Otani Noodle - Downtown — Restaurant in Cleveland

My husband and I got a room at the Holiday Inn to attend Monday Night Raw, and Otani Noodle was about a 2 minute walk from there. I'm telling you that to say, I would rent another room there JUST to be 2 minutes away from this restaurant. We split a bowl of the pork belly ramen, a cucumber salad and a passionfruit boba. I've had specialty ramen before. I've never had specialty ramen like this before. The portion was huge, so you CAN split it like we did if you wanted and still be full but trust me, you don't want to. This bowl of ramen was probably the best thing I've ever eaten in my entire life. The noodles were cooked perfectly and they had such a good taste alone. The pork was also cooked perfectly and somehow it melted in your mouth while also having a bit of chew to it. The egg and vegetables were also all cooked perfectly and had great standalone tastes. But OMG the broth was out of this world. It was sweet and savory, oily and silky, it had this little hint of spice that just wrapped it all together and warmed you up from the inside out. Every time I think about it, my mouth waters. Although I'd never eaten there before or had ramen like it before, it gave me like this comforting, nostalgic feeling. Like a warm hug. And the whole bowl itself looked beautiful. The cucumber salad was SPICY, like not my comfort level of spice, but it was also so good that I couldn't stop eating it. Their chili crisp oil is just perfect as well. And the passionfruit boba was so refreshing and not too sweet like other boba I've had. Last, but certainly not least, the lady that waited on us (I do believe she was the owner but I'm not sure), was the kindest most amazing human being. She was just sunshine in human form. I sincerely believe that woman puts all of her love into that food because it certainly shows. If you're searching for good ramen, it doesn't matter where you are, this place is worth the drive or the flight or even the short walk there. We live about an hour away and we both agreed that the next time we're craving ramen, we'd make the drive just to go to this place. Also, it's in a really cool place, with a lot of other sightseeing and activities right around it. It was about five minutes from the arena as well. The atmosphere in the restaurant was great too. It's cozy and bright and welcoming but very cool too. If we lived closer, I would probably be here multiple times a week. Just a wonderful little place. I hope they have nothing...

This restaurant is a huge no for me! I will give only one star because of the bubble tea but anything beyond that is a downward spiral of disgust. Chicken was old and extremely overcooked, small plate of shrimp curry is 2 medium sized shrimps on a skewer with a light coating of an attempt at watery yellow curry, the sticky buns had no sauce the pork was dried out old and/or overcooked, the slaw on the stick in was extra dry, the small plate of egg rolls is literally 1 egg roll, fried rice was a mash up of old and semi old rice drenched in what tasted like and soy/fish sauce blend was very unpleasant. This establishment also did not give us condiments after we asked for them so we tasted most of which was inedible without any complimenting sauces. I called an asked to speak to a manager about the issues and I was told that it's only two of them and neither one of them spoke with my husband or gave us our order so in addition to the horrible, inedible food we received, the staff was very rude, arrogant, unwilling to apologise or even replace our or order or offer us condiments. I would discribe his behavior as entitled. I would never recommend this establishment, there are plenty of other business choices near by that would greatly appreciate your patronage and present you with an...

My girlfriend and I decided to have dinner here for our date night. We are a same-gender seeming couple. I have always loved visiting the University Circle location and the food is great. Sadly, our visit to the downtown location was not as great. As I was calculating the tip for the check, our server came over and I heard him say “I just have to ask...” but missed the rest, he was addressing my partner. She became upset and answered him. She later told me he’d asked if she was my daughter. When she told him no, he asked if we were friends. Having dealt with this homophobic assumptive behavior before, I explained that this was my girlfriend and he held his hands up and said “oh, you right, you right”. There was no reason for these questions, (we didn’t have anything alcoholic, for example) and if one of us was a man the server wouldn’t have felt comfortable asking them, and it reminded us that we will always have to deal with intrusive behavior. We did not expect it from a staff member of an establishment we were patronizing. I called to express this disappointment and educate the management, but was told the manager was not in and they didn’t know when they would be. I’m posting here so other LGBTQIA femmes know to avoid if they don’t want to deal with intrusive and...