it! It was absolute perfection! The photos do not do it justice (especially the ad from the window....that I took from my car 😂)! To drink, I had water and ordered the Japanese Paradise which is essentially the Japanese version of a Russian Mule. It was a bit steep at $13 but well worth it! It was crisp, refreshing, and a generous pour! Forget about doing yourself a favor, do ME a favor by giving them a chance! I don't want to see this place go away. The next time I go, I'll be ordering the sushi! Several people looked to be enjoying their rolls and they also looked fresh and the...

Opening day and my family of 4 had a great experience, no complaints from the kids just a minimally aggressive side-eye 👀 from my oldest when our server told us they did not have Narutomaki fish cake. If your kid watches the cartoon Naruto like mine you understand Narutomaki is the reason you’re continually harassed for ramen. Another thing that may be an issue for some folks is they don’t have fountain drinks but you can get individual soft drinks. For me it wasn’t a big deal because our kids will sometimes load up on drinks and barely eat their food; we got them 1 coke and 1 sprite and told them when it’s gone they’re done so they wisely chose to sip instead of chug. For appetizer we shared the spring rolls and pork bao buns which are like little pork sandwiches with lettuce, sliced pork, sauce, on top of a perfectly puffy bao bun…delicious…also my youngest got the steamed pork gyoza from the appetizer menu as his meal and we all enjoyed it as well. I got the Tantan Ramen and I absolutely loved it. I like that they smear the spicy chili paste on the rim of the bowl to let you control the heat. My oldest had the Tonkosu Shoyu Ramen which is a good choice if your kid doesn’t like miso or a spicy broth. He has had ramen at a few places and said the Tonkosu Shoyu is his new favorite. Our server was kind and helpful and did a great job checking in on us throughout the meal…we will definitely...