TEN Ramen — Restaurant in Dallas

I've been going to Ten since they've opened (~7yrs). Christian and the crew that opened were phenomenal with their customer service and skill. I've watched the crew change along with rising prices, change over the years with no qualms and an obsession with GOOD ramen. Spicy Lobster Miso is one of their best, it was experimental at first, but after the response and demand they received it quickly became a permanent item. It's basically leftovers of lobster shells or discard they purchase from other restaurants that serve lobster. It's good stock.

What I've observed of the crew, however, is a motley bunch. At some points they've been rude, take a long time (over an hour to deliver) and quite frankly, not fit for the business. They're not with the company any longer, but I will say it turned me off from my frequent visits. I am now only occassionaly visiting and the current crew has been there awhile and it seems steady. I appreciate that. Not much has changed aside from that other than their payment system. For the longest time it was dinosaur- swipe your card only, and that was when the system worked. Many times you had to pay the crew that's cooking and then there were years where only one tablet worked and there'd be a line out the door. It's only been in the last year that they've updated their order/payment system and running normally.

Looking back at my experiences, which have been any, over the last 2/3 of a decade my observation is this: i miss being able to chat with the chefs/cooks (which is hard to do when busy), the rent prices at sylvan 30 are ridiculous and I'm glad/hopeful of the construction of new commercial property a block up the road on ft.worth. It seems as though the ridiculous rates they charge really hurts a businesses bottom line. However Ten has been established for a while and so there should be no more excuses. Advice to ownership (a.k.a. Tei An owners/master chefs): Pay the crew that works there better than the bottom line. Pay them well. They make the whole magic happen with the ingredients you've provided. Which is what a stand up restaurant seems to accommodate, at least here in USA. Make that happen and you'll have so much volume you'll...

I really don't want to be writing a poor review for this place, but I figure this is relatively important as both feedback as well as a buyer-beware. I love this place and have probably been here 50+ times over the last few years and recommended it to hundreds of people who loved it as well. When they underwent new management/staff recently, I remained positive and came back a few more times, even writing a positive review about how the food was still good. Never once did I have a bad experience until now.

We came in around 6pm today (Wednesday before thanksgiving) and the older gentleman with the white hair was already throwing the vibe off. Haven't had a problem with him in the past. This place gets busy, and I imagine they get a lot of "karens/kens" complaining about the wait time, but this guy just kept shouting "it's a holiday, we're busy, don't you get it?" even though not a single person in here was complaining. Everyone seemed chill for the most part, but I can't speak to whoever was there before we arrived.

The more problematic part was when giving us our food. He was frustrated that my girlfriend and I paid for our food separately because we were on 2 separate tickets despite ordering the same thing. He made a snide comment to my girlfriend, that everyone could hear, that was something like "maybe if you could get your man to pay for your meal then this would have been easier". I don't remember the exact words at the end, but he specifically said that first part. I'm sure I don't have to explain all of the reasons as to why this is such an issue.

This is so wildly inappropriate and rude that it truly makes me hope this place just goes down at this point. Without the original squad, the personality of TEN is lost regardless of the food (which is relatively inconsistent in terms of quality). It'd be better to let this local legend of a restaurant die off instead of having someone new sour the experience/memories for the long-time regulars while...

Ten Ramen has become less appealing to my friends & me over the years, as their traffic has increased and subsequent demand has resulted in lower portions but higher prices. This used to be a favorite of ours during visits to Dallas, but now I've moved in and live 200 feet away, yet I don't even go here anymore.

To put it into perspective, I've been able to go to Japantown in San Francisco and get portions almost 1.5-2x the size for the same or less price vs. what they offer here. The situation is similar in North NJ and even Manhattan. At Ten Ramen, I end up paying upwards of $16 post-tax (not even including tip, and I do tip) if I want a standard tonkotsu ramen with no additions, and the portion of meat & vegetables is almost symbolic (probably 2 oz of chashu at best, and the same amount of vegetables). When I order the "veggie mountain" as a side add-in for upwards of $2-3, I think I get a total of like 2-3tbsp of steamed vegetables? The rice bowls are in sort of the same category, except I do think that they're exceptional if not for the really tiny portions & high price tag.

I know that ramen's become really trendy and it's considered exotic out here. And yes, the ramen is pretty good here. But ramen is basically the Japanese equivalent of a hamburger, unless you do amazing/special things with it, so I don't see the appeal in paying scalper prices. Overall, if they want to charge more, I'd be glad to pay if they at least included more filler like noodles,...