Hokkaido Ramen & Sushi — Restaurant in Texarkana

☆(GF Options available!)☆ Let me tell you: I don't normally rate so highly on all points. There's usually a 4 star in there somewhere, even at some of my favorite places. But man....This place really hits it out of the park. The atmosphere is very unique and colorful-- with Naruto, One Piece, and Japanese decorations everywhere (including a beautiful rock garden fountain) in the small rustic shop, and upbeat (kpop or spanish?) music playing in the background. It felt like my childhood.... The service was excellent. We were served during both visits by Bruce, who did a fantastic job making sure I was comfortable and confident that my allergies were being accounted for. He was funny, smiling, thorough, quick, and very helpful. He made the whole experience smooth and worry-free! Also, the pacing was very comfortably quick. We did not have long to wait on either stop, and they did not disappoint. We got our orders, our food, our to-go containers, paid, and still beat everyone else back to the tour bus, including those who went to Chick-fil-A! 👀 The shop is very clean, with each table taken much care in cleaning after each customer. The bathrooms aren't great quality, but not exactly the main event by any means. And what is the main attraction? -- the food. Oh. My. Gosh. THE FOOD. The portion sizes are out of this world, and no picture does it justice. On our first trip through we got the appetizer regular edamame (not pictured), and I legitimately ate off of it for three days. It was heaping! And the ramen? The bowls are larger than my hand. Maybe larger than my face. They are huge! They give a ladle, fork, and chopsticks, so you have options! Lol And the quality? Illegally good. Like, this is now a place I will hunt down wherever I go. It was an immediate google for possible places near where I live. Some of the very best comfort ramen one could ever ask for. It tastes like a home I never knew I had. Worthy of Naruto Uzumaki. 🤌🍜🍥✨️ Also, they don't give you some styrofoam container for leftovers. No no, that would not be Naruto-worthy. They actually give you plastic containers for regular dishes (plastic bowls for ramen) -- with lids -- and the most ADORABLE little to-go bags that make easy souvenirs! Absolutely loved it.... It is a little pricey, but well worth in food portions and quality. Also, they have a few tables for korean BBQ, which my pastor said was great.

10/10, would definitely recommend!

☆》Pictured: Chicken Rich (GF), Shiyo Ramen (two orders regular for my compadres), Spring Roll appetizer (I did not risk these nor ask about allergens), Ramuné Strawberry soda (empty lol)

☆》ALLERGENS: (GF) The staff were mildly knowledgeable up front about my Gluten Intolerance, leading to some confusion but then assurance. I had read online that they had gluten-free ramen, but one staff seemed unsure and the other remembered that one regular got the veggie ramen gluten free. (I ended up getting the Chicken Rich on both trips, as it was most recommended online for GF and more in line with what I wanted.) On my second trip, I noticed that the menu indicates that any ramen can be made gluten-free with a $2 upcharge. It is so worth it! I have never tasted gluten-free noodles that good EVER. I will be searching to replicate them at home. I think they're edamame noodles? Online, there was one commenter who said they were told by one staff that the marianted egg was not gluten-free, but I ate one bite on my first trip and one half on my second trip and had no adverse reactions on either occasion. So consume at your discretion.....

☆》(Vegan/Vegetarian): There did seem to be at least one option for vegetarian diets. I am not vegetarian, but the veggie ramen appeared to be suitable for vegetarian diets. I'm not too sure about...

To start off with the positives, I love how thoughtfully the to-go orders are packed! They used a reusable bag and bowl which is awesome, and the broth and other soup components were packed securely so there’s no chance of spills unless you drop the whole thing. Also from what I saw of the interior of the restaurant, the decorations were very unique and adorable, 10/10 vibes, and the employee who gave me my order was very sweet. Unfortunately the positives mostly end there. I got the veggie ramen and an avocado roll. The avocado roll was okay, a very basic item so almost impossible to mess up. The ramen really fell short. Broth resembled and also vaguely tasted like dirty dishwater, but was overall not flavorful at all. This was a huge letdown considering the broth is one of the main draws of ramen. The noodles were decent, but the veggies were subpar quality imo, particularly the tomatoes. I thought this was a weird addition to begin with, but the tomatoes in my order were very anemic looking and did not taste pleasant. The tofu in the soup could have been better prepared; frying it or using a different variety, such as silken tofu, might have allowed it to better absorb the other flavors. I personally LOVE tofu so it didn’t bother me too much, but I definitely think it would be off-putting to someone who was unfamiliar with it. Overall, my meal was edible, but I was really disappointed as I was excited to finally have an option in town that wasn’t burgers or Tex-Mex. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be a...

I will preface saying I came on opening night, I knew there would be kinks to work out. But I had a great time overall. Me and my boyfriend were there for two hours in total, which again they had a long line out the door so I expected it. We got the garlic tonkotsu Raman, spicy ramen, and a Texarkana roll. It is pricey, but the bowls are so big we could've easily split one, but we plan to come and try them all. The fried roll was 10 pieces, but it was massive so it was definitely a good appetizer! It was almost $50 without tip so expect that it's expensive if you have a bigger party. We had a very nice server that took care of us, and I believe a gentleman who was a general manager was helping that night as well. And there are no forks!!! We had a ladle for the soup and chopsticks, so if you're not adept I would practice 😂but I'm sure you can ask for a fork. The only issue I had for the whole night was that they served a table before us just because they got up and asked to be served first (and I didn't catch it right away), and so we were almost skipped in the wait-list (which was just a piece of paper with written names, no party noted except for the 4 person table who asked to be seated, and the 5 person table after them they were about get a table for). And at this point we'd already been waiting 40-50 minutes (again, expected). But a lady general manager was kind enough to get that sorted and get us seated quickly, so I really appreciate her helping us. We will...