SUKI: Japanese Hibachi, Ramen Noodles, and Tea House — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

We visited Suki Japanese Hibachi and Ramen Bar on Monday night 3/12/18 for the first time. We were planning on going to Ramen Kyoto in Bethpage but there was a sign on the door that said: Sorry, Crosed for Creaning. We had to come up with a new plan so we googled Ramen near me and Suki came up. I looked at the menu and they had what we were craving: Ramen and pork buns, so we decided to go there. It’s a small restaurant with only 8 tables. It was full on a slow Monday night. I can’t imagine how long the wait for a table must be on a busy night. At first our waitress put us at a small 2 top table but we know with the amount of food and drinks that we normally order that we were going to need a bigger table so we slid over to the only other open table in the restaurant, which was a 4 top. When the waitress returned, she didn’t say anything, but she seemed annoyed about our move. This attitude seemed to continue through the rest of our stay. I started by ordering green tea and I thought it would come in a tea pot but it came in individual tea cups and after a few sips it was empty. For appetizers we ordered a seaweed salad and steamed pork buns. The seaweed salad had some julienned cucumber mixed in with it which I’ve never had it like that before, so that was nice. The pork buns were ok. It had thin sliced with sautéed peppers and onions it. They weren’t very flavorful. The pork buns I’m used to have only pork and spicy mayo, and they’re so good. These didn’t compare. Also, on my quest to find any type of soup dumpling on Long Island, I asked the waitress if they had soup dumplings and she pointed to shumai soup on the menu, so I ordered it. It wasn’t what I was looking for. This was mushroom broth soup with a few small dumplings in it, almost like wonton soup. The dumplings had no flavor but the soup broth was good. I also ordered a green salad as an appetizer. It came with hardly any ginger dressing on it, and it didn’t have any carrot, cucumber or tomato on it. I was a little disappointed about that. As an entree, Lahna ordered a Shrimp Yaki Udon dish. It came with fried ramen noodles, bok choy, mushrooms and shrimp. The dish was very good. I ordered the tonkotsu Ramen bowl. It was good but it definitely needed more broth. It had a lot of noodles but hardly any broth in it. I also wasn’t a fan of the pork that came on it. It was 2 slices of a thick cut pork. At first I picked up a piece and took a bite out of it. I quickly realized that I don’t want to do that every time I wanted some pork, so I took the 2 big slices and ripped them into small chunks and added them back into my soup. Overall, the food wasn’t anything spectacular. There aren’t too many other Ramen restaurants on Long Island, so they will always have a niche crowd. I just hope Ramen Kyoto opens...

Been going here since they opened and always loved the Ramen, especially the Suki Ikka Nabi one. Even back when it was a giant two person bowl.

Haven’t been here since March. Decided to go last night, immediately the waitress seemed completely off the ball. Took drink orders, never received any. Only left us sitting with four waters. After asking 3 times for a fifth glass for myself, I finally received the tea pot and a glass of cloudy murky water. This took another three attempts to rectify. Constantly giving me back a dirty cup of water with stuff floating around. Eventually had to call over a new waitress.

Great, time to take our order. 3 ordered Hibachi and two ordered Ramen. Gave entire order which of course was struggle. Listen I am not for nothing saying this, but if you are a waiter or waitress or work in service industry maybe brush up on English. The lady simply just did not understand how to take an order or anything we’d say. Very frustrating. Around this time we noticed some looks from another nearby table. Me thinking maybe I’m a bit annoyed and my tone has changed.

Ten mins or so pass. She comes back with a handwritten note with only our appetizers. We have to now repeat the entire ordering process over again with her. Her not understanding, us pointing to the menu..just unnecessary and aggrevating. Way way too much of a process for a simple menu.

Food comes, first appetizers. Then salads, crowding the table. Four salads, only three hibachi dinners ordered. Other two were Ramen. So maybe they all come with salad, of course me with no water also gets no salad. Makes no sense why 4/5 would. But ok.

This is when the table next to us all received their full entrees while still having soup and salad. They proceeded to tell us the place about six months ago was bought and new owners and has gone downhill since. If you knew this, why you coming back?

No soup is ever brought either for the hibachi dinners. No rice, no fried rice. All dinners at separate intervals too.

Ramen comes, mine is missing items and so is the other one. We call her over and tell her, she says ok she will bring them. Nothing ever came. After a few minutes we just ate because we had given up.

At the end of the meal we told the other waitress and she offered us free dessert, yeah that never came either. We didn’t care, we just wanted to get the hell out of there.

Miserable experience at once a great restaurant. This is not a review regarding the food. That was great still. Just really disappointed how bad the staff was. It...

I’ve been coming here for years because the food is consistently flavorful and satisfying. One of the main reasons I’ve continued to return is the availability of vegetarian and vegan options, which can be hard to come by at ramen spots. As a vegan, I’ve always appreciated that they offer multiple plant-based ramen choices.

That said, I’ve never been impressed by the service—it’s generally been mediocre—but the quality of the food made up for it. However, I feel compelled to share a recent experience that has deeply affected my trust in this establishment.

During my last visit, I ordered a vegan ramen and requested a substitution for a different type of noodle. Although my request was initially overlooked, the staff quickly corrected it when I brought it to their attention, which I appreciated.

Unfortunately, the real issue came afterward. While eating, I unexpectedly bit into something with a distinct meaty texture. It had been hidden in the broth, so I didn’t notice it until it was already in my mouth. I immediately spit it out, and upon closer inspection—and with confirmation from my friend, the waitress, and the chef—it turned out to be pork.

As someone who is vegan, this was deeply upsetting. I explained this to the staff, and while they apologized, their response was concerning; they said people make mistakes. When I asked how they would have handled the situation had it been a food allergy, their answer was, “Call an ambulance.” They obviously didn’t care about the situation.

This interaction left me questioning the kitchen’s attention to detail and the seriousness with which they handle dietary restrictions. Mistakes happen, but the response to such a serious oversight should be handled with more care and professionalism.

Regrettably, I won’t be returning, and I caution others—especially those with allergies or strict dietary needs—to be very careful when...