Shokudo Ramen & Sushi Paramus — Restaurant in Paramus

Unfortunate. Not sure why so many Chinese-run Japanese restaurants keep making the same mistake trying to do too much and ending up as master of none. I suspected this might be Chinese-run Japanese (CRJ) but wife wanted soup so I tried, but immediately upon entering and even more so when I saw the menu featuring all kinds of sushi along with ramen, I knew that I had made a bad choice - it was a CRJ.

Btw, nothing against Chinese run businesses - it’s just that they are notorious for butchering other cuisines … they often try to do Japanese food chasing after higher price (= more $), but without ever truly understanding the Japanese cuisine & its philosophy.

Let me elaborate (I’m Korean and love & respect all 3 cultures)- Japanese food requires high quality ingredient and precision. It’s reflected in every aspect of their lives. If you’re gonna do ramen you need to really learn ramen. (That goes for every cuisine yes, but Japanese has higher bar than most) I get that majority of Americans in the suburbs aren’t New Yorkers and aren’t as discerning, but on our recent stopby we were sorely disappointed with just lack of attention to detail and truly awful ramen. Atmosphere (2/5) - Where are we… 90s hibachi joint en route to Niagara Falls? Why so dingy and dark? What’s with the over the top, chintzy decor? Japanese = minimalism. Less is more. It was very an awkward vibe (tiger mural anyone?) that tried to be something w/o thinking through. Service (3/5) - Server immediately forgot to bring a hot oil when I asked despite the restaurant being only 30% full on a late Saturday afternoon. When we expressed utter disapproval of an ingredient, she did nothing to make our experience better either. Ramen also took more than 15 min to come out on a slow late Saturday afternoon only 25% full. Food (2/5) - like I said I was already bracing for the worst, so I figured I order their namesake ramen. Shokudo Ramen (3/5) wasn’t terrible per se. It had flavorful broth and noodle was cooked well. The problem was in utter lack of topping - there were literally two pitifully thin (1/8”) slices of pork that were decent but 30% fat. Two pieces of sad pork in a $16(?) ramen bearing the name of your Ramen restaurant…? Are you kidding me?! But unfortunately it gets worse- wife ordered the Beef Ramen (1/5). It literally had a Chinese-style braised beef that must’ve been from a cow hoof… it was thick and tough with barely any taste. And the broth had that metallic fake broth taste (bullions) that simultaneously was somehow really watery and flavorless… so much so that we put the said hot oil to barely salvage it… to not waste food. My wife barely had 1 piece of rubber and gave the other one piece to me and I couldn’t finish it. I should also mention that kind of beef flavor works in Taiwanese beef noodle soup, not Japanese ramen. We desperately wished that we had gone with my first instinct of going to Shake Shack a door down but you know, wife said soup.

This isn’t to say you won’t enjoy this place - if you don’t know what’s up then it’s okay. Some don’t care and I think it’s perfectly fine. But as for this ramen aficionado? First and last time.

If you have respectful taste for ramen and sushi, look elsewhere. (I didn’t try the sushi but why would I ever order sushi at a CRJ ramen place? Seeing what they did to ramen, I don’t have to try to know)

I don't want to be mean and I wanted to like this place, but true foodie...

I really like the food here. It was very delicious so 4/5 star for the food. The server though was very very very very rude. Honestly this is the worst service I’ve received. As we entered the restaurant, the server didn’t even greet us. She had a very rude face on as if she was forced into coming to work. She had a very bad attitude but we ignored it as we didn’t want to ruin our day. I had ordered karage chicken and when she came with my order she literally slide it in a very disrespectful manner I ignored it. We wanted to order desserts and we tried calling her but she was busy on her phone. Again while leaving she gave us our bill and I left the cash but she took so long to collect it so we had to go to the counter she took the check book from me and I was waiting for her to give me the change back but she was busy with something which I completely understand so I waited for her to finish what she was doing on the register. An elderly guy came in and she was still doing something at the register and she just says “sit wherever you want” in a very rude tone again to the elderly man. At last she asked for a tip which I didn’t wanna leave because of her nasty attitude. So she gave me the change in a very disrespectful manner saying “Oh my goodness” in a very nasty and aggressive tone. I left without saying anything. This was the worst experience because such negativity actually ruins your day. It was not even busy, there was no one when we came in so I don’t understand such a negative attitude towards the only customers coming in. Anyways the food was really good but please work on the customer service. My friends have had the same experience with the same server the last time they visited and even tho they tipped her she still had that bad attitude. The name of the server on my receipt is Sophia and we visited around 2:50 pm on Friday which is August 9, 2024.

Reply: This was the first time I visited with my friends (friends who have visited before and according to whom they have tipped the server but still received bad treatment) . So I would really like to see the “records” you’re talking about. Also I still hope you can work on your costomer service instead of being rude to customers who pay almost 100$ for the food. Tips are given for the service that is provided and not for the food since we are not eating for free but the server was honestly rude so I don’t see a point in tipping the server. Also not tipping the server does not justify the horrible unprofessional behavior since we are not eating for free, we are paying for what we order. I hope you guys can be a little bit more professional and take the honest...

Shokudo is a good place to grab Japanese food: good food nicely presented, good service with whimsical decor that anime fans will appreciate.

Shokudo instantly differentiates itself with its unique ambiance. Upon walking in, you are met with cherry blossom trees, murals, a large rattan lounge chair and lots of anime figures posed at the cashier, behind the sushi bar and in shadowboxes above the booths. The owner's love for Japanese pop-culture definitely shines through. I like how the open dining space is broken up by traditional-looking wooden partitions.

The food is good. We came for an early dinner and ordered: spicy tuna roll shrimp tempura roll rainbow roll teriyaki chicken teriyaki shrimp ramune (Japanese soda)

Spicy rolls at sushi restaurants are generally not spicy at all, I find, perhaps to cater to local tastes. However, the spicy tuna roll at Shokudo was noticeably spicy and to my liking. The vegetables that came with the teriyaki dishes, however, were bitter for some reason. Perhaps they were pre-frozen. Despite this, the food was generally good - I'd give it a 4.5 stars. As you can see from my pictures, everything was nicely plated.

The server was nice enough and we were promptly attended to.

Shokudo is worth your visit. The food is good and the unique atmosphere mixes the traditional and anime culture for an interesting experience. I didn't have the ramen, but I'd like to...