Ani Ramen House — Restaurant in Montclair

Please read the whole review as the stars does not do justice to the experience my friend and I had today. For starters parking is a bit tough and the best parking is on the street but good luck finding a spot on a busy street. There is parking in the back but it is paid. Cost is minimal, roughly 2 bucks for 3 hours.

Customer service: So one thing about this place is the excellent customer service. My friend and I were seated quickly and after a quick look at the menu our server Shaun came over. We asked a few questions about the menu and the guy couldn't be more helpful. He is a super down to earth guy that answered all of our questions and helped us not only get what we want but helped build an awesome ramen bowl.

Food: Now to the part you all want to hear about

Bao buns: Every order of Bao comes as two buns so per Shaun's suggestion my friend and I ordered the pork belly and the spicy sausage bao bun. Keep in mind the sausage bao bun was a daily special so it might not be readily available hence why you should always talk with your server. The buns did not dissapoint at all, the sausage was delicious and crisp. While the pork belly was super tender and juicy. The spicy mayo sauce on top of the buns was to die for. 10/10

Chicken Karage: unfortunately the chicken was the weakest dish out of all as the chicken felt a bit dry. By no means was it bad but certainly leaves a lot of room for improvement. If I may suggest, please add more dipping sauce options as that can also greatly enhance the experience. That being said I give it 7/10

Ramen: the main dish 😋, so the ramen bowl was beyond amazing. I suggest you get it with an egg and I myself got the oh so hot miso ramen. The bowl looked beautiful, and the pork used in the Bao buns was used in the ramen bowl which made it delicious. The egg was slightly runny and added a ton of flavor. The only thing they will lose points for was the broth was slightly greasy but flavorful nonetheless. My rating is a 9/10

Overall experience was great and would...

We have been coming to Ani Ramen for years now and sadly have seen the service of this restaurant decline.

TLDR: The food on our last visit was ok, the atmosphere not good, and service horrible.

Our night began by being seated immediately however we sat and waited for approximately 15 minutes for a server to approach us. It took so long that we began questioning if we were even noticed! My wife also had to ask two different servers for chopsticks, which STILL never came and I was forced to go to another table to grab the chopsticks sitting there. I also noticed another table who became frustrated about napkins and their requests for them who got up and went to the front of house to get some for their table. This may have been slightly understandable if the restaurant was busy, however it was fairly empty! The servers also seemed to be more interested in socializing than tending to tables.

I ordered the seasonal short rib ramen and my wife the brothless ramen. We also ordered a salad and edamame as apps. Firstly the edamame never came out, had to request it twice and when it finally arrived I was half done with my ramen. My ramen was just ok, the noodles were not great very thin and seemed "off" from previous visits. The broth itself was very salty. My wife's brothless ramen was good however noted to me that she has watched the meat portions decline over the times we have been coming and was very dissapointed at what she received tonight. Finally the atmosphere, having been there many times before it was never a problem however tonight the music that was being played was extremely profane with language I'd NEVER expect to hear in a restaurant. I was very taken back. Now I'm not one to listen to "clean" music but I'd never expect to hear this in a restaurant in Montclair.....maybe I'm just getting old. But after many years of frequenting Ani Ramen it may be time to find a new Ramen place to patronize. 2 stars for the memories, honestly it was a 1...

I've attempted to order delivery from here three times via Grubhub and it has been cancelled every time with the message being they are closed. I just ordered today and it was about 8pm when on Google Maps, Grubhub, and Ani Ramen's automated phone response all state they should still be open.

This is extra frustrating since when I tried to call them I was given the option to speak to a person after their automated response and when I selected it I was given a message stating that their inbox is full.

Their food may be great but attempting to get it has been an exercise in frustration.

Update I'm updating my review from 1 star to 3 stars as I was finally able to successfully order delivery from Ani Ramen. I'm still pretty frustrated about it but I don't think it's fair to keep a 1 star rating especially after they responded.

As for the food, I ordered Tonkotsu ramen as I feel that's a pretty good standard to judge most ramen places by and I thought it was okay. Overall the flavor was a bit too muted for my tastes, the noodles themselves seemed to have arrived as a mostly solid block, and the pork pieces lacked color and flavor as if it had perhaps been a bit undercooked. It wasn't undercooked, the meat was fine. It just lacked that slight bit of browning and char that I've enjoyed at other places. Maybe it's a style choice, not sure. I had recently tried 7 Doors Down Ramen Co and I found their broth on the other end of the spectrum, a bit too salty for my tastes, but I preferable to Ani's for me. Their noodles also arrived as a block but softened up and separated after mixing with the broth unlike Ani Ramen's which remained quite clumped. Their pork was nicely browned and tasted better, for me anyway. I'm no ramen aficionado so I'm not sure if it supposed to be one way or the other but I preferred my pork to have that...