Hanabi Ramen & Izakaya — Restaurant in Fort Worth

If you are passionate about food, especially ramen like I am, PLEASE read this. I have 10 years in the restaurant industry, and 2 as a GM for a Ramen shop.

I came during noon around when they open, and it was very easy to get seated. Only one other table. I was immediately greeted by the waitress who looked EXTREMELY annoyed she took me. There was only one other table on the other side in a different section. I smiled and was friendly since maybe people have bad days, but this attitude carried throughout my entire 20-25 minute stay.

I ordered the ‘Kara Miso’, and it came out relatively fast (ramen doesn’t take too long to prepare). That was nice and gotta give credit for presentation and time waiting. The colors and looks were good, but I noticed a few things. There are two THIN, SMALL pieces of chashu hidden in the bowl. Absolutely NO taste and was very bland - I was so disappointed about this as it can usually be one of the best experiences about the bowl. (There is ground chashu I found in the bowl which tasted normal unlike the two slices). Second was the smell - it was INCREDIBLY fishy. Now, ramen can have dashi which is made from fish, but the overwhelming smell was incredibly off putting for a chicken/ pork broth. It smelled terrible and pungent to say the least, and not warm and inviting. I mixed my bowl together in case the cook just added something on top last second, and the smell still persisted. Worst smelling ramen I’ve ever had. Third was the taste - Ramen is supposed to be incredibly savory, and can be described as Umami, even in texture. The added chili oil(?) was their version of spice & gave it a great color. It floated on top of the bowl which you can see in pictures, but was NOT spicy whatsoever (unless you’re 5 or 70 and can’t handle even black pepper). The taste was off… it was missing a lot of elements that make ramen delicious, but just ended up having a very intense fishy, fermented flavor. The broth was incredibly weak, and I couldn’t finish the whole bowl.

All in all, the place is fast and gets your food out. It’s a cool looking hole-in-the-wall, without giving you the suprise “wow, this food is hidden gem!” (Because it’s not). If you have the palate of a 7 year old and only eat chicken tenders, or eat at Lubbys/ Golden Corral, then this may be your flavor profile. The food is not appetizing, but it is edible. I honestly do NOT know how this place has so many positive reviews. I’m shocked, honestly. I powered through my $16 bowl because ✨money✨. The staff looked ANNOYED the entire time. I didn’t even do anything I tried my best to smile and be friendly 🙃🥲

2.5/10 experience. Wabi house down the street has probably the only edible ramen in Fort Worth that’s worth the cost. Please, don’t spend money here. I’m tired of terrible restaurants over charging for the simplest, cheapest, crappiest foods.

Hopefully someone sees this from the restaurant as I don’t want to bad mouth them for the future, but maybe take some feedback (smile at...

Came here with my boyfriend this past weekend. For starters, I am a huge fan of ramen and I have gone to other ramen shops therefore I have an idea of how I like my ramen.

This ramen shop - not very conveniently located in Fort Worth in a tiny area with barely any parking spots taking us about 20 minutes to get a parking spot but I'm not blaming the restaurant for that, welcome to the city of Fort Worth - was a good experience. Took only 10 minutes to be seated, our order was taken fast as well. At a glance they have quite a variety of ramen and side dishes all at great prices. We ordered the half and half bowls of ramen, his with Spicy Tonkatsu + Shoyu and mine with Spicy Miso + Black Garlic. We also ordered a bowl of Gyu Don, which was delicious and just the right amount to share as an appetizer.

I LOVE the Black Garlic Ramen! So much flavor and the noodles were a great consistency. I tried the Shoyu as well and also loved it.

It was when I got to trying the Spicy Tonkatsu and Spicy Miso that my experience dwindled down a little bit. Not much flavor to them, in fact they tasted the same. The "spice" was simple chili oil (I'm guessing) which was a bit of a let down considering it takes away from the flavor, it's (obviously) oily, and it's not spicy. As someone who loves spice and flavor, it definetely was a little bit of a disappointment.

Nonetheless, very good service and we enjoyed our time there. Great portion sizes at...

HOW IS THIS PLACE NOT CONSTANTLY BUSY?!?! Their food is AMAZING. Their service is AMAZING. Their restaurant looks AMAZING!!!! There's always sometime to greet you as soon as you walk in, there's a small cozy bar just inside the door, an awesome little area with a large round table that would be perfect for a group as it's a little separated from the rest of the place, and past that there are cozy booths and large tables to accommodate any group. The food is incredible! Best gyoza I've ever had... Like seriously! Gyoza happens to be a huge favorite of mine and this is the only place I'd recommend it! The curry is perfect, spicy but not hot and packed full of amazing complex flavors. There's another chicken app there, starts with a k I think but I can't remember - anyway figure it out and order that immediately! It's savory bites of real chicken in a spicy sauce that has hints of sweet and lots of yummy spicy that doesn't burn your mouth 🤤 and these are just the apps I've ordered on my last two visits... So when I say run doing walk to this restaurant and order you any of the ramen dishes - I'm dead serious. It's the food your soul doesn't know it needs! So far I've tried 5 different ones and they're so amazing I can't pick one to recommend. Not only is their food beyond delicious - it's consistently amazingly delicious. And that's not easy to find nowadays!! Grab your friends and have dinner...