Grace Noodle — Restaurant in Richmond

Ordered miso ramen with chicken. Was surprised to find that the chicken isn't chashu chicken, or prepared in any particularly great way - just poached chicken, seemed to be breast meat particularly. The la-yu wasn't very hot, tea is served from a tea bag, if you order marinated egg you only get one half of it (whoever heard of ichiitamago? 🤨) and the noodles seem a bit thick for ramen. Food tasted generally bland.

Wasn't fond of the atmosphere, but I don't want to fault the restauranteurs for that. Only so much you can do with these older refurbished buildings. I didn't notice any off smells but it didn't smell much like a restaurant either.

No water on tap, strangely enough - it wouldn't cut much into margins and would probably improve customer experience a lot to get some carafes from IKEA or Costco and keep them in a chiller.

Ramen is one of the most margin-friendly restaurant options out there. The cost-price ratio is insane - so I think with some improvements to the food prep and availability, this place would be much better with little harm to the bottom line. Salt brining the chicken that gets poached for the ramen and providing free ice water would be a big deal. I definitely don't want to come again unless there's ice water; I don't enjoy having to spend extra just to have...

Grace Noodle is Shockoe Bottoms' best kept secret.

My husband and I moved here from out of state and were looking for options with low or no animal fat because I suffer from gallstones. I also want to preface this by saying I've never been a huge ramen fan. I've always liked it but never enthusiastically.

Every single time we've come here, which is usually multiple times a week now, the owners who run the business make every accommodation/modification that I request very graciously. I would honestly come here every day if I could afford to. They have so many delicious broths and toppings. You can tell the noodles are made from scratch because they have that bouncy texture. The portion size is huge. They are very generous with toppings. All of the ingredients are super fresh and cooked perfectly.

Their soup dumplings are also so tender, juicy, and flavorful.

We genuinely have never had a bad thing on the menu, and we've tried all of it.

The service is also top tier. She remembers what we like and don't like and will do special things in advance for us, like having things ready to go that she knows we will order.

I just can't express how underrated this place really is. I...

Grace Noodle is Shockoe Bottoms' best kept secret.

My husband and I moved here from out of state and were looking for options with low or no animal fat because I suffer from gallstones. I also want to preface this by saying I've never been a huge ramen fan. I've always liked it but never enthusiastically.

Every single time we've come here, which is usually multiple times a week now, the owners who run the business make every accommodation/modification that I request very graciously. I would honestly come here every day if I could afford to. They have so many delicious broths and toppings. You can tell the noodles are made from scratch because they have that bouncy texture. The portion size is huge. They are very generous with toppings. All of the ingredients are super fresh and cooked perfectly.

Their soup dumplings are also so tender, juicy, and flavorful.

We genuinely have never had a bad thing on the menu, and we've tried all of it.

The service is also top tier. She remembers what we like and don't like and will do special things in advance for us, like having things ready to go that she knows we will order.

I just can't express how underrated this place really is. I...