Zen ramen & sushi burrito — Restaurant in Tacoma

So, we went to the new Zen Ramen location today... Mixed emotions, for sure... For context, I go to two other locations in the general area and would rate them both higher with one of them a 5/5 for everything every time I go. I was pretty disappointed, but will try again later.

The bad:

I got the JMT. The noodles were obviously precooked and put in the fridge or something because they were clumped terribly at the bottom of the bowl. Husband had a similar issue. My broth had a mildly burnt taste my BFF who had the same broth base in her bowl didn't. (I tried both myself.)

Speaking of my BFF, she had Tonkatsu chashu (spicy and it had a bunch of cold toppings— very disruptive to the hot bowl of ramen. It all tasted good, but these were some off-putting things to our meal.

Now the good:

Was told by other patrons who agreed with me on the Ramen being subpar REALLY liked the burritos!

The service here was just as good as other locations if not better. Our server was so intuitive with us, she could tell I wasn't happy with my food despite eating it and not complaining. (I'm just that person.) It was like she knew and brought me an order of the shrimp karaage (don't ask me why the restaurant calls something other than chicken karaage, just go with it. Lol) I had been eyeing and decided not to get gratis. It was delicious! Pretty girl with a high jade green streak in her bangs.

Hubby had shoyu broth in his and was a hit.

BTW, side plus: wth heated seats in the women's...

I love Zen Ramen. They have many locations across the area, and it's a go-to for my 8 person family.

I have been coming to Zen Ramen for close to 6 odd years, and while at the start of time coming here everything was great albeit a bit pricey. Now in November of 2025 this place has taken a steep decline. I first noticed this decline in 2024 after the lawsuit by former employees broke ground. Now its gotten worse. The Ramen uses what appears to be simple boxed spaghetti noodles, which clump together and over all ruin the Ramen experience where more traditional Ramen noodles would soak up some of the broth. They also dont included lotus spoons anymore which my personal opinion ruins part of the Ramen experience allowing you to enjoy a spoonful of broth with the noodles. As for prices they feel the same but for the downgrade in ingredients quality its not worth the 14.99 (zen tonkotsu showed in picture) I paid. The spicy pop rock shimp as also seemingly taken a hit in quality as well, being not as well sauced. The addition of being able to buy high quality chopsticks is a nice touch. But over all id much rather go to a different shop for Ramen. Final rating 5/10, I hope the quality improves...