Umami Ramen — Restaurant in Happy Valley

I came here specifically because I saw that dipping noodles was on the menu. I haven't seen this anywhere since I was in Japan as part of an exchange program in high school, so I had to come!

First off, this place is kind of unassuming, but what I've found is that unassuming places usually have the best food at the best prices. It's in a strip mall/shopping complex, with parking out front and a bunch of different restaurants in the complex. The restaurant is narrow, but really deep. You actually sit at booths that line the kitchen, and you can hear the chefs cooking.

I'll admit, I was a bit nervous about the recipe that they were going to use for the dipping noodles. I've never heard of "bonito dashi" and had to look it up. (And yeah, I know that trip to Japan really served my Japanese skills well.) I'll admit I'm not a super big fan of seafood or fish, so I told the server if it was possible to avoid the bonito in my order. The server was beyond polite and accommodating, and after a quick conversation, we decided I'd probably like the broth from the black garlic tonkatsu. She went the extra mile and served the black garlic sauce on the side as a just in case. After a quick taste test, I dumped all that black garlic into my broth! And the noodles were unbelievable - it definitely wasn't the same dish that I had in Japan, where the noodles were served cold and with a tiny dish of dipping sauce. This was a full-sized bowl of noodles with a full-sized bowl of broth. You took noodles from one bowl, dipped them fully in the broth, and ate them.

My friend got the Umami bowl. The chicken karaage in it looked delicious!

Hands down, I will be coming here again when I'm next...

I started eating the ramen, didn’t like it (the meat was tough and the egg not runny) so I told the waitress that I had no interest in finishing it.

I ate the egg. Had some broth (which was the only part that I liked) and I hade one bite of the pork.

I knew I was unhappy and not interested in eating anymore of it. I told the waitress I would pay $5 or $6 which is just under half of the $13 the full meal costs since I did eat some of it.

The picture is what I left UNEATEN.

Its not the food that caused the 1-star review. Its the fact that the manager (or cook? Not sure which) came out and started to publicly argue with me, THREATENING TO CALL THE POLICE if I refused to pay the $13. Seriously. I had been respectful, low key about my disappointment in the food, not looking to embarrass the staff or other customers- willing to pay a portion to cover what I did eat and he came out with threats and intimidation.

When I pointed out that I DID tell the waitress within five minutes of getting my food that I wasn’t happy with it and wasn’t going to finish it, he went back, checked my story with her (who confirmed it because I’m not a liar) and that was the last I saw or heard from him.

I didn’t get an apology from him for treating me like that in front of everyone, embarrassing me, himself and the other guests. He didn’t come back at all.

Instead, he sent the waitress out with my credit card, saying they weren’t going to charge me. No police, I guess, were deemed necessary.

To the waitress, you were wonderful and courteous. I’m sorry that it escalated as ridiculously...

Best noodles in Ramen I've had yet. Holy God is it good. They also don't cheap you out of half an egg. They give you the whole egg!! 5/5 Take your family here! (2021 review)

Edit: 9/2023 I've gone to this place multiple times, probably about 30 times from my last review, and I do have to say they have a consistency issue. I always get either the Spicy Tonkotsu or the Black Garlic Ramen. I am very familiar on how they should taste and look at this restaurant. They have gotten better with their noodles clumping, but last time the Spicy Tonkotsu ramen was flavorless and was only spicy. Honestly, it looked like water dyed with red 40, when normally it's not all that red and way more chicken/pork flavor. My friends also got the Black Garlic ramen, which had very little black garlic in it, and they had similar complaints with the bowls not tasting as good as last time.

TLDR: There are some good days and bad days with this shop. Just hope when you bring your date that it's on one of...