Goma Tei Ramen — Restaurant in Honolulu

First time for me was Sunday. A friend took me. He said, “This place is better than Tenkaippin Ramen in Kapahulu.” So I was excited because Tenkaippin is a great ramen restaurant. Unfortunately we came on a bad day (I guess). We waited 30 minutes for a table which is always good news for a restaurant. When we got to our table there were only two people serving the floor. With a packed house that meant the wait was going to be long. We waited and talked then ran out of things to say haha. Eventually a person came to give us our waters. They were extremely busy. I ordered the fish dumplings and tan tan ramen, my friend ordered the same with gyoza on the side. The soup was hot but the noodles were warm. The fish dumplings were warm as well. Not much flavor. I ate sparingly. My friend ate his noodles but didn’t touch the soup base and he ate one gyoza. I asked him how his noodles were and he said, “Okay I guess.” That was not the response I expected but I felt the same. The menu was filled with many different dishes perhaps I chose the wrong one for me. I don’t like everything on a restaurant menu so this place was no different. I thanked my friend for lunch..but next time I’m going back to Tenkaippin. I also think on such a busy day they should have more servers. I went to the Kahala Mall location and one nice thing is Kahala Theater is...

Ordered the Chashu Tan Tan Ramen level 2. It wasn’t spicy at all and the broth was thin for a tan tan ramen considering it should have a little creamy texture to it. Aside with a little bit of spinach and green onions, there is nothing else in it. Now, I am not a ramen connoisseur but for the price, I tend to expect to have more toppings for a ramen in a restaurant, and not just only the meat. It had no egg, no seaweed, no fish cake, no bean sprouts, no bamboo shoot, none. A standard tan tan ramen should have most, if not all of these in it. If you'd like a ramen with seaweed and egg, guess what, there is an item for that but there's no meat in it. The ramen felt rushed and lazily cooked. They put too much broth to the point you can't see the noodles in the bowl. The chashu tasted bland and flavorless and I couldn't finish the soup because there was just too much of it. The fried rice was pretty good though. Overall, it certainly does hit the spot, but the taste was just decent and not a home run delicious. Service...

I came to eat tasty noodles advertised as made fresh and imported from Japan. Expecting to taste good dashi. The broth often made with dried shrimps and konbo a fairly large flat seaweed. Here there was an overwhelming variety and choices off the menu, but none flavored as I expected. My choice was #1 on the menu which was a broth mixed with sesame oil and it seems miso and a touch of spiceness. I requested very mildly spiced and was graciously accomodated.

We were pleased with the service. But didn't care for the flavor of the broth japanese style car siu and sesami flavored broth. The 2nd person had the fish cake dumplings and a clearer broth, a broth we both appreciated. The tastes were new to us. None of the customers this afternoon were orientals/Asians. We came to try, but likely won't return for more meals. Hostess was very gracious and...