Uchiwa Ramen — Restaurant in Emeryville

It was the worst bowl of Ramen I've ever had, bland, overpriced. Owner is very arrogant and rude. Being a career server and coming from Ramen houses myself, this was a nightmare experience. I told the server that I did not like the food and wanted to close and head out. I felt it was obvious I didn't like the dish as it sat untouched for some time. The servers did not check in with us. I expected to have it removed as is customary, they had left it on the bill. My kid & I took 1 bite. The server left Hi-Chews, I said we don't eat pork(an ingredient), that we're vegan and asked that he remove them. He left them and went to ask the manager about refunds. The owner came to my table eating a bowl of the soup I ordered arguing that it wasn't bland and tasted good to him. An embarrassing ordeal for me. He claimed he's not used to people saying they dislike his food, demanded I pay full price. By the way, reviews online say otherwise. Many have said what I said and also noted his hostility towards guests who dislike their meal. They never took away the Hi-Chews that I'd ask be removed. My kid ended up eating one. We're vegan Buddhists. This was a disastrous dining experience. Only giving 1 star for cucumber salad that was good. I wish I could give less. This is lawsuit material, owner when I told him these had pork acted baffled. Know the ingredients of the food you are serving. If someone says they're vegan, don't give them meat. What if my kid had an allergy? She's never eaten meat before. Sticking to Mensho & Marafuku who are reliable and quality. This place doesn't know hospitality or how to take feedback or even properly check in on tables or pace food, they are not in the businessof listening to guests here. We were the first table sat and watched as 2 other parties all got their food first, only for when it arrived for it to be the worst Ramen of our lives. In the end I paid 50% for something I hated and barely touched, along with public...

Been twice now and have tried both ramen and a tonkatsu plate. Both were awful, tbh. The price point just didn't make any sense.

Ramen: Overcooked noodles that taste like the kind you get prepackaged from the grocery store and the server tried to argue with us that the shoyu ramen we were mistakenly served was a tonkotsu ramen, despite being a clear broth with no hint of the milky, thick broth that usually comes with tonkotsu ramen. Never in my life have I had one with clear broth, and I've had a ton of ramen in my life, including in Japan. I always order tonkotsu with rare exceptions. This was worse than cheap mall ramen but with a Marufuku price tag, regardless of the (non-Japanese) server trying to convince us that we got what we ordered. They insisted that tonkotsu broth is clear and that the others add milk to the broth (like BRUH that's so hilariously wrong I think it broke my brain in the moment). Just FYI to the staff: the milky color comes from the pork bones they simmer for a long time, not dairy.

Now the tonkatsu. Portion was generous, but for some reason, instead of just using Bulldog brand or any other standard katsu sauce, they decided to try making their own. I got some kind of lumpy, purple(!!), jam-like sweet paste without a hint of Worcestershire that was disgusting and also nowhere in the ballpark of tonkatsu sauce...It wasn't even in the same sport.

All these missteps just makes me think there's not a single Japanese person or even person of East Asian descent anywhere in the kitchen because there's no freaking way they could sincerely be fine with what's going out. The food is like a game of telephone gone horribly wrong.

To their credit, the karaage was fine. It's hard to mess...

(Would not come back) (Overpriced!!) (Do NOT use chopsticks!!!) I got the tonkotsu ramen for like $23 with no add ons..

[Food] It tasted pretty average (honestly below) cause it made me feel sick after eating it. Maybe it was the regular portion size (was a bit much for me) but I trust it was whatever the broth or ingredients contained. Not a healthy meal overall. I had to run up and down the stairs like 20 times and walk around the plaza to feel okay.

[Chopsticks] The chopsticks were awful, left my lip burning from it's splinters. I would have rubbed the chopsticks together to clear it from splinters but some restaurants see that as an insult. End of story, the right side in between my lips (the side that rubbed against the chopsticks) was left with a burning sensation that I had to rinse with water. Visible splinters on the chopsticks warned me but I expected better from Uchiwa..

[Service] Overall very welcoming and kind, good listeners but at times I felt closely watched as I was eating.. I was given the bill before I was done eating which made me feel rushed even though there were many empty seats and no line outside. I'll give them some slack because I was attended as soon as I reached the door so they were probably doing their best. The large main table was sticky but to be fair I've noticed that in some ramen restaurants (sticky tables). Not a big fan of it though.

[Overall] Good service and food leaves something to be desired (or avoided). At least what I got, I'm sure the other food can change my opinion. Maybe.. Well I won't find out because I don't plan...