Rayaki Ramen Cherry Hill — Restaurant in Cherry Hill Township

We were in the area and were about to revisit Dolsot House for some Korean fares. Unfortunately, the line was out of the door on this Saturday evening. After 35 minutes of waiting we were still standing outside looking in, Rayaki was conveniently located right next door with great Yelp ratings, so we changed our plan as a form of making a statement :) Ramen restaurants naturally have a quicker turnaround time. And we got a table for 5 after about 5-10 minutes wait.

Upon entering the restaurant I couldn't keep my eyes off from the manga murals which covered all the walls. To me that's one of a kind and super cool.

Menu was simple. The entire menu fit on a small order form. We simply wrote the quantity next to the dish we want.

Now the curve ball: We loved tonkatsu, the Japanese deep fried pork breaded with panko. So 4 out of 5 of us all ordered the Tonkatsu* Ramen!! When the ramen got served, we all scratched our heads -- where were the deep fried, breaded pork cutlets?! In front of us looked like soy sauce marinated pork belly which could go with 2 small bowls of rice!!

I asked the waitress twice to make sure they didn't give us the wrong dish. She reassured us. Oh well... Disappointment aside, the ramen's got everything, well presented, and price was super fair. The broth was flavorful but on the verge of being too savory. The marinated pork was what made the whole dish TOO salty. That was a shame because any other preparation of the same protein would have been fine.

Yep, the only other ramen we ordered, the Steak Ramen, was indeed perfect.

Despite the disappointment, which was partly our fault (see * below), I still appreciate this eatery very much: great value, hip, BYOB, and simply fun. I would like to try their Rayaki Fries next time.

*I later found out that we confused Tonkatsu with Tonkotsu -- yes, just 1 letter off !!! The former is the deep fried breaded pork cutlet we were thinking, while the latter is simply one of the ramen recipes noted for its cloudy white pork bone broth. ...

Everything BUT the ramen was decent. Ordered three skewers, spiral potato, pork curry tonkatsu and two ramen dishes. The spicy miso was decent but the chicken ramen...oooohh that chicken ramen...if you like grilled chicken that tastes like butane gas, this is your dish. I ordered that for my kids, they said they didn't like it. I thought they were being picky and was forcing them to eat it. Then I tasted it and immediately thought I had just taken some gas into my mouth straight out of a canister. Like I would a can of whipped cream. I took the ramen and went to the waiter and told him that the chicken tasted like gas. He just looked at me and didn't say anything. I told him again (nicely and politely) that the grilled chicken tasted like gas. Again, nothing but stares. Then the other woman behind the counter comes out, I tell her the chicken tastes like gas. Her response? Well yes, it's a gas grill. I tell her that the chicken skewers we ate didn't taste like gas, to which she replies "it's bc that skewer was smothered in bbq sauce" and just stares at me. I'm shocked. She is basically telling me, this is a GAS grilled chicken, it's expected to taste like GAS. I tell her that I literally feel like I'm drinking gas. She asks me if I want a new one made. I say I would want something else off the menu. She tells me that I cannot order something new, but that I have to just get a new chicken ramen. O.... K.... Let's get a new one then. Waiter brings it to the table and says "we tasted the chicken on this one, it doesn't taste like gas." I say thank you, try the chicken, it tastes like gas. At that point I don't want a THIRD GAS chicken ramen, so I just take the chicken out, pray that I don't get sick and eat my ramen. Never coming back. Thanks rayaki for giving the experience of what a GAS grilled chicken...

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I would not say this is completely Japanese style ramen but Japanese style with some Chinese in it.

Pros: Good the bubble tea was large. You get a lot for the price. The pork broth for the ramen was great. Great full flavor that will leave you satisfied. Nice decor and great wait staff.

Cons: Low quality tasting bubble tea (like from a powder mix) The bobas are very lacking in quality. They are hard in the middle when you bite into them meaning the boba is either not fresh, or not cooked all the way. The ramen egg was over cooked. When cooking ramn egg, there shouldn't be a gritty consistency in the yolk like a hard boiled egg. Most of the yolk should be soft and a hit runny. This is a result of boiling the eggs for a few seconds too long (yes 10 to 15 seconds of boiling matters when making ramen eggs. Look it up) The ramen can be marinated a bit longer. You can tell by looking at the outside of the eggs and seeing that it is dark while the part near the yolk is still white and flavorless. The charsiu needs to be greatly improved to be like Japanese ramen. Look at the attached images, the piece of meat is way too thick. The cut only had a sliver of fat. And the shape of the charsiu was not round meaning the piece of meat was not tied together when cooking and marinating.

Overall, this place has potential. The hard part (getting the broth right) is already done. From a ramen stand point, if the owner improves the cooking method for the ramen eggs and somehow fixes the charsiu issue, this place will be golden. Would still recommend if one does not have very high standards and wants a bowl of good...