Silverlake Ramen — Restaurant in Irvine

Review for visit on October 9, 2024

My coworkers and I work across the street and frequently visit Silverlake as it's one of our favorite spots. The ramen is pretty decent (not my favorite meat but broth is super good) and we love their curry bowl. However, this experience left us with a bad taste in our mouth. 3 of us ordered the Blaze ramen bowl, and unfortunately after eating about half of my bowl I noticed one of the things stuck to the side of my bowl wasn't a piece of chili like I initially thought. I poked it around and saw very clearly that it was a bug, I'm not sure if it's a baby cockroach or what type but absolutely disgusting either way!

Our female server was not available so we called the male server/host over and explained the situation and all he said was "oh." And grabbed the bowl to take away. He did ask if I wanted another bowl but I had zero appetite for another bowl with broth that's been cooked with this bug. My coworkers who ordered the same thing were also grossed out because it's likely they had the broth used from this same batch where the bug came from.

When our female server gave us the check, we noticed she did not remove my bowl. I called her over and politely asked if the guy had told her there was a bug in my bowl, assuming she probably didn't know and that's why it wasn't removed. She just said "yeah but did you want another bowl?" And I said "no I don't" and stared at her confused. If she knew about it and knew I didn't get a replacement, why was it still on the bill? So she went to remove it thankfully but very odd that I had to ask.

We were all extremely upset with how this was handled. We acknowledge that it's impossible to avoid bugs in food 100% at restaurants, but they provided zero customer service for that type of situation. I have unfortunately had it happen to me elsewhere and the server was extremely apologetic and immediately took it off the bill without me having to ask. We would have expected similar customer service here but I got ZERO apology from the initial guy who took away my bowl or from the female server.

For that alone, we will no longer be returning. My coworker put the whole bill on his card and did not tip due to this situation and how our server handled it. I hope management sees this and trains their employees on how to better handle these situations. To not even get an apology for the situation is...

I sadly had a very negative experience today at Silverlake Ramen Irvine Spectrum and am deeply disappointed. My friends and i visited this restaurant today excited to eat some ramen, as we have never been before and had heard good things. We sat down and our waiter was already extremely cold and rude. He did not greet us and pressured us into ordering immediately when we said we weren’t ready. I asked him an open ended question about one of the dishes and he rolled his eyes, said “no.” i asked him about the spice levels and he corrected me when i said i wanted spice level medium and he said “uh you mean 2” like i was stupid and rolled his eyes. He would not explain the spice levels and rushed me. the restaurant was close to empty. He looked me up and down and gave me a dirty look. I don’t know what i did to this man we were friendly, he must have been having a bad day. Regardless, it was very upsetting and i wanted to leave immediately but my friends were excited for their food so we stayed, although we should have left. He delivered it without saying a word, and in front of me was a bowl so spicy it was inedible and i am someone who can handle spice. I could not eat my ramen at all. We all were very upset visibly and he never came over to ask us how our meal was or if we wanted anything. Thankfully, a blonde female waitress came over and asked what was wrong and we told her how upsetting the service was and i sent my ramen back and did not want it remade because i had lost my appetite. She offered 50% off our meal and apologized on his behalf. As soon as she walked off, we heard her laugh to her coworker about how it was the 3rd complaint that night. Never once did the actual server apologize for his behavior. He smirked at us after we complained in a taunting way. Terrible experience and we will never return. For reference for the company, the man was 5'8ish, sparse mustache/beard, chubby, and of asian descent. I was deeply upset by this interaction. I appreciate the female waitress but clearly they did not care and i find this extremely unacceptable for a restaurant. i wanted to reach out here so that your company could be aware of this because i would hate for someone else to experience the service we received tonight,...

Glad I stumbled upon Silverlake Ramen yesterday evening (7/10/20) during my stroll in the Spectrum Shopping Center. Their sign that showed a yummy bowl of ramen with the title “best ramen in town” caught my eye (and oddly enough sign I typically go straight to reviews first). So I stopped by the host station to check out their menu and I pretty much decided to stay after being greeted warmly by the two hostesses.

Food: I had an awesome waitress Sophia gave me great recommendations which I was able to confirm from the Yelp reviews. To start, I ordered the Pork Belly Bun and my…. DELICOUSNESS!!! You must try- and the price is very good for the quality. It gave me the “melt in your mouth” experience. Ugh, can’t wait to go back. Since I’m a spicy chicken ramen lover, ordered The Blaze with Chicken at spicy level medium. This definitely got the job done. The bowl was huge, the portion was filling, and the two pieces of chicken were large. You really get what you pay for. The spice level was perfect. They also have add-ons like corn.  I also was very pleased with the brand

Atmosphere: beautiful. Inside is chill and upscale and they have plenty of seating. Great spot if you want to eat alone and people watch with patio views (which was what I did) or the shade patio open pace or inside with shade and still enjoy views. Great for social distancing and everyone is wearing masks.

Customer service: FIVE STARZZZ. I was honestly blown away at how well I was treated. Everyone was super friendly, from the host and especially my waitress, Sophia. She had a great attitude and knew a lot about the menu. Her friendliness really brightened up my day. On top of that, the manager came by to ask how I like the the pork belly bun and authentically shared about how they prepared it and he was glad I liked it. I had an unusually long wait for my ramen to arrive. I was clearly an oversight and everyone was so apologetic. Even the CHEF Henry came to my table to apologize and make it right. I was blown away- he was so sincere and I really appreciated the stellar service. I look forward to coming back with my family and friends.

100% recommend this place- can’t wait to return! I hope y'all stay consistent with the...