Iron ramen — Restaurant in Town of Brookhaven

One of the most disappointing dining experiences I’ve had, and all for an avoidable reason.

On Christmas Eve, my family and I visited this establishment in search of a hearty meal while we were out and about. Unfortunately, from the outset, the service was subpar. The staff members who assisted us with our order were dismissive, rude, and seemed outright hostile. I’ve never felt so disrespected over a meal—especially something as straightforward as ramen.

The food itself didn’t meet expectations either. It was bland and lacked any real flavor, to the point where I’ve made better ramen from a packaged kit at home. Three members of my family were dissatisfied with their dishes, so I approached the cashier to inquire about the possibility of an exchange. Having worked in food service myself, I understand the policies that establishments typically have, and I always approach these situations with respect and understanding. I wasn’t demanding anything—just hoping for a simple resolution.

Instead, I was met with an unnecessarily defensive and condescending response:

“In other places, we don’t refund people just because they don’t like the food. It’s your own decision to buy food. It’s not our fault you don’t like the food that someone else may like. You can buy something else, but we will not refund or exchange anything for you.”

For clarification, no refund was requested. At no point did I escalate the situation or ask for anything unreasonable. A simple, polite “no” would have sufficed. I merely wanted to ask about the possibility of an exchange, but was met with an excessive, unnecessarily hostile response.

While I understand that food service can be demanding, it doesn’t justify treating customers in such a dismissive and rude manner. Smaller establishments, like Slurp, would likely have handled the situation with far more professionalism and courtesy—even offering a refund or exchange if necessary.

TL;DR: The food was mediocre (a 4/10 at best), and the staff was unreasonably rude without cause. If you have the option, I recommend visiting a more customer-friendly place, like...

I just started working in the Centereach area and came across this gem of a place. They don't have a large menu, but that is one of the greatest things about it. The food here is absolutely superb. I have eaten here three times in the last week, and have yet to be disappointed.

Day 1 was the Kara-Age Don, a lovely flavor filled array of Japanese fried chicken, pickled ginger, seaweed salad, scallions, sesame seeds, spicy mayo and eel sauce. I coupled it with the Lychee Milk tea with Tapioca bubbles and added some lychee Jelly just to try it.

Day 2 was the Curry Katsu Don. Japanese curry, with cooked potatoes, carrots and onions, coupled with the additions from the previous dish (sans the sauces). I paired this with the Green Tea Milk Tea. It was a lovely experience.

Today I got the Lurou Don; marinated ground pork topped with the same as the curry Katsu and coupled it with a Rose Flower Tea. I was surprised that the pork was on the weet side, but not like BBQ sweet. I cant quite put my finger on it, but it is delicious. The rose tea is similar to how bath and bodyworks' rose scented soaps smell. It legitimately tastes like you would think. It isnt for me, but I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys lavander or jasmine flavored items.

Overall this has been an amazing experience. I have yet to try the ramen, as every time I get a bowl i can barely eat half and bring it home for dinner. Ramen doesnt really translate well after its first made, but one of these days, It will be eaten! 10/10, would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys food. You dont have to like Japanese style food to eat here, but it definitely gives a better appreciation to the...

For a vegetarian : Too Soon

I feel like the bar has been set pretty high for vegetable ramen, both by places in NYC and Slurp in Port Jeff. I generally expect there to be a nice tare made with miso paste, crispy kare-age tofu and some leafy fresh vegetables that sit nicely on top of the noodles.

This place changes that up in a lot of weird and unexpected ways, not all of which are welcome in my opinion. The soup base was more or less just soy sauce and water, it really lacked any subtlety or complexity; it's more like they just don't care about making a distinct vegetable broth. Also weird was the addition of uncooked, unflavored tofu cubes which had barely absorbed any unique taste and quickly disintegrated into the soup. The choice of vegetables was the strangest part: THICK vegetables like broccoli and zucchini that require a lot of work to break down.

Overall I enjoyed the experience, but I CANNOT call this Ramen. It's closer to a Korean soup called SOON, which you can get at H-mart with seasoned tofu and gourds. It would be a decent dish to have but pricing it like normal ramen when it takes so much less effort is a little...