Tenichi Sushi & Ramen — Restaurant in Niles Township

The lack of service tainted all else. We stopped for lunch after shopping at the book stores. We were greeted and quickly shown the tablet from which we would need to order. The tablet was a poor substitute requiring we share the menu and pass it back and forth. I scanned the QR code but was required to start an order to view the menu so that was no help. The tablet menu did not designate vegetarian options which was confusing and odd. Also troublesome was that there was no one to ask about ingredients to which one of our party has an allergy. We had to wing it. We put in our order hoping that would prompt someone to at least offer water to our bare table. No luck. I went to the bar where the man who showed us to our table was making smoothies and asked if the carafe and water glasses in front of him were for our table. He indicated that they were so I took them. He seemed surprised but we were thirsty and had already waited 15 minutes. And we were not sure if there were any wait staff working. Our appetizer was brought out by kitchen staff but we still had no plates, utensils, or napkins. I asked the table next to us where they got their set up again assuming this was some sort of self serve hybrid we had never seen. The smoothie guy noticed us when we spoke to the other table, came over for the first time since seating us, and I told him we needed plates and things. He brought those a few minutes later while I retrieved sauces from the bar. We noticed other tables were experiencing delays and uneven service. Our bill was produced and I put down my credit card. The smoothie guy brought an electronic payment gadget along with my card and the paper he produced before. This seemed odd because typically electronic payments are done at the table to avoid the removal of the payment card from its owner. What was infuriating was the smoothie guy telling me "you only need to sign" as he handed me the device with the 20% tip button already selected. I'm no fool and I'm not an asshole. I bumped the tip down to 18% before signing. Had he not preselected the tip I likely would have selected 20% and not bothered with this review. I rarely bother with negative reviews but this experience was exceptional. Perhaps they were having a bad day. More likely the owner is trying to save labor costs by reducing to zero wait staff. We didn't actually have a waiter, we relied on the smoothie maker, sort of. And, we were expected to leave a nice tip for the non existent wait person. It was not a...

Wow, this place is a real hidden gem! I wasn't sure the first time I saw it right behind Chuck E. Cheese, but they serve really good sushi and ramen!

I ordered the chashu pork fried rice and the tokyo tonkotsu ramen, and both were just absolutely superb!

The fried rice was incredibly flavorful and had a great variety of textures and flavor. I was particularly impressed with the quantity of protein in the fried rice, as well as with the flavor the rice seasoning, just enough salt and a distinct but not overpowering soy sauce flavor, just the right amount as well.

The ramen was also very good. It had a slightly thick and soupy broth with great richness. It was absolutely creamy and improved as you ate the ramen from the first bite to the last. They put a generous amount of toppings, and the chashu is definitely the best I've had in a while. They also give you a load of noodles, which even surprised me since I usually have another serving of noodles.

Not pictured, but I also ordered the crispy tempura brussel sprouts and caramel milk tea. Both were also really good! The Brussel sprouts were cooked just perfectly with none of the pieces soggy, and they all had a satisfying but light crunch and the right amount of salt to season it. The milk tea was also very nice, sweet as I expected, but with a much more pronounced tea flavor that I normally don't expect anymore from milk tea these days. It was a pleasant surprise!

The price initially felt a bit steep, but thinking about it, it was absolutely spot on! The portions and the flavors were just fantastic, not to mention the stellar decor and vibe of the place. They even have this neat ordering system featuring a lot of tablets, so you can see everyone's orders and decisions in real time. The staff were also very friendly and accommodating to everyone in my group, which was really appreciated.

I hope more people go here since it really is...

As indicated by number of reviews, this place clearly has habit of scamming people with tips and constantly has poor service. That was certainly consistent with my experience across two visits. It is a shame given their food is quite good despite being somewhat expensive.

Review of second visit: there are couple of things to watch if the party is 6 or more people. The gratuity of 20% is automatically added to the bill, which is customary. However, since there is no hard copy of the menu, that is not indicated anywhere until you get the bill. Even then, they hand you the tablet to sign with the tip set at another 20% as default setting. This means, unless you read the bill AND the tablet carefully, you will end up tipping 40%. Plus, the server stands there watching over you until you sign the tablet, which is quite awkward when you are signing with tip. This experience of paying the bill soured the entire dining experience so much so that returning to this place seem unlikely.

Review of first visit: There is a lot to like about this place - chicken and pork broth were very light but flavorful, ramen noodles are chewy and delicious, eggs that came with ramen were just about perfectly cooked, chopped up sashimi that were placed on salad was very fresh, and ordering through the tablet on the table made it incredibly fast. Having said, once the food arrives on the table, there is no service to be had. Not even checking to see if there is water. In fact, we waited extra 20 minutes until a server finally checked up on the table. As much as automation was appreciated, dining in means there should be service especially if you’re...