Ramen Fuji — Restaurant in Sioux Falls Township

What happened?

I ate here last time around the Corona virus time period. It was awesome. Very plentiful noodles, hot and ready to go, savory and delicious. Today I order, (my birthday) and it's nothing like that! Very skimpy on serving size for 15 bucks! I understand inflation has hurt everyone, but I mean I was able to scarf this "meal" down in about 5 minutes flat. I even had an order of calamari with it, and no lie, I probably had the entire thing finished in 7 minutes (definitely under 10). That just doesn't sit right with me. My previous order, no way I could have done that if I tried! That took well over 20 minutes to finish and I was stuffed to the max from that. I still had PLENTY of room for a large piece of cake, even after spending 25 bucks on the meal. Yikes. That's not good.

OK, let's address the food and quality. Certainly nothing terrible about the ingredients, but why so cold??? I mean my noodles on their own literally were cold, and even with the sauce added, it was struggling to get over room temperature. This made for a less enjoyable dining experience. The "ramen" was barely noticeable at all! Super thin, stringy, and less than ordinary. Why is the yakisoba cheaper when that would absolutely have to be better than these shoe-string thin noodles? I just dont get that at all. Also, zero flavor whatsoever, just totally bland.

The cabbage and other ingredients seemed rather carelessly tossed into my order, like "here ya go!" Not impressed. The broth was certainly underwhelming, plain and uniform with just enough flavor to meet the most general of standards - and nothing more.

Look, I understand running a restaurant today has likely never been more difficult. It's unfortunate business owners aren't rewarded and encouraged for being different, creative, and fun with their menu selection. However, it is what it is. I don't see how you compete with so many other available restaurant options when you aren't at the least paying close attention to the details. And, as much as I enjoy and appreciate the potential for what this place COULD be, it's going to be hard to justify coming back for another round, at least anytime soon. I just hate when restaurants make you feel like you're playing "Russian roulette" when ordering from their menu. Order the "right" thing, and it's great. Order something else.....well, it's a much different story, if you catch my drift.

That seems to be what has become of Fuji Ramen. I'm honestly...

My family and I just relocated here from Billings, MT and we had never been to a ramen shop before. We are a foodie family and know about ramen from TV shows and have made it at home but have always wanted to go to a real ramen shop and we are so glad we went to Ramen Fuji. We ordered the Takoyaki appetizer because we've seen it on a couple of TV shows and were not disappointed. Takoyaki are fried dough balls with chunks of octopus (yes, really) that are served with a drizzle of the brown sauce like you get on eel as well as Japanese mayo and sprinkled with bonito flakes. On TV the Japanese eat these things right out of the fryer when they are hotter than heck so we did too. NOT A GREAT IDEA....lol! Holy smokes these things were like red hot coals of loveliness...lol! So hot but so tasty and lots of fun laughing at each other...lol! The Japanese mayo is tasty stuff and the bits of octopus were nice and tender and we'll probably have these every time we go. The kids and I each ordered a different ramen. I had the shredded char siu version. The broth is remarkably savory and a bit spicy. The noodles are perfectly chewy and mine came topped with corn, bean sprouts, mushrooms, a slice of fish cake and a soft cooked egg that I could have eaten a dozen of! That egg was the stuff dreams are made of. If you are an egg freak like I am anyway...lol! The shredded char sui pork was excellent and had a slightly sweet and savory sauce on it. My daughter had the katsu chicken version and it was much the same as mine but she asked for no spice. The chicken was excellent and we are going to try some of their other dishes with it next time. My son had the char sui version which was also the same broth as mine but with whole slices of the pork I had and his had a bit different toppings like black mushroom and no corn. Overall, we were very pleased with the food. Now we see why ramen is so popular and we are now devotees of it too. The waitress was a cute little Japanese gal who provided the legendary Japanese service and hospitality and we will be regulars here...

It is spendy.... I dropped 22 bucks on a Kimchi Ramen bowl with tamago and spicy pork.

Kimchi was just the way I like it (spicy-sour, strong and crunchy) the place was empty.. The soft boiled egg was a wee bit on the soft side but is was delicious so that's a win for me. They give your about 6oz of spicy pork. (maybe more, I'm gonna weigh it I'm eating...) This is shaved pork not the ground pork I'm used to which was still great.

You'll get a decent serving of egg noodles on a regular bowl. They'll be on the thin side and firm which is pretty standard and authentic for an everyday dish. You do get plenty of broth, I'm not I to too much broth, I on team #extranoodles (which they as an extra side item so it's pretty flexible to customize your bowl and stay authentic, quality, Japanese Ramen Style food.)

The portions themselves are not too sus but it leans towards 'we gotta make money cuz the place is empty..)

BUT, there are several noodles to choose from when you dine in (place was EMPTY... Its South Dakota... I get it.. Yes we love our Culver's and Sickies' Mac n' Cheese bowls..)

They do offer several drinks to choose from and have Asian selections that you'll most likely enjoy over a soda.

Ramen Fuji is up there with Sora Ramen (in Las Vegas, and if you know anything about that place that's where most of the Asian executives on business will go to for lunch or dinner.)

If you stick to a bowl and a one side, no drink or bowl and one drink it's possible to stay under 20 bucks. If you're gonna eat like a guy who is familiar with Ramen Houses you'll spend over 20 bucks...

Very niche, hole in the wall place. I personally recommend it at least ONCE then either impress your friends or drop by when you need a hot bowl of real Ramen House style food in Sioux Falls. If you're visiting Sioux Falls definitely stop here and enjoy the quiet and stay for the...