PDX Ramen & Whiskey — Restaurant in Portland

I was surprisingly and thoroughly disappointed in the service here. My partner and I came in for a date; for the first portion of our bill we were using one of those prepaid gift cards we got for Christmas, which I informed the hostess of (and how much was on it) as we arrived, and informed them we would be putting the remainder of our bill and the tip on a debit card. The hostess is either new(and didn’t mention it), or did not pay attention to this information as she had me swipe the gift card for the full amount, which of course led to my gift card to being declined, it turns out the restaurants POS puts an additional hold on your card that is more than the amount charged (which isn’t unheard of, and if our hostess would have informed us of this we would have been able to adjust accordingly). Instantly from the point of decline on this gift card, she refused to make eye contact with us, did not listen when I tried multiple times to tell her what to charge the gift card for and made up her own numbers and we ended up just putting it on debit (which is fine, we had the money). I could see the system they use is square, which is one I use for my own business- so I know it is quite easy to split a payment with a custom amount- she just was not listening at all. The rest of our time here was spent feeling incredibly unwelcome. After we paid with a debit card, our hostess turned around to talk to her coworker about their new years plans, forgetting to seat us(the restaurant makes it clear we are to be assigned a seat after paying and before eating, so you don’t pick your own), so we had to ask someone from the kitchen where to sit, who had to play an unfortunate game of telephone with the hostess to figure out where we should be seated. It truly felt like the hostess saw the gift card decline, assumed we couldn’t afford dining here, and decided we weren’t even worth making eye contact with for the rest of the night, especially when we tried to, and ultimately didn’t, order another cocktail (they didn’t have the ingredients, and the hostess was still not even talking directly to us, but making her coworker, who was the same person who had to pick up her slack earlier, let us know what was up even though we were right there at the counter). This is a shame because the food was really well done in my opinion, and the cocktail we ordered was made well. It’s clear the kitchen staff was present to their work and unfortunately the hostess made the experience awful. We ended up deciding to take our food to go and finish eating at home because the energy from this particular hostess was so unwelcoming it made it impossible to enjoy the experience. If we could’ve left a separate tip specifically for the cooks/bartender without tipping the host for bad service,...

I’ve heard this place talked up quite a bit by other ramen lovers but I don’t think it’s worth the hype. Small portions at Portland prices and the ramen is neither top notch in preparation or wildly innovative in ways that makes me appreciate it for creative efforts. The tonkatsu broth was extremely oily (more than a simple oil cap should be) and the pork belly slabs were overcooked and dry. My wife’s g-special was alright but didn’t impress me in the way that a signature dish that everyone raves about ought to. Could just be my personal preference, and I’ll own that bias.

The service is where Hapa really dropped the ball. First, being asked to pay and tip before being seated and served is very presumptuous and takes away the customer’s ability to tip based on service quality - including tipping extra for an outstanding experience. In this case, I would have tipped less than the customary 20% for several reasons. First, the table wasn’t cleaned when we got there and the host came by and sprayed it down with chemicals that had a lingering odor for most of our meal. Second, nobody stopped by to check how our meal was or to see if we needed anything. It could have been the best or worst meal of our lives and it didn’t seem like any of the staff cared one way or the other. Third and last, when leaving the restaurant, we walked past the host who had seated us and he merely stared at us as we left. No thanks for coming, no inquiry about the meal, no effort to deliver good service or leave a good impression. I get it - times are tough, people can have off days, and food doesn’t always come out perfect. That’s life. But to miss on basically all fronts of the dining experience is a bit much and thus why I’m leaving a 2-star review. I would try it again and amend my review if the second time is better, but this wouldn’t be my top choice for ramen...

I recently tried the G Special Ramen and Pork Belly Rice Ball at this place, and while there were a few positives, I ended up feeling disappointed.

Let’s talk about the food. The pork belly had a slight crispiness, but it was way too oily, which affected my overall enjoyment. The rice ball was honestly just a simple scoop of rice, which was quite underwhelming.

Now onto the ramen, which was supposed to be the highlight. Unfortunately, it fell short of expectations. The broth had an unexpected sourness that didn’t suit my taste. The mushroom pieces in the ramen were oddly sweet, creating a strange flavor combination. The eggs were overcooked and hastily peeled, showing signs of rushed preparation. The noodles were decent but nothing remarkable. Overall, the broth was too sour, salty, and oily for my liking.

The ambiance was alright, although the air conditioner was blasting, making it uncomfortably cold. The customer service was average, with a greeting upon arrival and departure. I also noticed that the water pitchers on the table were exposed without covers, which raised hygiene concerns and the need for better cleanliness practices. The appetizer arrived quickly, but the ramen took longer than expected.

Considering the experience overall, it was just okay, but the prices felt high for what was offered. The ramen, which should have been the star, left me disappointed due to the sour broth and flavor...