pastaRAMEN — Restaurant in Montclair

It took months to finally get a reservation here at a decent time (plenty of ones available after my bedtime, of course) but it was worth it, and the hype is justified. I came here with one of my top-tier chums on Saturday right at 5PM when pastaRAMEN opened. There were several groups milling around outside before the doors actually opened, which should give you some indication of how popular this place is - we saw a solid handful of hopeful diners turned away throughout the meal without reservations, which I'm not sure I've ever seen happen before. I'd recommend what we did beforehand so as not to come all the way over here and leave hungry and disappointed - I literally set up an alarm on my phone at 10am on October 1 so we could get a reservation for November. We do what we have to do in these uncertain times.

I was a little sad when I saw where this was; Villalobos used to be in this location, and I had a very pleasant dinner there a few years ago. RIP. The inside was completely different though, with very dark lighting and small cherry blossom trees throughout - several other reviewers have mentioned it, but it DOES have an NYC feel to it, not just in its exclusivity. We were seated towards the back right after they told the party in front of us they needed a reservation (theme of the night).

Despite studying the menu beforehand, we still ended up spending at least 10 minutes mulling this decision. Ultimately we went with the Cacio e Pepe Gyoza ($22), the Garlic White Tuna Truffle (the menu on the website says $39 but i'm pretty sure the in-house price was around $42) and the Temomi Ramen Shrimp Scampi ($24). Everything was astonishingly good. If there WAS a weak spot for me, it was the Gyoza and yet I'd still get that again in a heartbeat. My only issue with it was that the parmesan shredded on top gave it kind of a waxy texture, which was massively trumped by the taste anyway. The soft interior melted in my mouth. The Shrimp Scampi was the best I've had, and I couldn't even tell you how many of those dishes I've had in the past - yes, way too many of them were at Red Lobster. The ponzu gives it a great crunch, and it was cooked perfectly.

The Garlic White Tuna Truffle gets its own paragraph. My chum said it was the best food she'd ever had, and it really was close for me. The flavors in your mouth are just so complex and impressive. Most of my life is spent in puffer vests and jeans, but there's something about having a real truffle in your mouth that a pig worked very hard to locate in the soil of France versus truffle oil. There's no comparison, and you haven't lived in the gastro sense until you've been down this road. Let the porker do its work. (Full disclosure - I have no idea where these truffles were harvested, but the odds suggest not Montclair, NJ). To give you an idea of how good this was, we spent over $40 on three pieces of this, splitting the second, which totaled about three or four bites each. That's it. As soon as the waiter came back, we ordered another dish of it.

The service was exceptional. My chum used to work at a very popular restaurant in Morristown (not to this level, but it was hopping in its time), and mentioned to our waiter how nice it was to work at this kind of place, where the customers are happy just to get in the door, and the entire staff feels like a part of something special. It was absolutely true based on what I saw, and it came off of everyone in waves. Our waiter was hilarious, charming and attentive. This place got busy instantly, and nothing felt rushed or chaotic.

Yes, this is an expensive meal. You know it going in. I actually thought our bill would be higher but the BYOB coupled with the lack of dessert (they did have a to-go zeppole option that we considered but ultimately declined) brought it down to less than $100 per person. Not something I'd do every night or even every week, but this was a special occasion. We are not captains of industry. We are simple people, but for one night, we...

