BAR RŌNIN — Restaurant in Millcreek Township

I am from Erie PA (born and raised) and currently work as a chef in a scratch French influenced New England seafood restaurant in Portland, Maine. I am not the greatest by any means, but I do look for value/flavor in the food I pay for.

Was looking forward to trying some new food in Erie during my visit home.

Atmosphere: excellent. So excellent, it masks the below-average food you are served. (Food is not bad, or great....almost very, very average. Which is why I believe the price you pay for food is more based on where you get to eat it.)

Staff: Our server Abs was a very nice person and did well for us as guests. The gentleman who was working the host stand was the same person who brought us our dessert. He brought us a flourless cake and set it on the table in front of us when we had asked for a chocolate cupcake (no big deal, easy fix!) The strange part was when I politely mentioned we wanted to share a cupcake, he stood there for a moment, said nothing, grabbed the cake and walked away (still said nothing). I saw him hand it back to the kitchen and silently delivered our cupcake. Not an issue at all, just was a strange interaction I took note of.

And of course, the food: To start, the 3 of us shared the Wild Salmon Tataki ($13). It was very good, slightly seared and sliced into 5 very thin pieces and served in a small pool of ponzu. Based on my butchering experience, it looked to be about 3-4 oz of salmon at most. The ginger was a nice touch.

We also got an order of the Chicken Salt Pomme Frites (aka french fries) for $4.50. These were sort of a let down, as we were served about a volumetric cup's worth of regular tasting soft cooked shoe string fries and three dipping sauces. Between all three sauces, there was so much left over (probably way too much to begin with). And I LOVE my fries dipped heavily in sauce. (The sauces were good, though.)

We all got ramen, two orders of Garlic Buttered Fried Chicken Ramen ($22 each) and one order of smoked brisket ramen ($24). I am not sure what happened, but my ramen didn't really taste like anything. Actually, no one's ramen tasted like anything. Which made me a little sad, because the garlic chicken ramen says on the menu it has black garlic and I LOVE ME SOME BLACK GARLIC but it just seemed to make the broth like dark water with no flavor. I asked for some salt, but it didn't help at all because the broth was so bland. Never in my life have I had a broth-based dish that I was so disappointed in. Also all our soft poached eggs had nice, runny yolks, but the white of the eggs were equally runny which was odd. I saw other reviews of people saying the ramen had no flavor and I thought "Eh, maybe they were just mad at a $22/$24 dollar bowl of noodles. I love fresh ramen, I'll try it." Everyone was right.

The dessert was nice, we were served a ice cream sandwich on fresh baked cookies ($6) and the miso caramel chocolate cupcake ($4).

Our bill was (before the tip) $119.

I am not trying to sway anyone in any direction, just trying to honestly share my experience. Personally, I'll take my $15 over-sized bowl of Phở when I get back to my new home in Maine. It is INCREDIBLE and full of...

One word, incredible. Bar Ronin is a new, Japanese restaurant located in the West Erie Plaza. Nestled in a corner, you come up to a modern entrance and walk in. It's softly lit with tables, chairs in the lounge and seating around the kitchen. It was full when we got there, highly recommend reservations. The maître de was friendly and took us to our seats at the kitchen. Sometimes that type of seating is awkward and loud. They were great seats, we got to watch all the cooks working on all the different food, it looked choreographed, they didn't run into each other and knew what they were doing. Started the evening with I drink I would never have ordered in the past #whythehellnot called The Lonely Ronin. The ingredients, Nikka Coffey Grain Whiskey, Carpano Antica, Aperol, Orange Blossom Honey & Reduced White Balsamic, I would never have put together. Served on the rocks, the first sip was a surprise, the flavors were strong. This was a sipping beverage, not one you want to have many of. Flavor is different, but really tasty. I would order again. My friend got Dreams of A Geisha which came in a tall glass and was a pretty color green. It looked super sweet but ended up not being that way, again, a very tasty drink. They garnished the beverage with a leaf of shiso, an herb in the mint family. It had a nice flavor, almost like basil but not. I know very helpful. And yes, I looked it up. We started with two appetizers, Whitefish Sashimi & Wild Salmon Tataki. Both looked incredible when they arrived, very pretty but the taste was outstanding. Perfect balance of flavors, I could have continued to eat more. For our entrees we both ordered the Smoked Brisket Ramen. Again, a pretty presentation, broth was flavorful, noodles cooked perfectly and a wonderful taste when all together. I would eat this instead of chicken noodle soup when not feeling well if I could. We also ordered Stir Fried Iceberg lettuce, yup lettuce. Served in a delicate pile on a plate, grabbed the first bite. It was damn good. Not in a million years would I think to stir fry iceberg lettuce of all the lettuces. The overall meal was incredible, great atmosphere reminded me more of a big city restaurant. Cooks were friendly and the waitress was knowledgeable about the menu and what would go with what. As a note, the food is not local diner prices, but it...

UPDATE** (changing my 1 star review to 5 star!!)

After a year of refusing to come back here…i was informed that the extremely unprofessional problem bartender (the reason all of my coworkers and i refused to come back) was no longer working at this establishment anymore and i decided to give it another try! I am sooo HAPPY i did. the place is an entire VIBE…the food is DELICIOUS…the drinks were BOMB! and it was only tainted by that terrible employee. it shows that someone can really make or break your business and i will tell you GREG, ROCHELLE, and RICHIE are a fabulous trio!! i called a couple of my co workers immediately and told them to come back! they did and we had an amazing time! all three of the bartenders are PROFESSIONAL, KIND, ATTENTIVE, FUN and you can tell they like what they do and they do it well together! the place was packed (in a good way) the music was good the ambiance was good 10/10 and cannot wait to come back with all my coworkers!!! 🙌🏽🙏 it will be our after work hangout spot again!

(1 star review a year ago)

i’ll try and make this as short and sweet as possible because honestly i could write a chapter of a book with what my coworkers and i have experienced there….for starters…they’re allergic to money. completely unaccommodating… when there is no where to sit at the bar and you have a large party who wants to eat the late menu they expect you to stand in the middle of the place and eat so basically you’re SOL. there’s like 10 of us and the bill is like $50 a person…before TIP. 😳 we arrive 2 hours before closing we’re ALL in the industry you would think they would be more accommodating seeing there was not ONE open seat at the bar….. one of the bar tenders has a HORRIBLE attitude and if she hated her job so much she should find a new one. i have NEVER seen her kind, cool, calm, or collective while doing her JOB. the other 3 bartenders and the servers are super nice and yet they’re best…. asked attitudinal for ketchup one time for the burger she brought out and she rolled her eyes and walked away pissy without answering….

(this isn’t the first time either…it’s EVERYTIME)

maybe we’re just used to being over accommodating and kind where we work so we thought we could get the same treatment 🤷🏽‍♀️

do better…. all of us are surely never...