Sapporo Ramen & Noodle Bar — Restaurant in Cascade Charter Township

For those of you who are fans of this place, I don't want to burst your bubble, so don't read on if you enjoyed this ramen. I want this to continue to be your happy place. If you are looking for the absolute best ramen or if you are the owner of this place reading this review and want to improve, then here is what I have to say: Right off the bat, I was confused about how to order, then disappointed that full service was not available at this place (it's a cheap businessmans way to cut costs). You must order first at the register and then proceed to get a buzzer to retrieve your own food. The beverages are also self-serve. If I'm not getting service at a dine-in restaurant, don't give me a tip prompt at checkout (just a tip jar will suffice and is appropriate). Also, if you're the greeting checkout person, SMILE at your new customers! I don't like my dining experience to start off with you looking like you don't care about your job. Eating alone, I prefer to sit at a bar as it gives more of an experience. That they had bar seating was curious to me, and I sat right up. The first thing I noticed was the dirty walls, the dirty soda machine, along with storage boxes and other misc cleaning items (which were a bit of an eye sore). Above the mess was a couple of quaint knick-knack shelves with some anime stuff and some drawings (maybe a couple locals made). This was at least nice to see. Then above that, some velcro wall pieces where a picture used to hang? Anyway, just more mess. I ordered the popular ramen, Hakata Modern, with extra chashu, extra noodle, extra narutomaki (somehow not listed in the ingredients on the big menu), extra bok choy (also not listed), and extra nori (I never got any nori). I added an appetizer of Gyoza (of which the best cooked option, pan-fried, wasn't available). I get the ramen and the side extra noodle together immediately (disappointed there was no delay for the extra noodles as they're just gonna get cold now). The steamed gyoza were good, not great, but decent. Ramen starts with the broth (or stock), and the tonkotsu flavor was just decent, but it was not hot (BIG MISTAKE), just a bit more than warm. Next on the Ramen pass/fail checklist is the chashu. Slices were inconsistent (some very thin, others thicker); the first piece I took for a first bite was cold (BIGGER mistake)! The broth was already not hot, and now I have to sink my cold chashu in it to warm it up and make my broth even less hot. I'm not happy. The chashu also wasn't torched, which isn't a make-or-break, just less nice. Ramen p/f #3 is the noods (noodles ;) ). They pass, nothing bad to say, and always happy when I get no noods clumped together. #4 is egg, was ok, nothing special, also cold. Narutomaki was cut too thick. Bamboo/bok choy/bean sprouts all pass. There seemed to be a curious thing I put in my mouth to taste. Yuck! A big ol clump of tonkatsu paste, I think! I won't be coming back. I'll be at the other ramen/sushi spot (5 star Ramen as far as I'm concerned), only a 10 minute drive from this place, and they also have pan-fried gyoza as well as full service and excellent sushi. Not gonna name drop to spoil this review. Ramen is not as hot of a topic here in the Midwest, so this is still a step-up for people who've not experienced japanese ramen. My co-worker who never tried dine-in Ramen said it...

I was here for lunch while on work travel. I'm from the Silicon Valley, where ramen places abound aplenty. This information will be useful and humorous (I hope) in the review that follows.

Walking in, the decor and atmosphere was decidedly Japanese. So, I was surprised to see that the people behind the counter, both the cooks and the servers, are not Asian. This is my paradigm of the world, because that's how it is in the Bay Area.

As you can expect, I was leery about going through with lunch. Still, I went through my usual spiel and asked the guys behind the counter for recommendations, as a test. They seemed to know their stuff, so I went through with lunch.

A note on ordering: You walk up to the counter, place your order, and sit down at a table you pick out yourself to wait. They will call your number. You then go get your tray of food from the window. This is one of the ways it is done, both in Japan and in Japanese restaurants in the Silicon Valley. Fun fact: Some places in Japan will make you place the order at a kiosk machine. You get a receipt and wait for your order. There is very little interaction with people. A big part of the reason is they do not expect you to tip, and they will even chase after you out the door if you leave a cash tip behind, returning your money.

I had the shio (salt) ramen with the chashu, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, and soft-boiled egg. For the side, I had a seaweed salad, which was mildly spicy. I was pleasantly surprised at how good the food was. The portions are big and the ramen noodles themselves are definitely fresh, not instant ramen. Before you laugh at this last comment, there is a local Japanese restaurant where I live that serves ramen. The ramen, to my disappointment, is the instant variety, not the fresh kind. It is surprising the restaurant refuses to amend this, given that the expectation is fresh ramen be served.

The server was helpful and patient in describing to me what goes in ramen bowl he recommended. When I wanted to pay with my phone using NFC, they also tried to get that to work. They didn't know and was willing to try. So, we spent several minutes playing with the NFC payment. They could have just said "no" and let that be the end of it.

Anyways, if you can't tell by now I recommend this place. I went at a time (6/22/21) when the masking mandate was about to be lifted. In a lot of places, people stopped wearing masks. At the Sapporo Ramen and Noodle Bar, masking is still required. The servers were wearing masks. There is quite a bit of spacing in between tables to observe social distancing. Because this review was written during this transitional period, remember to call ahead and ask if you...

Was 4 star when they first openened. Loved it. They changed the recipe for some of their ramen and it’s ... pedestrian now. More like how watered down. Like McDonald’s is to food . Definitely not remarkable or memorable now.

Response from the owner 5 months ago This is a fake Facebook profile, and a fake review. We are charmed at your enthusiasm to troll us but... we have never changed our recipe and continue to maintain consistency in everything we do for our guests and the community. If you dont like us, dont come back. This is a livelihood for many people. Reconsider your irresponsible post. Make better use of your time.

Maybe you should make better use of your time fixing the inadequacies of your restaurant instead of lying about 1.people who share their experiences at your establishment. 2. The differences in food experiences from visit to visit. Or at least train your staff not to tell the customers that people thought certain items were too spicy so the spice level was reduced (thereby making it more pedestrian). How delightful though that customers will face being lied to and yelled at for reporting their views of their experiences. Maybe a new title would be apropos, home of the Ramen Nazi? “Well, the ramen was a little under spiced”....NO! YOUR WRONG!! NO RAMEN FOR YOU!!! (The last part was supposed to be you...). And I included my Facebook home page for you.. since you did so much work investigating me (Not creepy at all). Just to show I do exist. Actually since it took seconds to look me up, maybe you didn’t do enough investigation. Doing little investigation does make it easier to yell at people whose reviews aren’t at the laudatory level in your eyes though, so there is that.

I will add one thing though. Your employees have been great in their efficiency and service every time I’ve been in there. Very personable and friendly. There have been plenty of McDonald’s that can’t say that.

And lastly, you asked, in your view, a fake person to change a fake review (in your opinion)? I’ll tell you what. Write up the review you want, and send it to me, I’ll post it in...