Kuro Ramen — Restaurant in Chicago

⚠️ It’s CHAOTIME ⚠️

Been over a year since I’ve been back to this cozy establishment… Definitely missed it!

Kuro Ramen is a small restaurant with a simple, modest interior. The cute anime decorations around the front desk create a fun and welcoming atmosphere. Large windows at the front make it so that the place is well lit.

The three of us shared the Bang Bang Shrimp and Kimchi Fries for our appetizer, and each of us got the Signature Kuro Ramen noodles for our entrees.

The Bang Bang Shrimp was the first dish to hit the table. It was piping hot and ready to be savored. Each shrimp was coated with a light, crispy breading and a spicy mayo-like sauce… soon as the first one hit my buds, my mouth was set alight with flavor. Dynamite for real. Love how shareable the dish is too.

The Kimchi Fries were decent. They used thin shoestring fries, almost identical in flavor to McDonalds. The toppings/sauce were fine, just wish there was more of it. Didn’t really cover the surface area of the fries too well. Still good to munch on.

Last but not least, the Kuro Ramen! What makes this ramen stand out is the black garlic oil they use as part of the base, as well as the wonderful bouncy texture of the noodles. This time, however, I feel like they barely used any of the black garlic oil, so the broth didn’t really pack that much of a punch for me. It just tasted like ordinary tonkatsu this time… but don’t get me wrong—this was still a VERY satisfying bowl of ramen. After I slurped up the last drop of broth, I felt REBORN. Oh, and I should mention: the pork they used was thick and chunky—not the thin slices of chashu that is usually served with tonkatsu ramen. Very delicious, but they seasoned it with a little too much salt for my taste. I was parched after finishing the bowl. Room for improvement for sure.

All in all, this is a great spot to visit for ramen if you’re in the Chinatown area, but you would like to enjoy your meal away from the hustle & bustle of the main plaza. It’s also the best ramen in Chinatown, so you can’t go wrong. Check it...

MAJOR disappointment!!!!Would not recommend!!! Soapy flavored broth.

I came a year ago when they first had their soft opening and were first opening and ordered the tonkotsu ramen. Presentation wise it was nice but the broth tasted weird. So we decided to wait a while before trying again because we are ramen fans and wanted to give them a second chance for when they really were up and running.

Fast forward to exactly a year later, ordered the same ramen and the broth still tastes like disgusting soap water. I had my partner try it and he's not picky whatsoever and he even said it tastes slightly like soap. The broth leaves a nasty soapy aftertaste in your mouth.

Also, the presentation was very sloppy compared to our first visit when they had their soft opening in 2022. Check the pics to see. There is one pic which you can see the meat, egg, and seaweed very clearly as it is neatly placed in the bowl, that was from last year, nice presentation of food.

Then if you see the other pics of the ramen bowls (one spicy and one non spicy tonkotsu) how sloppy the ingredients are placed into the broth, you can barely even see the egg or protein they are submerged into the broth and that's before we even touched the bowls. They were served that way. Big difference!!!! Very poor and sloppy presentation this time around.

I would have given 1 star but because the deep fried octopus balls (takoyaki) appetizer was tasty I gave them 2 stars.

We will definitely not be returning which sucks bc this place was close by and I really wanted to like it. But after two chances and no improvement with the soapy broth, I cannot. I prefer and would rather spend my money at daifuki ramen in Chinatown. Their broth is good and doesn't taste like soap.

Also, the female waitress talked way too fast and I couldn't understand her. She should slow down so people can understand what she is saying. She said we had to look at the menu on the app via our phone which was a major inconvenience by the way.

Overall, very...

I visited this restaurant for the first time Saturday, September 28, 2024. We seated ourselves and were greeted and brought water. They have QR codes for the menu, so we searched the menu to decide on what to order. The waiter took about ten minutes to come and take our order. When he started taking our order he was distracted by someone walking in the restaurant, he greeted them and stopped taking our order to assist the person that walked in. That was the first rude interaction. He came back and finished taking our order. I ordered a margarita and asked was it frozen, the waiter said yes. We placed our order, and he went to put the order in. The food came out quickly, no complaint there. When the drinks were brought out, we immediately noticed they weren't frozen. When he left the table we took sips of the drinks and they were like really thick margarita mix poured on top of whatever liquor they used. It wasn't tequila and they weren't frozen. I sent mine back stating I didn't want it, and my partner ordered a different drink. When they brought us the bill all the drinks were on the receipt, so I asked for a manager. The manger said they don't offer exchanges or refunds. This is a really insane policy for a dine in restaurant and a policy like that should be clearly posted. We went back and forth about the drinks for a while before being told we could only receive a discount. The waiter clearly stated the drinks were frozen, so it should've been taken off of the bill entirely. The waiter was rude about it and said he can't promise us anything, which I'm not sure what that meant. The food was decent and came out in a timely manner, but they need to work on their customer service and refund/exchange policy.

Also 2 patrons got in a yelling match while we were there that lead to a physical altercation. They threw drinks and chairs at each other and disrupted the peace of the evening. So, with all that being said I won't be patronizing this...