Susuru Ramen Bar — Restaurant in Champaign

Edit: So I went again, and the items I got were a lot better this time! We got the tonkotsu ramen, the takoyaki, and the gyudon, and they were all very tasty. The ramen was very good all-round, with a good broth, soft and flavorful chashu, and other good quality ingredients like bamboo shoots and noodles. The takoyaki were also really good, since they didn't burn my mouth (which is pretty rare), and the octopus inside wasn't rubbery like it often is. The gyudon was pretty good, but I think the meat could have been a little less chewy. The rice with the dashi flavored egg was really good though (so I wonder if the katsudons are even better).

Basically, very good restaurant, but avoid the curry! I don't understand why that in particular is the only thing that isn't good, but it's not :( otherwise highly recommended though, especially for the ramen and katsu

Original: I had a bit of a mixed experience. I ordered a chicken katsu curry, and the katsu itself was really good - juicy and crispy. It also came with miso, which was solid. However, the curry had the texture of slightly viscous water, and it had about the same flavor (which is to say almost none). It wasn't exactly bad, in the same way that water isn't bad, but it was kinda disappointing since the katsu was so good.

I think next time I'd go for one of the katsu bentos, since that was the part I most enjoyed, but I do want to come back and try their ramen and gyudon, so we'll see if my rating goes up after...

I visited this restaurant a couple weeks ago with my partner and I ordered the tonkotsu ramen. Immediately, something tasted wrong with the ramen. The broth had a chemical taste to it, and smelled like bleach. My girlfriend agreed that my ramen tasted off. We love to sample ramen from different cities, and have never had anything that tasted like this before.

I usually don’t like to bother waiting staff, but after a couple of bites, I realized that I couldn’t eat this ramen. I decided to tell someone from the waiting staff, and they were initially very accommodating. They offered to replace my ramen, or suggested that I could order something else from the menu for 50% off. I was put off from eating ramen now, so I ordered something else, the staff member took my tonkotsu away and I thought that was that.

However, a few minutes later, some other staff member walks up to the table and said, “I just wanted to make something clear with you. We will not be removing the tonkotsu from your receipt. You will still have to pay full price for the ramen.” So even though I had one or two bites of food that was inedible before they took the ramen away, I still had to pay full price for it.

We were so polite about the situation that it didn’t merit the staff members rude and curt response. I don’t like giving a negative review to local businesses, but making people pay for food they didn’t eat, and being rude to customers...

The atmosphere of the place is nice. It's well lit, clean, and the servers were very nice. I love the decorations by the kitchen in the back. The images on the banners feel cozy.

I got the shio ramen (sea salt) and a salmon roll. Let's start with the ramen. It was the real star of the show. The broth was nice and light, but still had flavour and you could see the fat on the top. The toppings were simple and for me, a good portion. The egg was still a bit runny inside and you could taste the soy seasoning it was in just slightly. The noodles had the perfect amount of chew to them. The real star was the pork chashu. I loved how it tasted like it was actually on a bbq grill. There was a smoky taste that really complimented the fat of the pork belly and the meat. It really made the ramen something special.

Unfortunately, the sushi was sub par. I wasn't expecting much since it is a ramen place. The fish wasn't super flavourful, but was still pretty fresh. The rice was a bit hard and not flavourful, as if it wasn't seasoned like sushi rice. I'd definitely skip this and try something else as an appetizer.

Overall, it was good and I'd come again to try another ramen, bento box, and...