Umenoya Ramen — Restaurant in Lomita

Long story short: Food was decently priced, my dish (yakisoba) tasted okay, just a little watery. The spicy miso ramen was not good (friend’s review) and service can be much improved.

Arrived as a party of two. There were probably 4 other guests seated inside at the time. Requested to be seated outside, where there was a small square table with 3 seats around it and another 2 tables that were side by side with more seats around. We made our move to the two tables that were side by side and were instructed to sit at the single table. Alright I understand, maybe there will be a larger group coming in the future. Next my friend brought an unfinished can of Arizona tea to drink with their meal, we were told “no outside drinks”. I can understand this as well.

Once we were settled, the waitress handed us the menus and we ordered 1 yakisoba, 1 spicy ramen and 1 four piece gyoza. Gyoza came out first and had no issues with this. I thought the gyoza was tasty. From the outside my friend noticed that the condiments used to modify the ramen were located inside right behind the glass we were sitting outside of. I walked inside and attempted to take out the condiment tray but was stopped by the waitress and told that she would take them to us. She walked outside and asked which one my friend wanted and after some confusion on why the whole tray could not be outside, the waitress dropped off two condiments from the tray and left them on our table. Next the entrees came out. Started on my yakisoba and it tasted alright. The only thing I noticed with the yakisoba was water or liquid collecting at the bottom of the plate. My friend started to eat their spicy ramen and was disappointed at the first taste. My friend is very intimately familiar with Japanese dishes and was surprised at its taste, and even questioned themselves if they ordered the right item. The ramen was stirred and still it did not improve the taste. The ramen was missing the egg as well, so I walked inside and stated that the egg was missing and was told to check the bottom of the bowl. The waitress walked outside and watched as my friend turned over their bowl only to find out that the egg was not there. The waitress came out with an egg but was not apologetic in tone.

Not once were we checked on and asked “how is your meal so far?” The main problem with the restaurant was the service. Most of the issues can simply be remedied by adding a “sorry” in front of the sentence stating what we cannot do and maybe followed by a brief explanation why it is not possible. For example, “sorry those seats are reserved for larger parties” or “sorry you can not take out the condiments due to health and safety laws stated by the health inspector.” It comes off a bit rude/harsh and makes the customer feel unwelcome.

From what I could tell, there were 2 cooks and 1 waitress, maybe understaffed. This was on a Sunday around 2 hours from closing. Could it have been an off day for the restaurant, possibly, but it was not a good...

Wow, I mean wow! The Jiro Ramen here was everything I have been looking for in a ramen for years on years ever since I visited Japan.

To start off I was in the area around 10:45pm and was looking for a place to get a quick bowl of late night ramen. Was rejected at one place so I found myself driving here.

If you love salty, garlicky, pork deliciousness please order the Jiro Ramen with extra salt! Yes I know everyone in the states usually goes for the spicy miso but seriously there are so many different types of delicious ramen that you need to try.

Taste: 10/10 It’s been a long time since I had a ramen that was so rich and deep in pork/garlic. I was floating in a river of umami for the whole time I was eating my food. Ask for salty so that if you do end up getting a bunch of toppings like me the broth will stay flavorful as the toppings release water into the broth.

Texture: 9/10 I personally would put 10 but putting 9 as I know some people don’t like the texture of bean sprouts and cabbage, but for me that is the part of what makes the broth at the end taste so delicious!

Noodles: 10/10 if you like ramen you can tell when a ramen shop uses the generic store packaged ramen. These noodles were so incredibly flavorful, tangy, and held they bounciness for until the very last bite. The noodles did not get water logged at all and it was enjoyable through and through.

Service: 10/10 The waitress and cooks were very friendly. I came in at 11pm on a Saturday night and they looked tired but happy to greet me and made sure to let me know about last call. Very friendly and homey.

I will be back so please go to this place on another day so I don’t have to wait in line. It seems like the rating of 4.1 does not match the quality of food so perhaps they have recovered from the pandemic and the people who work on Saturday evening (chefs and waiters) really know what they are...

Umenoya's always been our favorite local spot for great ramen. So when they opened up for dine in we rushed on over to some noods. When we got there my kids rushed in excitedly to ask for a table. They were met by a stern waitress who pointed at a small sign and told us to get out and wait outside to get seated. Okay. No problem, our mistake. Not the warmest of greetings. So let's all go outside and get our temps taken. We were promptly seated in a nearly empty restaurant (only one other table). We ordered, the food came out quickly, and it was great. We ordered water for the 4 of us and were given a small pitcher of water. The lid was not workinag so great only allowing a trickle of water to pour out, no privilege. I removed it and poured out some water for my thirsty kids. Then I noticed a disgusting surprise, the underside of the white lid was crusted with brown gunk. It was totally gross, my kids were drinking from that! I was drinking from that! How does brown gunk even get on a lid of a pitcher of water? Did they drop it in s* and forget to clean it? The immediately flagged down the waitress who have a flippant apology and was told the dishwasher would clean it with hot water. Dude, the place is gross and dirty. What other nasty surprises did they serve us. I sincerely hope we don't get sick from eating here. TLDR: THERE ARE PLENTY OF OTHER OPTIONS FOR RAMEN IN THE SOUTH BAY. I WILL NEVER...