Sheng Ramen Ballantyne — Restaurant in Charlotte

Honestly I don't love to give this type of reviews but my partner and I know a lot (flavor wise) and are very much in love with ramen and we have tried many places around Charlotte and honestly this is the most basic place we have tried, even though it looks very yummy, the pork belly of our ramen and buns was definitely overcooked or as my partner says it seems frozen, and it could be noticed because the texture was not as it regularly it is in many places that melts in your mouth, it was kinda hard, the flavor of the broth was not at all surprising either, It kinda seems like a cheap brand like those that come in powder (and you mix with water) that you can buy at the stores, although I enjoy the noodles a bit, no real opinion about the toppings because many are simple like they only need to be placed on the plate, no preparation need you know; It should be noted that the 2nd course came along with the appetizer so I can assume (for not say that I’m sure) that they do everything pretty quick and without much attention to detail (like slow cook or some preparation from the scratch, etc.)

The waitress was kind when she receive us but she was rushing us a lot with the fact of ordering (we asked her for some time (to read and make decisions) and she came back almost immediately from that), also she didn't check/ask if our dishes were okay after a while of having brought them

I honestly think it's a place that still lacks a lot of work, the work environment feels forced, dirty dishes and glasses stacked near the bathrooms, cheap decoration, the way they take orders and even the possible preparation of the food, maybe it's a lack of staff (?) Idk 🤷

I was happy to think about having a ramen place close to home but I ended up very disappointed, not even the lids of the containers sealed well and all the broth came out in the bag so we threw away the leftovers, anyway thinking about repeating the dish was not our ideal option…

Honestly and sadly I would recommend anyone to skip these place, I truly don’t know if it was the day, the season or what but for now and until they don’t put more affection and effort into this place, it's...

Fair warning before I begin; I am extremely picky when it comes to ramen. If you want the TLDR: good flavors that don't quite scratch the itch.

The place is nice and quaint which makes it feel cozy. The decor is simple, but I really liked how they chose to display their sake bottles. I started the meal with some karaage (Japanese fried chicken) and the pork buns. I do not recommend the karaage. They were neither juicy, nor crunchy nor very flavorful. On the other hand, I thought the pork buns were wonderful! I'd be very tempted to make the drive just for those pork buns. Not only was the pork juicy and very flavorful, but I really enjoyed the consistency of the bun and the texture that the lettuce provided to the dish. Before talking about the ramen, I just want to say that I highly recommend the matcha nigori sake drink. This was a really nice surprise and it is a very good addition to the meal. As for the ramen, I would be lying if I were to say that it was not tasty. The issue is that it was not the flavor that I wanted or expected. I tried both the spicy miso and the tonkotsu. I was most disappointed with the tonkotsu ramen. I was imagining a galaxy of flavors all contained in that beautiful ramen bowl, but what I found was a simple, good flavor. No complexity, no surprise factor, no magic. Yes, it didn't taste bad, but it was not memorable. As for the spicy miso, I'm still unsure as to how I feel about it. It was tasty, but I still can't decide if I found it tasty because of the spiciness or because the broth was actually good; unfortunately, I'm leaning more towards the former. Now for the nit-picking: the chashu, while it was very delicious, is not what I wanted and I was not a fan of the egg's consistency. I love it when the yolk seeps into my ramen adding yet another layer of taste, but I did not find that here. While this place is tasty, it didn't quite give me the experience that I was looking for. I recommend it for the pork buns and the matcha nigori. How much you enjoy their ramen will depend on how good, or bad, your previous ramen...

If we were just leaving a review on the food it would be a hands down 5 star review! However, we're going to take the staff into consideration in this review. We've eaten here 3 times. We've had Cory twice and a girl (didn't catch her name) once. The girl was FANTASTIC! BOTH times that we had Cory he seemed that he would rather be anywhere other than work. He wasn't rude but just seemed straight out bored. I don't think he could have been less enthusiastic...he was the most neutral person I've ever encountered. I could have lived with that but he's also extremely unattractive. On both visits that we've had him he never comes to check on the food or refill our drinks. We have to stop him when he walks by if we want our drinks refilled. There's also a hostess that should be replaced. She is the first person you encounter when you walk in. She should look approachable, pleasing and professional. However, he hair was a mess, she had on a hooded sweatshirt that was 3x too big for her and had some non-professional wording. The food is AMAZING!!! GO FOR THE FOOD but make sure you get a...