HOKKAIDO RAMEN HOUSE — Restaurant in Summerville

I want to start off my saying that Ada - who I think is one of the owners salvaged this review to not be a one star. She attempted to make things right with my experience and for that I appreciate her.

When I tell you I was looking forward all day to having a bowl of ramen, I had the highest hopes for this place. I saw it was 4.7 stars and in Summerville so I found that to be possibly a hidden gem. 💎

I arrive just after 8pm after a very long day of being outside for hours so I was ready to eat. I went to the bar and was quickly greeted by a support staff member of some sort. She got me a water, then the bartender came over and also greeted me very enthusiastically. She had a big personality and very friendly. I asked her “are the dim sum house-made”?” She had no clue and asked her counterpart who also didn’t seem to know. Then shouted across the dining room behind me to a gentlemen who I think was also part owner. He said some of them are. Well alright then I won’t ask which ones so I’m just going to go for what I want. I ordered the crystal shrimp dumplings which I know them as (hacao) and beef short ribs - which they didn’t have so I went with the chicken shumai. I could tell right away these ones were not homemade, which is fine but I could see that the edges on the shumai were still undercooked and some parts were still hard. It was not pleasant to eat and I know these were frozen because that’s what they look like when you try to make them at home improperly or rushed. The same guy came by and I showed him the edges of the dumplings and said nicely that I did not enjoy these and didn’t feel they were cooked properly. He apologized, offered to make new ones for me and I declined. The hacao (shrimp dumplings) were good for what they were accompanied by the sauce.

My ramen came out shortly and boy was I so excited to dig in because it looked good. I ordered the garlic tonkotsu ramen + spicy chili paste. Mind you, I’ve had tonkotsu several times and have a level of expectations when it comes to how it’s supposed to taste and this was NOT it.

The overwhelming and almost unpleasant taste of what seemed to be raw minced garlic that took over the entire ramen threw me off. Yes I LOVE garlic, but do I enjoy eating what tastes like an entire clove of it? Not necessarily. I think it would’ve been better if they attempted to fry the garlic or cook it down with the broth so it wasn’t so potent. Moving onto the broth… tonkotsu takes at least 12 hours of constantly reducing down pork bones and such to extract all the depth of pork flavors and giving the broth its creaminess and viscosity. This broth lacked flavor, depth and texture. Not only was it taken over by the garlic, it barely had that pork flavor I was yearning for. As I got past the broth and was looking for the chashu pork which is the next best thing about this ramen, I was sadly disappointed again. As you can see in the picture it looked like I had half strips of bacon and when I attempted to bite into it, it was so thin and overcooked I had to use my hand to rip it from my teeth. I am not exaggerating when I tell you how tough this little piece of meat was. Pork chashu is supposed to be tender and juicy and fall apart. This was a horrible representation of it.

At this point, I immediately asked my server to get me a Togo container because my thought was that I’m going to doctor this up when I get home to give it more flavor. I was so dissatisfied and with that bowl but since I’m paying $18 for it, I’m going to at least take it home and not send another thing back.

I did not ask to talk to the manager and wanted to close out, but this is when I met Ada. She came and took my dirty dishes and told me she was having new dumplings made for me since I didn’t like the first ones. I told her it wasn’t necessary and that I was just trying to close out. She asked me how I enjoyed everything and I told her my honest thoughts. She listened to my feedback and I appreciated it. I told her I didn’t want anything else taken off but glad she heard me out....

First visit of many more, specifically for my favorite dish that takes me back home: taro shrimp cake. No other restaurant in CHS serves fried taro!!

Came specifically to support their dim sum menu (because I wouldn't have room for ramen after 😆); have already supported Chef Loong & Old Li's. Was frequently checked on by my waitress and, I assume, the older lady owning+running the restaurant. At 2PM on a Sunday, they unfortunately did not have the beef short ribs ready. The owner shared that the next batch of ribs were still in their multi-day marinading process. Not a big deal because I already ordered a lot to try and probably would end up taking it home. Still, they suggested if I would like to try the kobe beef instead which was super kind of them! Dim sum takes a lot of prep and love, so I don't fault them for any item unavailability. Food came out fast, so I was quickly stuffed and forgot about it anyways!

