Sango Kura — Restaurant in Delaware Water Gap

Before I start off I would like who ever writes the responses to know, if the only words you have for customers is to call them names like you have done in all your negative reviews, just save yourself the time and effort and put it towards your failing business or better yet reconsider being in the industry if you cannot handle the criticism. Also bold you to be so nasty towards customers considering you can't even pass Inspection.

To start we had been hiking Mount Tammany all day only eating small snacks so we were starved and couldn't bear to eat the meal! My friends and I were so excited to have ramen and experience a new and unique looking place. At first glance this looks like a decent establishment but do not let the other reviews fool you. This is not quality food or service. Which is such a sad experience because ramen is basically the only thing on their menu. Now we did eat the appetizers but I can confidently say I can get the same quality of shrimp tempura and gyoza from the freezer section at walmart. My friends ordered lemonade and to their surprise it was "homemade" which basically was cold water and a splash of lemon... we paid $3 for each. When our bowls of ramen was served the smiles on our faces were wiped off when aroma of this ramen met our noses. Pushing past the smell we tested the broth and could not get more than one singular sip. It was terrible. We decided not to eat... Now this is the part where our waitress asks if everything is okay and if we need anything, NOPE. She walked past us multiple times completely avoiding eye contact as I'm sure she is aware we were unhappy with the meal. So we personally had to go to the bar/counter to get the check to pay. There I did my best to be kind but firmly let the woman working know that we did not like entres... She then proceeded to ask multiple times what exactly is wrong with the meals but did this in a very defensive way instead of apologetically. I let her know we could not eat it, then again by saying the broth is inedible and letting her know the quality of the meat was not good. She was at least kind enough to take the three ramen off the receipt. I paid for the apps and drinks. As I was turned around to leave I was yelled at by her for not tipping staff....

This is extremly extremly infuriating because while service was not terrible by the time our waitress got to our table to ask for drinks, we were ready to order. I would also like to make an honorable mention, if you wanted water you had to go to the bar and serve yourself. The only other time she approached us was to serve us the food... yeah not tipping

P.S in regards to your comment in sams review if being a coward (or whatever name you want to call me for not poisoning myself with your food) then yes I am exactly that! Now I see how professional you are with your kindly written responses, it is a wonder why you don't prosper, I truly hope someday you are able to hear our criticism and improve because what I tasted over there was a GREAT OFFENSE to...

Before I begin: Read the owners responses to the lower reviews and to the owner: Save yourself the time of writing a rude response and asking us not to come back, I wasn’t planning on it.

Service: 5/10 Food: 2/10 Atmosphere: 1/10 Sushi: 0/10 (they didn’t have any) Sake: 8/10 (only good thing) Cleanliness: 1/10

The ambiance was nonexistent. It was like a log cabin meets with a bar, meets a Halloween themed arcade? No theme, just randomness. No Japanese decor at all and I don’t think a single Japanese person works their. Not very “authenticity Japanese”.

First the menu is short due to Covid, which is fine, however they didn’t advertise this before hand so we made the trip not knowing they didn’t have sushi.

Second, We got there right as they opened and it was dirty everywhere. The table was sticky, the booths were dirty and the floors had so much gunk. There were wires hanging all over the place (they clearly do live shows), flies, and tables with dirty and old food stuck to the bottoms. Pictures attached for reference.

We got there at 4:05, they open at 4, so that means that the restaurant was dirty from the day before, not from a previous person sitting there before us. So not only are they too understaffed to provide full service they’re clearly too understaffed to properly clean. Even though they’re closed half of the week and most of the day.

I’ve worked in Food and Beverage for a long time and I know now are hard times so I don’t mind that they were self service. However the self serve water station wasn’t very organized and I didn’t even drink my water because it had so many bubbles in it, but it was free!

We also had to go to the front to order, so if you don’t like self service this isn’t the place for you. Again didn’t bother me, but I was hoping someone would have at least came to check on us.

Next, the food was terrible. The shrimp tempura was clearly not fresh. It was soggy. The pork gyoza was the only thing I liked.

My boyfriend had fried rice, the rice was over cooked. It was drenched in sauce, and when he told the chef he didn’t like it, the chef tried to blame it on it being too spicy. That was not the issue, we love spicy food, I’m Jamaican, spice is my life, this rice was just bad and the flavors didn’t balance at all.

There’s a little plaque detailing the owners transition from food truck to restaurant, to be just as rude as he is to his customers, you should have stayed in the food truck. You clearly can’t run a proper restaurant. From the dirty tables and booths, to the missing titles boarded up in the ceiling, to the poorly spray painted light fixtures, and all the rude responses to your customers. I can’t believe you have any good reviews. Oh wait, you pay for those reviews with stickers!

Jay if you’re still reading this, I don’t want a rude snarky response, just do better or Hey, you can start Wabi Sabi back up again, the restaurant is falling...

If you told me 15 years ago that the Water Gap Diner would be serving Ramen and brewing their own sake in the future, I'd have laughed. I'm glad I didn't know what was coming, it would have taken away from the shock of it all. Sango Kura is something I needed, without knowing how badly I wanted it. Traveling 2 hours for Ramen is a thing of the past. Getting a plate of hot, delicious noodles locally is a reality now. Did I mention they brew their own Sake?!

My buddy Jake accompanied me for this trip as he was a seasoned veteran of the Water Gap Japanese delights and I needed some guidance...and a night hanging out with a great friend. He is also a Sake drinker, which helped as well. I typically am not much of a sake guy myself, but I was intrigued looking at this menu. They had a sake that was aged in Bourbon barrels. Bourbon...is something I do. A lot. This tasted nothing like any Sake I've ever had before, in a very good way. I ended up having 3 glasses. I nearly bought a bottle to take home, and will definitely be doing so in the near future.

For an appetizer (on Jake's suggestion) I went with the "Tako Yaki". These were basically just a ball of octopus that had been battered and had some sauces and some bonito flakes on it. I am always weary when ordering octopus dishes out...any duration too long and you've got yourself a goodyear appetizer. These were excellent. Soft and the octopus was a bit firm with great flavor. The sauces played well off of this and the bonito flakes were a fun dancing addition to the dish. Would absolutely order these again.

For the entrée, now that I've talked about ramen 15 times...I didn't get ramen. The "Yaki Meshi" just caught too much of my attention for me to ignore my urges. This fried rice dish (enough rice to feed 3 people honestly) had cabbage, mushrooms, pork, and a fried egg. I ordered it extra spicy and it was just spicy enough to make me happy, but nothing overbearing at all. Another dish I'd certainly re-visit, but I do believe next time in I must try the ramen. Of course the time after that I'll need to try the Yaki Soba. Seems as though I have a lot of trips planned out.

Sango Kura, zero doubt about it, Delaware Water Gap, PA -...