Gugu Ramen — Restaurant in Papillion

My first big clue that this place wasn't going to be great was how little customers they had. If they were great, they would've had a line going outside. The Apple Buffet behind this place opened to a crowd and it took an hour to get into that place. As soon as we arrived, we already got sat down. Maybe the time wasn't great, but I went during the weekend. So this place should've been busy. BUSY. Instead it wasn't.

I ordered ramen. Because that's what they're trying to be known for. I've eaten at almost every ramen restaurant in Omaha. I judge based on the food, the service and the atmosphere. The service wasn't great. The waitress constantly stumbled over her words, she had to constantly repeat herself and she just couldn't get into the rhythm of service. When we were low on water, she did not refill us nor ask if we needed more water. And instead of asking if we wanted anything else after we were done eating, they just brought us the check. Why? I didn't ask for the check. I specifically said that we were thinking of buying dessert. She essentially forgot. At least they brought us the stuff and it was hot. But when we order appetizers, you bring the appetizers first, NOT with the main course. An appetizer is supposed to be an easy meal THAT GOES OUT FIRST to allow the customers a taste of things to come. How do you guys screw this up? It's not like you were busy.

Then there was the atmosphere. It LOOKS like a Japanese restaurant. But the music was in Chinese. Do you think that people are too stupid to tell the difference? If you're a Japanese cuisine restaurant, why are you playing Chinese music? It really ruined it for me. Can't you guys at least pretend to be Japanese? The Yoshiya ramen restaurant is full of Hispanics but they're not stupid enough to play salsa or merengue or even reggaeton, because they're smart enough to respect their clients by simply providing the service not unnecessary music.

Then there was the food. I was apprehensive eating the tonkotsu here because the noodles looked thin. THIN. Aren't most ramen made with udon? What was this? The fifty cent ramen from Walmart? The egg wasn't cooked then and there. It was frozen and then placed on. I get that a lot of ramen shops in town are doing that, but I wish you'd all stop and just make the eggs fresh or something. Put it in the fridge, not the freezer. And the ramen doesn't have shiitake mushrooms. That's a big one. Shiitake is the most Japanese thing a ramen bowl can have. Instead we got these sliced mushrooms that were more of a distraction than an enjoyment. At times I could swear they were crunchy. And the pork I got? It was mostly fatty. What the heck? You took half of the fat and gave it to me. I paid nearly $100 for poorly made ramen? And what is these bowls? They don't look like bowls. They like vases. Other ramen restaurants in town give you nice, big round bowls, but this place gave me a concave shaped bowl. I swear you guys did it to give customers as little for their buck as possible. Not okay. That's practically theft. The dessert was a tiramisu matcha. It's not layered like a tiramisu cake, and it was overly covered in matcha powder. I had to remove the powder in order to make it more tolerable because the matcha was simply too bitter. Couldn't you guys just mix the matcha powder with powdered sugar? Geez I almost left it there on the table.

I came in happy and I left sad. How does that happen? Eating is my favorite thing to do. You made me hate eating.

Sure they said goodbye, but they seemed a little too happy to see me leave than to see me come in. What's worst is that despite the unhappy time I had, I still tipped because my wife asked that I leave a tip. Most unearned tip...

Last night I came here for dinner with my family. It was a rather chilly night, so I ordered the premium miso ramen.

Upon first glance It was an interesting combination of pork belly, ground pork, crab, corn, an egg, and other vegetables mixed in. I was quite hungry, so I dug in. I must admit it wasn't the best, but it got the job done. A few bites in I figured it could use a little extra spice, so I spooned in quite a bit of the chillies that were set out on the table. This helped improve the flavor quite a bit, but I became full quickly and couldn't finish the rest.

Satisfied, I returned home.

Not long after I noticed my stomach beginning to twist in knots. It is not uncommon for ramen to make me feel a little funky, so I didn't think anything of it.

Well I should have taken this as a warning.

It's 11PM and I am fast asleep, when suddenly I feel something rising from the deep depths of my stomach. I jump out of bed and race for the bathroom downstairs, but it's too late. Next thing I know I'm projectile vomiting all over the kitchen floor. The oily smell and taste comes back to haunt me, creating a stubborn and repulsive greasy film on the wooden floor.

I return to bed defeated and confused. Did this really just happen? Have I sufficiently detoxed, or is there more to come? This couldn't be it... I just knew it.

Well I was right. Two more times that night I found myself in a rather intimate position with the toilet bowl.

Eventually the storm had passed, and I finally fell back into my slumber.

In the morning I awoke with a pounding headache and a stomach still traumatized by the night before. I had to call out from work and decided to contact the restaurant before leaving this one star review. They had just opened, it was the right thing to do. Let them know personally.

So I called. I was passed onto management to whom I retold this harrowing tale.

"Can you drink water?"

This was the first and only question I was asked.

Yes. I can drink water, in fact I have been drinking lots of it in attempts to return to a state of normalcy.

I expressed that I just wanted to notify them, to give them an opportunity to prevent another customer from meeting this unfortunate fate.

"I'm so sorry."

The line...

We loved everything we tried. The star was super kind. We made it there an hr before closing.(yes we hate to be those people but we’re moving and therefore needed dinner). Even with being so late the service was excellent. I got the shoyu with grilled chicken, the broth was rich and the noodles were the perfect consistency. My husband got the tonkatsu and that was also very rich and flavorful. The gyozas were definitely a perfect appetizer. We always order edamame nothing different than usual. I loved the convenience of the forks, chopsticks and spoons being at the table along with dry chili powder & oil to add to one’s’ taste. The chicken skewers were also delightful and the chicken wings super crispy and delicious.at the end I was served a very delicious drink due to the original one I wanted no longer being available. We highly highly recommend giving them a try and we found a close to home ramen spot!

Again thank you so much to the employees and for the delicious food (and of...