KoKo Ramen Hawaiian Poke Bowl — Restaurant in Port Arthur

We loved loved loved it before the remodel. This was our first time checking it out after it became kikkoman ramen and poke bowl. The food was really good. My friend got a poke bowl and I tried one of the ramens. The waitstaff seemed really confused and disorderly though. We were sat and asked what we wanted to drink (water) and told if we wanted a poke bowl we had to circle what toppings we wanted on their full color to go menu to be handed to the ladies behind the poke counter. We sat and circled what we wanted (I was also getting a poke bowl togo) and waited. Still no waters so we asked another waiter if we could have water brought to us along with my ramen order. We decided at this point to get up and go through the poke line like it was done before the remodel since my friend had special requests and I wanted a bowl to go for later. Everything with that process was how it was before, great! Got to the check out, looked at our table, still no waters, so we asked the ladies behind the counter, again, for waters. My ramen wasn't put in the system yet either it seemed so I went ahead and ordered it there at the poke side when I paid for my togo bowl. We finally got our waters, then we had to ask for silverware and chopsticks as no utensils were given when we sat down (presumably partly due to this massive confusion going on with the wait staff of who was serving us and how the order was being put in). We loved the food, and loved it before the remodel as well. I just hope the waitstaff gets better training in how their restaurant is supposed to work because if they don't know how are us customers supposed to? This also wasnt just an issue with our table. While we were eating we noticed others not being brought their drinks repeatedly and just not knowing how it was supposed to work in general. The circling what we wanted on the togo menu thing is not something that can work long term though. The full color menus they had everyone using must've been expensive to print and will make a stupid amount of trash that could easily be avoided by just having people be able to go to the counter like...

Never had Poke? Think of a filling sushi in a bowl. You build your own order, choosing rice or salad or "burrito." Then you order 2 proteins (tuna, salmon, spicy tuna, spicy salmon, shrimp tempura, chicken, boiled shrimp, etc.). You have your choice of sauces, including sweet Thai Chile, sesame oonzu, and my personal favorite: a creamy wasabi aioli. (Yummy!) Then come the "mix-ins", including spinach, romaine salad, cucumbers, edamame, cilantro, mangoes, wasabi, jalapeño, sweet onions, etc. Then comes the topping choices, including pickled ginger, avacado, cream cheese, sesame seeds, crab salad, oshinko (Japanese pickled radish), etc. Then another round of toppings, including, wonton, garlic, shredded nori (seaweed), etc.

You may mix it all together in your bowl, or you may choose to eat it in sections. Use chopsticks or silverware to enjoy the explosion of flavors!

The bubble tea choices are limited, but are very good. The ice cream is made on a frozen disc behind the counter. I highly recommend having your child see it being chopped and scraped and finally rolled into small cylinders. I would definitely recommend this restaurant for anyone looking for a reasonably priced meal that is very filling. I am looking forward to eating there again soon!

Update: September 2020 They have updated this restaurant and have added more good to the menu. The Ramen is amazing and they now have Bento Boxes! The chicken katsu Bento Box is my favorite and perfectly cooked. Call the restaurant and place a to-go order. See the chicken katsu Bento Box to go in the pictures. Generous serving of chicken, the Miso soup is very good. Recommend this...

This restaurant has a decent atmosphere and service is prompt and courteous. I stopped in to get some food to go while working in the area. I chose to try the spicy miso ramen, the pan fried gyoza, and some spring rolls. The fried gyoza was average and like any other fired dumping you can find at most Chinese restaurants and their dipping sauce was good. The spring rolls were rolled with the common wheat wraps and did not have any tears that tend to form if they dry out when making or sitting too long exposed to air. The filling was sparse, all vegetable and very mushy. The excess moisture was not removed from the blanched vegetable mix which likely resulted in the filling turning into a slimy core surrounded by the thick and crisp wrapper. The spicy miso came in two parts, the broth in one container and the meats and noodles in another. The broth had a nice flavor but the meat and noodle container looked dried out. It seems these dishes are made ahead and stored in refrigeration until an order is made. The texture of the meat led me to suspect the order is microwaved to heat up, in the plastic container. The egg looked like it had been sitting in the container for at least a day, visually dried out. I don't know if the food is made fresh when dining in but for takeout, it's definitely not. The only thing I did not eat, or want to eat, was the sweet and sour sauce which looked like Orange Crush thickened with corn starch. They definitely need a new more appealing recipe for their sweet and sour sauce. I will try them one more time just to be fair and next time,...