Gaku Ramen Fort Collins — Restaurant in Fort Collins

Sooo, I’m going to try to be as nice as possible here but I have to be honest. Fort Collins is lacking in the culinary department, we all know this but especially when it comes to ramen. I was excited for Gaku to open and was hopeful for a good ramen option. I gave it some time to work out the kinks after opening but was disappointed on my first visit. We ordered the pork belly bao buns and the Sakana (shrimp) ramen. The Buns were very poorly executed, they don’t make fresh buns, the sauce was heavy mayo and lacked flavor and very little green onions or any other veggies they could have added. Just a strip of belly, sauce and very few green onions. Not great at all. The ramen has upcharges for spice, egg and garlic which I felt was excessive. Never had to pay to add an egg in a ramen before. The broth was ok, not terrible. Shrimp were grilled and had good flavor but the kicker was the 1/4 of a raw white onion that was sliced but not all the way sliced so each piece was a huge hunk, which is kinda lazy and lacked attention to detail. I’ve also never had that many raw white onions in a ramen and it completely overpowered everything and was off putting. The size of the bowl was pretty small and disappointing. The bill with tip for 2 ramens and two bao buns with tip was $69 for lunch. I’ve lived in some large cities that have incredible ramen shops but I’m honestly not sure this spot will survive and I’m bummed. Here’s to hope for the future of Fort Collins dining scene improving someday soon. This place...

Quick summary: If you want ramen in Fort Collins go to RamaMama instead.

Overpriced and poorly executed. Don’t get me wrong I understand spending 20 dollars for a bowl of ramen but I expect it to be much better than what you get here. Very few toppings, the portions aren’t particularly large, and the broth wasn’t much to write home about. The soft boiled egg costs $2.50 and came out hard boiled and barely marinated at all. Maybe I’m being picky too but the green onions were wilted and looked like they were cut with the dullest knife in the kitchen. Also a gripe for me is their lack of vegetarian options. The only ramen you can get is their shoyu. Most places I’ve been to have at least a vegetarian miso or even, albeit non-traditional, a mushroom dashi based tonkotsu. It’s not like the ramen is bad but it’s not worth the price by a long shot. Luckys market sells ramen that is as good as what you get here for 10 to 12 dollars. If you want mediocre ramen go there instead. Alternatively RamaMama is a much better option in Fort Collins for this price range. It’s not the best ramen ever like you might find in Denver or other large metro areas but for Fort Collins it’s definitely my favorite place I’ve found to go. Gonna have to be a pass for...

I was looking forward to trying this new ramen place in Old Town but I won’t be returning. The restaurant itself is lovely. Nice decor and live the new wood smell. The food, however, was somewhere between indifferent and underwhelming. The blistered shishito peppers were fine, but seems really overpriced at $10 for a small bowl. (And stacking two bowls on top of each other to create an illusion of size actually draws more attention to the serving size.) The ramen itself was fine. The noodles were springy and chewy in a good way, but was ultimately let down by the broth. The tonkotsu (pork bone) broth had a certain richness reminiscent of the real stuff in Japan but the only taste that came through was the funk of the bamboo shoots. I couldn’t chew through the fat in the pork chashu, which could have been better cooked or grilled. At nearly $20 a bowl, especially if you choose to add a topping or so, this is no affordable meal for university students despite the restaurant’s name. (Gaku means school and was supposedly inspired by ramen shops in university campuses in Japan. Laudable idea that would ideally be reflected in the taste and prices.) And don’t bother with the $1 spicy option; it’s just a teaspoon of some...