Strings Ramen Shop Madison — Restaurant in Madison

I'm a big fan of ramen, so I wanted to check this place out. I was slightly less excited than I otherwise might have been to go to a new ramen place in Madison because I'd been to one of the locations in Chicago and just wan't impressed. But I convinced my wife we should take our 2.5yo daughter to Strings Sunday.

Our visit did not start off well. There was a wait, which was fine. We got on the list, and then a few other people came in behind us. One woman asked for a table for two and waited alone--her companion wasn't there yet. Then the hostess sat her, despite the fact that we'd been waiting longer and that our entire party was present. I brought this to the hostess's attention, and she said she had a table getting prepped for us. But we still had to wait another five to ten minutes for our table. When we were finally seated, the manager came over and offered us free edamame and gyoza for the mixup, and the hostess came over and apologized. Mistakes happen, and the Strings staff made it right. I really appreciated that.

The menu is written in a slightly confusing way, but our waitress explained it all. She also offered a significant preamble to the whole thing, explaining that all the noodles and soups are made in-house from scratch and that the tonkotsu takes 48 hours to make. I find this kind of thing annoying, and the people next to us actually interrupted the waitress to tell her they were familiar with ramen. I didn't do that, but I could do without the introductory lecture.

Strings offers a few kinds of ramen--shoyu, miso, and tonkotsu. There are a number of sides available, and a few additional toppings. The menu also puts a huge emphasis on Strings' ability to make really, really spicy ramen. That's fine, but it's not my thing.

Another thing that annoyed me about the place was that they yell every time someone comes in the door. It was some Japanese phrase I'm unfamiliar with, but it's gimmicky.

Anyway, we ordered, and the food came out very fast and was very hot. That was impressive. Our waitress forgot to bring my wife's soda, and my soup had woodear mushrooms in it despite my request that they be omitted.

The food itself was decent. My bowl of tonkotsu was porky in a good way, but underseasoned. I'm not sure what they're using for a tare, but it needs more salt or umami or both. The noodles were also just OK. The menu says that they're using egg noodles, which strikes me as odd because I make ramen noodles myself all the time and have read numerous recipes, and have never found any recipe that uses eggs. As a result, the noodles didn't feel like ramen noodles. Instead, they felt like Italian-style pasta. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it's unusual at a ramen place.

The toppings were OK. The pork belly was crispy on one side and tender, soft, and juicy throughout, but it didn't have very much flavor. The marinated egg was cooked perfectly and brought a nice semi-sweet counterpoint to the savory soup.

I asked for a level-3 spice sauce as a side. It was extremely spicy, and nuked the flavor of the soup for me. I wish I'd either ordered a lower level or used less. Obviously, that's my fault and not Strings'. Also, my moderate spice tolerance plays a part there.

My wife got one of the rice bowls. She reports that it was fine. My daughter shared some of my tonkotsu, and loved it.

The space itself felt cramped--the waitress repeatedly bumped into me while waiting on the next table. This wasn't her fault--the tables are just crammed really close together in the corner.

The staff was friendly and welcoming. They repeatedly engaged my daughter in a friendly way, which I appreciated. They were extremely attentive and fast.

Overall, I'm glad that we checked the place out, but I don't feel any urgent need to return, especially when Morris Ramen has better food for less money. I can't imagine the circumstances in which I would ever go to Strings over Morris, simply because Morris does...

The ramen was delightful, the service was horrible! We had the manager as our server (for whatever reasons she decide to tell us that she was a manger when she was ringing us up). She was so rude to us it was uncomfortable.

We got there at around 2:30 on a Sunday - there were a few tables but it wasn't packed or anything. The waitress came almost immediately to see if we were ready to order. We said no and that we had some questions and she was acting like it was a 2+ hour wait kind of day - rolling her eyes at us and being like "okay what are your questions? Your questions? I asked you what your questions are?" before I could even answer her once...it was overly intense for a slow afternoon.

We ordered a bunch of apps + each a ramen so it is no surprise we all had leftover ramen. I asked to get what was left of mine to go..and she said "we don't have ramen to go, but I can package yours up even though it won't taste good later". This was my 2nd time here and my first waitress immediately asked us if we wanted our leftovers packaged up - this is not unusual or really a big deal but she was incredible rude - mumbling this as she picked up my bowl to package it up. My other 2 friends also got their leftover packaged up as well. The waitress/manager couldn't seem to get over it and kept commenting that she had never packaged up that much leftover ramen in all the time she has worked there. Okay? Just trying to make us feel bad?

When we went to pay I asked for 1/3 of the bill to go on my card and 2/3 to go on my friends (who is a couple). She was again super weird about it saying that typically servers will only split bills equally but because she is a manager she can do it for us. I even did the math of 1/3 for her so she didn't have to figure it out. They have a computer system so i don't understand how that could be so hard or "special"? Especially when I gave exact numbers of what was to be charged on what card.

It was seriously one of the worst service experiences I have ever had and I eat out A LOT! It is hard to describe her general attitude/demeanor towards us but both me and my friend come from service industry and typically are pretty forgiving to servers. It was painful.

I do want to re-iterate the ramen was very good, as was the gyoza (we tried the veggie and the shrimp). Food: 5 stars, service: 0 =...

This morning, I sat across from the doctor as he looked me in the eyes and told me I had only 24 hours left to live. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. I had so much left to do. I was just two years into paying off a 30-year mortgage. My beloved cockroaches—Jequisha Acadamious Tarantino and Kevin Garret Ford—would have no one to feed them, and my hardwood floors would grow dusty without me to wax them.

But then, a strange clarity washed over me—I knew exactly what I had to do. I went home, released Jequisha and Kevin to roam free, turned my back on everything, and began walking. I walked all the way from Dubuque, Iowa, through pain and fatigue, pushing my body beyond its limits, driven by a force I couldn’t name. When my vision blurred, the distant glow of Heaven’s Kitchen somehow kept pulling me forward.

When I finally stumbled through their doors, there was a chair waiting for me, as if fate itself had saved it just for this moment. My final task, my last purpose—was here: to sit down, devour ramen, and in my own small, reckless way, stimulate the economy. It’s all I’d ever wanted, really (I’ve never been one for financial responsibility).

So I cashed in every last bit of dogecoin along the way, holding onto whatever hope I could find, and somehow, miraculously, I’d made enough. With what remained of my strength, I ordered the infamous Hell Ramen Level 5 and ate as if my life depended on it. The heat seared through me, an ichor burning in my veins, as if that fire itself could keep me alive.

And now, 24 hours have come and gone, and I’m still here. Day 3 has passed, and I’ve returned home, a fiery warmth in my soul, still feeling that hellish ramen fueling my every step like a finely tuned Harley Davidson engine.

When I opened the door to my house, I was met by a swirling, writhing wave of cockroaches. Jequisha and Kevin had multiplied in my absence, a vast, unstoppable horde of shiny exoskeletons and twitching antennae, their tiny pincers holding me down in a bone-crushing embrace of love. I am no longer their owner—I am their ruler. Together, we roam the block, and they call me Greg, their leader. The fire in my soul keeps them calm. Heaven’s Kitchen gave me life, and now, with my loyal swarm, I’m unstoppable. My hardwood shines with their feathery legs.

Thank...