Okiboru Duluth — Restaurant in Duluth

It's a big plaza so plenty of parking. Since there're many restaurants next to each other in the same area, most parking spot in front of the restaurant would be taken.

I have always wanted to try Okiboru out and this is the closet location to my house. It was not so crowded when we walked in on a Sunday night but most guests prefer table over the bar so the tables are mostly occupied. The bar area doesn't have actual kitchen or drink making area in the middle. Instead, the inside of the bar is used for utensil storage and more.

The staff is very friendly. The drawings on the wall is fun, you have to bring your own sharpie or pen to be able to draw but most space on the wall is already filled up with doodles and drawings.

The 3 stars is for the food. It's good enough but kind of underwhelmed. I probably expected more with all the 5 stars review. The wooden spoon they offer has the size of the ladle which make more sense for a pot, rather than a small bowl of ramen. I had to ask for a normal spoon to eat. We had 3 appetizers and 1 ramen but the quality is so so.

Crispy gyoza Ebi Karaage: it's like fried ground shrimp but somehow the texture makes it hard to feel the shrimp taste in it; though it's only shrimp in there. Okiboru chicken bun Tonkotsu: the noodle is hot enough for ramen but the egg is kinda cold which feel kinda off. The broth is very creamy and milky. There're 2 slices of chahu and half an egg. If there was any kind of vegetables like seaweed or mushroom, that would be nice.

Overall, the ramen is good enough but all the appetizers are only so so. Clean place and friendly staff. I would give it a try in a different location to see if they're the same or...

Had to give them a second try to see if I can rate their ramen and at the end it’s… Alright.

Appetizers are 100% better than the main course.

The first time around I tried the Tori Paitan. It was too boring for me. I didn’t enjoy it much and their chicken was thin and cold. It got boring fast. So.. I said alright, maybe i got the wrong thing.

Second time around I tried the Spicy Paitan tsukemen. If you’re telling me i’m paying $17 for a tiny bowl of broth, noodles, and literally 3 thinly sliced pieces of meat, it better be mind blowing delicious. Wrong. Didn’t finish, tried to split the noodles to 2 others, and left 2 pieces of the meat behind. In the end I probably ended up eating like maybe a quarter of it and left the rest behind. Why is the broth soooo thick, almost like a curry consistency? I know it should probably be thicker than your normal broth, but literally… CURRY CONSISTENCY. Also, it’s just warm. Idk about you but when I eat noodles and soup I like it to be hoooot. Not hot, or a little hot… Just warm. With all that the taste wasn’t anything special either.. For $17 I would expect better.

Service is alright.. Just a little slow. Took them a bit of circling back and forth before they came and closed our bill. We all already stopped eating, they asked if we wanted togo boxes, we said no. At that moment they didn’t ask if we were ready to pay (they should have). We had to wait another maybe 7-10m after that before they asked us. Why does their tip percentage start at 25%?! That’s kinda sketchy. It normally starts at maybe 15%/18% and work it’s way up. This literally goes the other way around. 25%, 20%, 18%.

Anyways, okay food, way over priced,...

We went there to today and was not disappointed. The service was on point, very attentive and helpful. Very welcoming

Before I came here I read the previous reviews and was wondering how it would be. But they definitely listen to their customers.

The setting is definitely for a younger crowd. I like the music it reminded me of anime music. Your able to draw on the walls (we love places like these - full of character)

We ordered the buns which were so good! We ate them very quickly.

We also both ordered the spicy tonkatsu ramen.

I was worried it would be bland but it was FULL of flavor. They put the spicy stuff on the side so you can control how spicy it is. I tried the sauce without the spicy and it was so good. Also I usually can’t stand when they put the spicy sauce on the side but the way their spicy sauce was - it wasn’t just flakes in oil it was different and was flavorful and spicy. I’ll put a pic of it if it lets me. The noodles also great. We definitely will be back. All the other ramen places in Duluth have either fallen off or are just meh. Im really glad we decided to try it here.

I love how it didn’t have a ton of toppings but it had tons of flavor- it came with scallions on it and next time I’ll probably say extra scallions lol

Their boiled egg was done well - it had a good soy flavor too it

Also we love the wooden spoon for the broth - it’s bigger than your traditional spoon and are able to get more soup and bits of goodness in it. I liked their chopsticks too- they were different than your typical wooden chopsticks.

We smashed this meal! And we’re...