OKONOMI Brooklyn — Restaurant in New York

Yuji ramen was on my list to go for a while and I was happy to get a chance to go with my parents and husband for my birthday. You have to make a reservation prior to your visit and reservations open 2 weeks in advance. It's a very small restaurant so a reservation makes sense. We went in and were sat down at a table and were given menus and water.

We wanted to order the firefly squid because we had it in Japan before and it was good but the server said there was a misprint in the menu and they don't have it today. Bummer, but good thing we had backups. We asked about the Batara zushi and was told that this was also something the restaurant didn't have today because of supply issues. I feel like if they knew they didn't have these items in stock, they could just cross it off the paper menu for that day or explain that from the get go when we sat down to avoid confusion. We ordered the hotate, two orders of sashimi, two tunakotsu ramen, one okonomi shoyu, and one uni miso. The hotate was fine and refreshing. The scallops were good but it felt overly priced for 2 scallops cut in half. It was 4 pieces served in a small bowl and our server told us to use our spoons and get the scallop and radish and the puree and broth and eat it in one bite. We all sat there and stared at the one bowl and my husband and I had to ask for 4 small plates so that we're not dripping broth everywhere. An order of sashimi is 2 pieces of each fish so we ordered 2 orders. The tuna was good and the amberjack had good flavor. The salmon was definitely not the best out of the three fish. I also noticed that the salmon and amberjack did not have the darker part removed from the fish prior to being served. The darker part is typically cut away and thrown out and not served because it contains the blood of the fish. I understand this isn't a sushi or sashimi restaurant, but it just felt odd.

The broth of the okonomi shoyu ramen was really good. It had a nice fish flavor and richness. The tunakotsu ramen was also interesting and the broth had the seared tuna flavor, but wasn't strong enough. The broth felt a little diluted or it could have been stronger. It's a tiny bit spicy. Both ramens had seared tuna that was meaty. The tunakotsu visiblly had more noodles than the shoyu and the tunakotsu noodles were a tad overcooked so there was no bounce. The uni miso is brothless but the flavors are really good. The peanut and miso and Japanese peppers are an addictive combination! The only downside is that the noodles were slightly undercooked so each bite was hard and the noodles could have cooked for 30-60 seconds longer.

We also had to ask for water a couple times and I felt bad because the server was busy trying to get everyone their food. Perhaps a better way for a larger party would be to give a pitcher or carafe of water to the table.

Overall I would not go back but it was definitely interesting to see different proteins be used as a...

Wouldn't go back. On the plus side, the noodles were very good, as was the Bacon. On the other hand, the portions were tiny, the egg was too WAY soft for ramen (of any kind), they barely put anything besides noodles in the ramen, the wait was long, the place is cramped, and the service was kind of poor on the night we were there.

I enjoy sake though I don't keep track of the best ones I've had and I'm not particularly picky (even the cheap stuff is generally fine for me). I asked the waitress which sake was on the dry side and less sweet. She replied "All sakes are dry, the main difference is in how floral they are" in a tone that suggested she found it exasperating to explain sake to a clueless white guy. Nevermind that that is a silly statement about sake. So I just picked the house sake thinking that those are usually selected to have a broadly appealing flavor. Not only was it highly sweet, but it had a horrible flavor. I can say without a doubt that I have never had a worse sake. The waitress never asked how it was even though it was not touched after the first sip.

Our water was not filled for a while so my girlfriend politely asked for more. She did other things and seemingly forgot. My girlfriend politely asked again 5 minutes later when the waitress was serving the couple next to us. She replied "I'll get it as soon as I put this down" in an extremely annoyed tone of voice. I guess this is the result when a restaurant raises prices and gets...

I came on a Friday night at 830pm - if you're looking to dine here, perhaps avoid that time unless you want a rude and inattentive server. The poor service has been mentioned a few times now in reviews before this, I think Haraguchi really needs to do something about his staff at this point. They cannot continue to treat diners like a nuisance and expect no repercussions.

This was my third time dining here, and I was extremely disappointed with both the food quality and service. I will not be returning or recommending this restaurant to anyone. The broth for our ramen was severely lacking in flavor, I even considered asking for salt. It was also a very cold day and I asked for a cup of hot water. The server told me he would get that for me. Our appetizers came out and I ask again, the server very curtly told me he would bring it out when there was "less things going on" -did he mean when there were less customers (there were 10 people dining at that moment) or when there were less things on the table (only 2 dishes had arrived)? I noticed there were kettles for hot water placed on the counter in front of where the server stands. He never brought me the hot water in the end, almost as if he was shaming me for even possibly asking for hot water.

At this price point, I expect more from the menu and the service. It's sad to see how downhill this restaurant has gone, I was very excited to bring my friends to eat here and I left feeling very...