I am typically not one to write a negative review, however, this one is warranted. My parents and I dined at PastaRamen in October to celebrate my 33rd birthday. We had a lovely experience and enjoyed the food. So much so, that when I was able to snag a reservation for the 3 of us again, my parents were ecstatic. My parents are in their 70s and while sprite for their age, they had a hard time hearing in the restaurant - so did I. Regardless, we wanted to return for the food. Our reservation was at 8:15pm. We followed every request of the restaurant to confirm the reservation and show up on time. In fact, we were 10 mins early. When I checked in at 8:05pm, I was told my table would be ready soon. We were not seated until 8:35pm. Frustrating for a restaurant with such a strict time policy. Two other parties of comparable size that arrived after us were seated before us. For our first dining experience in Oct, we were seated at a 4-top, typical of any standard restaurant for a party of 3. Last night, we were put at one of the 4 booths in the middle of the restaurant intended for 2. Even though the table was set for 3, there was no way a third person could dine comfortably - the bench did not curve enough for a third person to have their food comfortably accessible in front of them. The other 3 tables just like this all had parties of 2 seated at them. While we were waiting to be seated, it had become evident that we had been forgotten about. At 8:25pm, my father had asked if they were still working to seat our party and one of the hosts seemed to not know we were still waiting. When we were seated at our table meant for 2, we requested to be moved to a 4-top. The host who sat us said she would need to ask her manager but a party of 4 would be coming soon. We asked for the manager, who had not been seen for about 15 minutes, to be sent to our table. We had to ask again 2x to have the manager sent over. The second host walked by and when we asked for a larger table, he told us we would have to wait another 30 minutes - by then, it was already 25 minutes past our reservation time, and we would not re-seated until 9:10pm. By 8:45pm, my parents and I were ready to leave. The manager never came to our table. We spoke to her on our way out explaining how hurt we were by the way we had been treated as customers. I shared with the manager, who interrupted me a few times (I had to request that she let me finish speaking) that we had chosen to return to the restaurant after a wonderful experience in Oct. I mentioned that even though my parents could not hear well in the restaurant, we had all wanted to enjoy the food again. She implied that she did not know what had been happening with our reservation and table. To me, that is completely unacceptable. Before we got up from our table, I saw her with both hosts - if neither host had yet mentioned to her what was happening, that is poor management and training on all parts. I don't know if it was the fact that we were a party of 3, arrived early, or may not look like the "typical" clientele, but from the moment I checked in, we were treated as less than. We were clearly forgotten about and placed at a table only meant for 2. I work in an industry that is customer service heavy - to say we received poor customer service last night would be an understatement. The manager should have been notified immediately when we asked about our table 20 minutes after checking in. For a restaurant that has such a strict arrival and seating policy, there is no excuse for us having to wait 20, 30, 45 minutes for a proper table. Thankfully, we were able to dine at another Montclair restaurant that was incredibly attentive and accommodating. As much as my parents and I enjoyed the food at PastaRamen, we will not be returning and will discourage friends and family as well. Please do a better job at training your front of house staff to be kind and accommodating to all customers so that something like this never...

The idea was there, but the flavors were missed.

I was very excited to try Pasta Ramen after seeing all the hype across social media platforms. Securing a reservation was rather hard as this place got booked up pretty quickly. Everyone wanted a taste of Pasta Ramen!

Upon arrival, there were no signs. Just a projected logo rotating on the floor. We entered the restaurant to a nice low-light ambiance (minus the circle light with day light settings that killed my eyes) with Shibuya inspired art with early 00's hip-hop playing in the back. We had a nice comfortable table in the front as we were a large group. The waitress was very knowledgeable about the food and answered any questions we had.

For the antipasti, we order the Calamari Fritti, Octopus Yakitori "Takoyaki Style", Sunomono Cucumber Salad, Cacio E Pepe Gyoza, and Clams & Foccocia. The Calamari Fritti was good except, I would have preferred the sauce on the side. A shishito tempura would have been a nice add to the mix, to enhance the flavor of the sauce as I did find the sauce to be a touch too sweet. Cacio E Pepe Gyoza was the internet hype and it didn't disappoint. It was unique, delicious, and served at a perfect temperature. The Sunomono Cucumber Salad was refreshing and packed with beautiful flavors. I would highly suggest ordering this to add a refreshing component to meal. The Octopus Yakitori "Takoyaki Style" captured the fun side and feeling of Shinsikai Osaka. The octopus was perfectly cooked, tender, and topped with fun textures and flavors. The Clams & Foccia was the highlight of all the appetizers. The clams were beautifully popped open, on top of the foccia and drowned in a creamy sauce that left you feeling warm and wholesome.

After experiencing great antipastis, we were ready for our entrees. We ordered Temomi Ramen Shrimp Scampi, Mochi Ramen Carbonara Tsukemen, New York Strip Steak (Medium), Tonkatsu Porchetta, and the Japanese a5 Wagyu. Each dish was served with an explanation of the ingredients which was a nice touch. The Tenomi Ramen Shrimp scampi was - mid. Disappointing quality of shrimp. Ramen Cabonara Tsukemen sounded fun- but the flavor was lacking and I found it boring. The Tonkatsu Ramen was served with a broth being poured with a kettle which was the only cool part but the dish itself was okay. The New York Strip Steak was MP (which I thought was weird) but it lacked any flavor and was cooked well done instead of medium. Just take it off the menu. It was boring and bland. The A5 Wagyu which sounds so exciting was ruined. It was burned and drowned in a sauce too sweet masking the natural flavors on the wagyu. Not to mention the cuts were too small (.5 inch) so you couldn't actually enjoy it. We did not end our meal on a good note that we wanted and expected.

We decided to skip dessert.

The waitress noticed, I did not finish my dish and I was honest to say it wasn't great. She was accommodating and grateful for the honest feedback. She wasn't too thrilled we weren't excited and I get it. The staff was kind enough to give us dessert which was - okay (glad I skipped).

My final thought of that dining experience was that, the idea is there, the potential is there, but a flavor was always missed on the dishes. I think we need to get back to the drawing board and take time to explore the combination. Would I go...