Wabi House — Restaurant in Dallas

I travel a lot, so when I'm in a new city, I make it a point to check out the best spots in town. Heard from many sources that this was THE place to grab ramen from, so I went and tried it out for myself.

The restaurant itself has a smooth industrial feel. There was plenty of seating with a front + back bar and a patio with an awning. It is spacious enough for most events.

The food was pretty amazing. I'm a ramen lover myself, and having been to many other ramen establishments, I was pretty impressed at the level of quality I was getting. The prices are almost second to none. You can easily get full for $12-$15 here.

The service was pretty decent for the most part. There was a snag at one point that I'll go in to detail in a bit. The servers were fast and efficient, but I did feel like they were trying to get me to order quickly to rush me out of the door. That happened on two separate occasions. Small snag, nothing crazy.

Before I tell my story, I do want to note that from the time I came in until the time I left, I was somewhat of a difficult customer and the restaurant was a little busy. Now that that's been established, here you have it:

My friend and I ordered an app, 2 bowls of ramen with add-ons, and a drink. When we finished the first drink (an Ozeki Nigori sake that usually comes in a 375 mL bottle), the server brought me another small carafe even though I hadn't asked for one. Assuming this second bottle was leftover from what the original Nigori bottle had, we drank it without questioning anything. At the end of the meal, the female server brought out the tab and had charged me for 2 orders. Obviously didn't fly with me, so I asked nicely for her to fix it. She replied that she couldn't because I had finished it. I asked to speak to her manager to work things out, which she then said "He's too busy right now, so I'll just take it off your tab and pay for it myself." That option didn't make me happy either, so I insisted that I would wait until he was free. It seemed pretty strange to me that he was "too busy" to have a discussion with me, considering customer service is the backbone of the service industry...Anyway, he eventually came over and we discussed what had happened. He apologized and handled it very professionally, and said that as I would only be charged for one. Thinking everything was settled, I thanked him. I then paid for the tab, which was $48.72 without the second bottle of sake. I gave her $47 in cash and my card, telling her to do cash first and then the card. She came back with a tab that had $13.63 on it instead of my $1.72. I got the server's attention and questioned why it was the $13 instead of the $1 and change. Instead of apologizing or trying to rectify her mistake, she said instead "Oh! Let me give you back the $11 instead." Umm...what? That made no sense to me, but I had had enough dealing with the server so I said okay. I tipped a little over 20% and left. I'm currently writing this in the parking lot.

Overall, I had a pretty fantastic experience. The issue with the server wasn't ideal and extremely frustrating, but I don't blame her for not wanting to deal with me while she was busy with at least 3 other tables. It's just disappointing to feel like I wasn't treated as equally had it not been busy. I rated this place 4 stars because of the mishap or otherwise it would've been a perfect 5. When I'm in Dallas again, I'll be back because the food is that good! If you read all this, thanks for your time. You...

I've given rave reviews about Wabi House for some time now. The loudest reviews have been to my twenty-something friends because I visit Wabi House no less than once a week. Located in the Lower Greenville area of Dallas; it's right in my neck of the woods.

The entrance is decorated with a vibrantly decorated mural and outdoor seating with an open bar...weather permitting of course. The interior of the restaurant is decorated with punches of framed color set against pale walls with Edison bulbs hanging from a dark, wooden-beamed ceiling. The long, narrow dining room is filled with comfy booths and a few seats overlooking the kitchen.

When I take my friends, we usually start with a couple of small plates. The first is always the plate of Sweet Corn Fritters. These amazing morsels are made with niblets of corn cut fresh from the cob which is perfectly seasoned with salt and sansho pepper then drizzled with a spicy aioli. These babies are heavenly. The corn is sweet and savory with just enough breading to hold it all together. The drizzle of aioli is just the right amount of heat. We could go to Wabi House just for these.

I've also ordered the Karaage. Karaage is a method of cooking meats; in this case chicken. The bite-sized pieces are lightly coated with wheat flour and then fried in a light oil. They are perfect bites. The breading does not overpower the chicken. The bites are served with cubes of watermelon, sishito pepper and a drizzle of the same spicy aioli that comes with the corn fritters.

For my ramen dish I choose the Spicy Miso. The bowl arrives steaming hot and full of yummy ingredients including minced pork, bamboo shoot, scallion, chili strips and an egg. The miso broth is a great blend of salt, spicy and savory flavors. The key is to mix it up so you get a bit of all that goodness in each bite. I can assure you it is the best ramen I've ever had. I find myself trying to decide whether to devour the entire bowl or save some to take home for the next day's lunch.

So the rumors are true...Wabi House IS the place to get ramen in Dallas. I am kicking myself for not going sooner, but I have already made up for lost time. They know me and my Australian Shepherd there now because we like to walk there and sit outside! I can't help myself! My plan is to work my way through the entire menu. On my next visit I think I will try the Tonkotsu with chashu (marinated braised pork belly). I will try and save room for their Tapioca...

First off, the food is out of this world. Probably the best chashu I've ever had in my life. The noodles also tasted fresh, and had great texture. We ordered 4 apps as well, and devoured all of them. Highly recommend the chicken hearts. Honestly, highest accolades for the food.

Moving on to atmosphere, the decor was really cool, only complaint was that it was a bit too bright for the vibe.

What really brings the stars down was the service. Our server was constantly forgetting items that we ordered, then lying about it. For example, with my ramen, I ordered extra egg and bamboo, and I got an egg and extra chashu (which I had to pay for) instead of the bamboo. When I asked the server, he lied and said the kitchen forgot. He said the same thing about one of the appetizers as well. The proof that he lied is on the receipt, where the "forgotten" items were entered after, and it clearly shows that. We even asked him if he wanted to write our order down, and he refused.

On top of this, our server never followed the two bite rule to see how our food was, meaning he never really went to our table as well. We had to flag him down everytime to order something. Also, empty plates from apps and drinks started piling up, and were only removed from our table once the staff noticed we started moving our dirty dishes to a new table so we would have room for our ramen.

Between me and my friend that went, we have over 2 decades in hospitality service experience, and we were really let down by our server. When you go out to eat, you're not just paying for food, you're paying for the experience and attention to detail that is supposed to come with a higher priced dining experience. Our server would be better suited taking orders at a drive thru rather than waiting on actual tables. I hope that this review sparks upper management to give some commen sense training to their team, clearing tables between courses, checking in on your guests, eye contact, writing orders down, not blaming...