Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya — Restaurant in Seattle

To the management of Kizuki West Seattle.

On Nov. 11, 2024, Saturday evening, at approximately 5:30 pm, our Japanese family of 4 met with another family friends for dinner. We were a party of 7. We were seated quickly and given menus. There was NO Mention about a large group 18% tip Sur charge. We ordered some starter item for the table. The waiter took our order and went to place that order. After 5 or so mintues I had to flagged him to say that we were ready to order our meals. When I ordered my Ramen I asked for firm noodles, which the waiter acknowledged. My friend ordered his ramen without egg (allergy) and asked if he could get tofu as a replacement and again, that request was acknowledged. There was no mention of a Sur charge for the tofu. We all ordered various ramen. My adult daughter ordered Tempera. He repeated all of our orders and left.

Some of the side dishes began to arrive. But not all of them. After what seemed to be a long time, a new waitress started to delivery various ramen orders, and had to ask who ordered what. The waiter that took our order was elsewhere. The ramen my friend ordered without egg, came with an egg, when he pointed that out, the waitress seemed lost, and wanted to take it back to the kitchen. We had all ready been waiting a long while, so I asked my friend if it was ok if I just took the egg, and he said that would work and asked for the tofu, the waitress acknowledged that she would bring it, but it never came. After a few minutes every one, but my daughter had received their main order. She waited a few minutes and then flagged the waitress down and asked where her Tempura was, she looked confused and left to go find out what was going on. A few minutes later the male waiter returned to our table and said that the kitchen was no longer making Tempura, they had run out, and that she could order something else… Seriously… why didn’t the kitchen advise him when he placed the order. We all had our orders and my daughter asked if they could please rush her replacement order. By time it finally arrived, most of us were nearly finished and someone mentioned that we were still missing one of our side orders… I also mentioned that my noodles were certainly not firm, but actually soggy. Blank stares from your staff. Our entire table was very disturbed and annoyed by this point. We joked at what else could go wrong.

We asked if the bill could be broken up, and the waiter looked perplexed and said not really, so between ourselves we decided to put each family on a separate ticket. 4 on 1 and 3 on the other. The waiter listed out orders for each family and presented us with a card reader. When I was handed the card reader the waiter said I could leave a tip after scanning my card. Seriously, after all that went wrong, but I did at a small tip. We paid and received a receipt and quickly left. Outside we were chatting about the experience when I looked at the receipt I saw the automatic 18% gratuity was already added in! And the $5.58 additional “requested” Tip. All of us were insulted. Auto gratuity and the verbally asking for a tip after their horrendous service.

Attached is the bill. And I want my "requested" tip of $5.58 tip back!

PS… and please point out to your waiter that anyone who tips that small amount is pissed!

Ps… Durning our visit I could see your kitchen staff from where I was sitting… during the whole time everyone there seems happy, smiling to each other, joking around, you could tell that they were having a really good...

The Best Ramen I've Ever Eaten

Kizuki Ramen is the best ramen house in Seattle -- probably even one of the top in the United States. The food is authentic and perfectly defines what ramen should aspire to be.

If all that you've ever heard of or tasted of ramen is Maruchan, you owe it to yourself to experience this.

Prices start at $8 for your basic Shoyu (soy sauce) soup base. The better broths and ramen bowls are more in the $12 range; and if you really wanted to go wild with add-on toppings, you could theoretically make a $20+ bowl of ramen.

For anyone who is a first-timer, I would recommend the Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen ($12), with a $.50 upgrade to fatty pork belly chasu (and maybe extra noodles, corn, and meat, if you're super hungry). In it, you'll have alkaline noodles, bamboo shoots, chashu pork, mung bean sprouts, a soft-boiled egg, and nori (a piece of seaweed).

The broth was cloudy, creamy, and extremely flavorful. I'm reminded of that same "low and slow" method of cooking that makes real BBQ so special when drinking the soup. It doesn't hurt that the pork belly chashu is some of the best meat I've ever eaten (they offer a dish with the same meat on rice -- I'm sure it's amazing).

If you finish and have leftover broth, you have to option to buy extra noodles, and toppings (and I believe you can get extra broth); it's basically a way to keep eating without buying a whole new bowl. If you're super hungry, you could probably do one-and-a-half bowls. Most will be perfectly content with a single bowl.

If this is your first time, and especially if you don't eat a lot of Asian food, they're going to ask if you want a low-sodium version of the broth. The regular broth isn't at all salty to me; in fact, I added shoyu to mine. I would suggest getting the regular broth unless you're avoiding sodium for health reasons. If you find that it's too salty, they will provide you with free clear broth to even it out as you see fit.

For those of you who don't know how ramen broth is made -- meat bones are slowly boiled for ten+ hours to create a rich and creamy broth. I can't stress the fact that this is a respected craft and is worlds beyond instant ramen.

The restaurant is extremely busy and it is best to make reservations for dinners. It is not to be missed if you have any amount of love or respect for...

I have tried a ton of ramen places. Before this restaurant had opened here in West Seattle, my family and I would have to drive far just to visit a Kizuki restaurant. Now we are thrilled that it is here. Our absolute favorite appetizers are their crunchy, sweet, lemony, and juicy chicken wings, their prawn cutlet, and their house salad (although you may want to ask for extra sauce because sometimes they put too little). Both their dipping noodle ramen and miso-based ramen are delicious, but I find that the dipping noodle ramen is more unique and flavorful. Another tip is that when you order the dipping noodle ramen, ask for the noodle to be thinner so they are easier to dip. Never be afraid to ask your server for extra noodles or eggs because it will make your dining experience much better! Their Ten Don is a great choice if you don't feel like eating ramen. When I tried it they put the sauce at the bottom which kept the tempura vegetables from getting soggy and let the rice absorb the flavor. The staff members are average but I have encountered some that go above and beyond to be helpful. Their desserts are decent but you could buy the mochi ice cream they serve at almost any asian store. The only dish I tried that really did not impress me was their fried potato dish. It tasted like the prawn cutlet but was too starchy for me. Their bread bun appetizer was also not too great. Overall the place is lovely but could make some adjustments to make it...