Ooink Fremont — Restaurant in Seattle

The noodles was pretty decent but we had a bad service experience.

When my partner and I walked in, the waitress asked if we want a table or the bar in which we chose the table. She did warn us that if more people show up later in the night we might have to share the table. Glancing around the restaurant and seeing a few empty tables given it’s still early for dinner, we thought it’s okay so we proceeded with the table. However, just as we sat down and haven’t gotten to check out the menu, the waitress offered half of our table to the first couple that walks in, despite having other tables available.

The couple decided to sit at our table over the bar stool area because later we found out they’re on a date, so we moved to the bar area for wanting privacy. The setup gave us a frustrating experience but we brushed it off and want to just have a good dinner. Because we ordered off the original table QR code, she served the noodle to the original table but realized we moved table and brought it to us (we understand that confusion and that’s all good, no problem), but she come to us with the food and an attitude - “that caused a problem”

We’re trying our best to make a good experience but kept experiencing attitude from the server.

All of this could be prevented with better expectation setting upfront. At a later point, we worked out they might save the empty tables in case a larger group shows up. If they have shared that information upfront instead of making us connecting the dots ourselves, we could’ve made an informed decision at the beginning. Also, Instead of accommodating to the customers due to the confusion, based on her attitude, we felt we were inconveniencing her when we moved to the bar and when she served...

This is my favorite ramen I've ever had, hands down. I get the mala kotteri and it never ceases to amaze me every time. The broth, noodles, chashu, and toppings are all as good as they can be. Pictured is the chicken sandwich which is also the best I've ever had. As juicy and crispy as physically possible with such a flavorful crust. The sauce was a perfect combination. With everything they do, they ruin that type of item for me anywhere else. The ramen is identical at both locations so don't think for a second they've lost a step with opening a new location. The owner is the nicest guy, so humble about his achievements while so driven to make the best product he can, unaffected by preconceptions of existing cultures. He serves a Malaysian fried chicken sandwich, Chinese-inspired Japanese ramen, Korean soju, and uses ingredients from various other countries in Asia. Think he should stick to one style, one country of origin? He doesn't care. It's about the pursuit of making the best food he can and nothing else. Everything is from scratch, imported from growers and expert curators, crafted with love and patience, and given a painstaking attention to detail I haven't seen anywhere else. THIS is making food with love. The whole crew is so kind, hardworking, and skilled. Tyler is an inspiration in his journey to mastering ramen and I can't wait to see his future. People leave this place audibly raving to the staff about their experience. They're really changing people's perspectives on what is possible with food and blowing their expectations out of the water. We do not deserve this place and they deserve all the support...

It was raining in Seattle in July and my wife craved soup, so we looked for ramen places open on a Monday. Ooink sounded goofy but 4.7 stars from 100+ reviewers, seems legit, right? We ended up waiting in line, in the rain, for about 20 minutes before getting in. Ordering was interesting, scan a qr code on your phone, pick your food, extras, drinks and apps, pay and wait. Kind of nifty, no app download needed. Bit impersonal I guess, but there's definitely a place for that these days. Anyways I'm with a group of 4 and we get shoyu, shio, kotteri and Mala kotteri ramen. Short aside, I've had ramen around a half dozen times at half a dozen "ramen" places and they've all be okay to good, but nothing quite like what I expected from reviewing the process of making good ramen, from anime and from friends who rave about good ramen. The hype never made sense to me because I'd never had proper ramen. Well, that's changed and NOW it all makes sense. The day after I had my shoyu I'm dying to go back and get more, it was SO good! And my wife's Mala kotteri was incredibke in different ways (so much garlic and mushroom, yum!). I can not wait to go back, the line is worth the wait, just go!

The noodle is a firm, slightly thin and straight noodle and it seems it's the only game in town for ooink. It's a good noodle, but I do prefer the textured wavvy style of noodle in general. Still, I'm craving more ramen and looking for excuses to visit Seattle just so I...