The owner shared with pride that the dim sum was all crafted from scratch (same info she shared over the phone when I called on their grand opening day that dim sum would be ready the following weekend).. and yes you can smell+taste the difference! :) Shrimp dumplings and chicken siu mai were plump & juicy! Chive pockets had a nice crisp and chew thanks to the wheaty flour wrapper that I wasn't expecting; usually familiar with a basic potsticker kinda wrapper so this was a pleasant change. The egg custard bao WAS SO SOFT!!! You can poke the bao and it doesn't deform!! Like a cloud!! I usually stay away from filled steamed buns at dim sums because I usually receive dry, dense, thick buns that get overwhelming over 2 bites. But these, omg, I'm so excited to try the char siu buns now. Pork dumplings had a little broth so be careful of the squirt offshoots when you bite lol. The wrapper was not thick+dry and the filling was so moist and juicy!! Usually I don't tend to like soup dumplings because I end up with dried out thick wrappers and very starchy tasting broth and dried out meat fillings. Lastly, my favorite taro shrimp patty: they julienned/matchsticked the taro finely to ensure max crispiness! The part I look forward to most! Moist and herby fragrant shrimp patty. I'll be ordering 4 of them each time I go! The owner shared they have dim sum offered every day they operate, of course, pending availability. I wish them well and hope they continue with the dim sum quality they have. I was surprised because fresh dim sum is such a labor of love that the restaurants I've frequented only offer dim sum on the weekends. Even though ramen is the main thing advertised in their restaurant name, the dim sum offerings are not to be overlooked!!! For the love of god, please support this place for serving REAL shu mai and not the frozen 1/2in filler-filled gummy 'shu mai' appetizers 😭 If you're given the option to have it fried, it ain't the real real...

I appreciate that they diligently list out the ingredients for those wary with food allergies. In the main subtitle, the 'Chicken Siu Mai' doesn't infer the inclusion of shrimp. So shellfish-allergic people, take caution and don't scan the menu too fast! I definitely didn't read the ingredients sharply and ended up feeding my boyfriend that which he doesn't like shrimp hahaha oops.

Spacious and elegantly decorated restaurant (Industrial, woodsy, modern, stone accents) that reminds me of Burnin99's across the street, Jinya Ramen, Hachiya, and Mr. Pan Ramen. Kudos to a beautiful start and I wish their business prosperity! Looking to try the ramen next :)

Note: make sure to specify a foam to-go container/box vs a ramen to-go container for leftovers & a ramen soup spoon instead of a flat silver spoon for the potential soup dumpling spillage. The owner rectified the...

Came in for lunch on a weekend, seated and served immediately. For appetizers, the Crab Rangoon’s were lightly fried with the cream cheese interior still cold. Not sure if this was purposeful or not, I still liked it but I think I prefer a hot stuffing to them. We also had the Shanghai Pork Dumplings, we liked these and it was our first time trying dumplings like these. They were savory and a very little sweet, almost reminiscent of a breakfast really good pork maple sauce with a soft doughy exterior. I had the spicy beef ramen which came with a large half bone of beef rib and some pieces of pork for the protein. I would say the ramen itself was pretty minimally spicy, but they do offer chili power and chili oil on the table to bring up the heat. I added a spoonful of the chili pepper and this brought up the heat to a level where it was more noticeable but not something that I would still classify as very spicy so it seems forgiving. My wife had the garlic tonkotsu ramen and thoroughly enjoyed it, she added about half a spoon of the chili powder to her dish and not being a fan of a lot of spice was sufficient for her. Both had great portion sizes and solid flavors and came out fairly quickly. Overall happy with the visit and the food, in the 4.2-4.4...