Ushi Taro Ramen Sunset — Restaurant in San Francisco

One of the worst experience we ever had, not about the food but about the service.

Food first: We got the Traditional (first item on the menu). It was not bad, about on the average level among all ramens I had before. One bowel of ramen is not sufficient for dinner, so you need to order something else.

Service: The Waitress was very rude to us out of no reason (not sure if it is because we left an Asian name on the waiting list):

We arrived in the evening and learnt that there is a waiting list by the door where one needs to write down the name and number of guests on it. We did so and there were several groups before us.

We waited outside with other groups normally. After ~20 min of waiting, there was only a two-people group before us (we also have two), and they were seated at the table soon.

We waited a few more minutes and saw 3 people at the table (there are both table seats and counter seats) left. We waited for the staff to clean the table and for the Waitress to come outside and call us in.

The Waitress opened the door and called the name that is on the list after us (a 3-people group). We approached her to inquire about the mistake she made, but she told us that a group on the counter was also finishing and will be ready very soon. We understood that they wanted to maximize the seat utilization so we agreed to wait for a bit longer. (Btw, the 3-people group after us were not waiting outside, so the Waitress instead called in a following 4-people group.)

However, the people on the counter were not showing any sign of finishing and leaving. There were no other people leaving during this period, either, so we ended up waiting for another 20 min or so outside (the evening of San Francisco in late Nov was already chilling).

After a long waiting, no only the two people the Waitress mentioned previously but all the 6-8 people on the counter left at the the same time, so the counter was completely empty. We waited again for the staff to finish cleaning and for the Waitress to call us in.

However, the Waitress still did not call us in, but instead called the names way below us on the waiting list. We had to go inside and inquire the Waitress again why we had not been called yet. Ironically, the Waitress pretended to not have any impression of us and asked who we are and where we were on the list. We pointed out our name to her on the list just a few lines above the name she just called, and we eventually got seated. By that time, we found that the couple just before us on the waiting list (See #2) had already finished their ramens and were preparing to leave..

The Waitress did not apologize or say anything like that, but instead just said okay and led us to the seats on counter.. The names will be crossed out from the waiting list once seated, and our name was not crossed out when we pointed it to the Waitress. We don't know why 1) a short waiting that we agreed to help make the waitress's work easier could become a 20-min long waiting. 2) the waitress told us to wait for a bit longer but skipped our name again even though our name was still clearly on the list. 3) the waitress had no impression of us even though we talked to her before and it was her that asked us to wait for a bit longer when it was our turn the first time. Hence, we believe the Waitress did this to us purposely for some reason...

Excellent place to get beef ramen. We ordered the traditional paitan ramen and tomato ox tail ramen. Both were very flavorful and satisfying.

The paitan had a soup that was not overly salty, but had a very pleasant aroma that paired perfectly with the truffle topping. The truffle came in just the right amount: not so much as to overpower the soup. It complemented the creamy and peppery flavors of the broth, as well as the roasted beef slices, which were perfectly cooked and seasoned.

The tomato ox tail ramen had a saltier broth reminiscent of tomato soup. The ox tail was incredibly tender and packed with tomato flavor, and the soup paired very well with the noodles. This dish reminded more of Taiwanese style beef noodle soups than ramen, but still very tasty.

In both dishes, the noodles where cooked very well, achieving a satisfying degree of chewiness that I expect in high quality ramen. The eggs were appropriately soft boiled as well, checking all the boxes for a very nice...

It pains me to even do less than 5 stars reviews but this had to be done. I don’t know how this place has the rating it does nor do I trust the people’s reviews and their taste in ramen in general. I recently came back from Japan and this place would not even be ranked for good quality ramen. The sweet girl working recommended the Original Shio Ramen and when I got it, it tasted like water and noodles with a ton of bad tasting mushrooms. I told her I could not eat it so she was kind enough to bring the Paitan Ramen which was supposed to be like a Tonkotsu Ramen. It was terrible again with tons of mushrooms and the egg wasn’t even flavorful. I can say it had a tiny bit more flavor and the meat didn’t taste flavorful either! I wish I could’ve just gotten my money back and found somewhere else to eat because I didn’t even finish my food and left. I am so disappointed in wasting my time coming here. This place should not be charging $18 for a bowl of noodles in...