Mikoto Ramen Bar and Sushi — Restaurant in Tyler

I really hate to leave a review like this because before last night Mikoto was one of my favorite restaurants in Tyler. I’ve been there several times with friends, ever since it opened. I’m unsure exactly how many times we’ve been, but I’d estimate at least once (or twice a few times) a month since they first opened. Every time I’ve been to Mikoto I always get the exact same thing—the Spicy Curry Ramen, except I substitute the pork meat and pork broth with chicken, because I can’t eat pork. Before last night, the servers have always been so nice and happy to accommodate me, which is one of the reasons I love Mikoto, because I love the spicy red curry but as I said, I can’t have pork. Every time, I always check if that’s okay for them to substitute it and the server will go back and check with the chef and every time they’ve been so nice about preparing it with chicken for me. So when I went with my friends last night and started to order my favorite meal, the guy interrupted me and said no, that I couldn’t have it because they don’t do substitutions. I politely said that I’ve been to Mikoto numerous times and that I always get the same thing and I asked if something had changed. The guy looked at me like I was crazy and said “uh, we’ve never done substitutions.” He acted kind of cold and rude and acted like I was making the whole thing up and lying about all the other times I’ve been before. I felt kind of dumbfounded because I had been so excited for the Spicy Curry for the past two days and the guy (who wasn’t our server, but who was taking our order) wouldn’t even bother to tell the chef about my situation and see if it was possible. He didn’t even apologize that they couldn’t prepare it like I always have it. I can’t help but wonder if the guy was lying to me because he just didn’t want to deal with it. Because it just doesn’t make sense that Mikoto has always been able to prepare the Spicy Curry Ramen with chicken instead of pork before last night. So I can’t help but think that the guy who was taking our order while our server was busy, was just not a nice guy. I hope that’s the case because if it’s true that Mikoto isn’t doing substitutions anymore, then I won’t be eating there anymore. Which truly sucks, because like I said at the beginning of this review, it was my...

My daughter and I made the HUGE mistake of going to this restaurant. Trust that this will NEVER happen again! First off, we were seated in the worst possible location. The doorway to the back of house was like 5 ft behind us, and we were right next to where they were boiling all the noodles. There really shouldn't be a table there at all. We were still hoping that the service and food would be worth it... NOPE. We gave the server our order, which included an appetizer and 2 ramen bowls. The food came out in a reasonable time, however, our ramen arrived before our appetizer. That's when we were informed that the appetizers ALWAYS come out AFTER the rest of the food because they take more time to make. That's just ridiculous! Then we're looking at our ramen, trying to figure out what the large nest of shredded green stuff was that basically, covered the whole bowl. I asked. It was green onion. We asked for no green onion, but got enough green onion between us to share with the entire restaurant. We just picked it off and put it on our unused appetizer plates. It covered the appetizer plates! I'm looking at my ramen and I realize there's no bean sprouts. There's none in my daughter's ramen either. So, we get a ton of something we don't want, but none of what we do want? I ask the server about it. They ran out of bean sprouts earlier in the day. ??!! It's dinner time. Shouldn't someone have gone to buy some, or at least shouldn't you be telling people you're out of it? At this point, we still don't have our appetizer, and our ramen isn't right. We're frustrated, but my daughter decides to try the ramen anyway. If it tastes good, maybe it's worth the trouble? NOPE! She immediately regrets putting the vile substance in her mouth and spits it out. I tell the server that we're just going to go somewhere else because this is just ridiculous. She says she has to get her manager. The manager is the one boiling the noodles next to us. She comes over. We explain what happened. She apologizes for her server. We leave. We...

Went here with a few friends last night. This was my first time here, probably not coming back. We waited a minute to get seated which wasn’t an issue, but after getting a table, we weren’t greeted or spoken to for several minutes. We were still waiting on one friend in a group of three, but I wanted to get my drink and appetizer ordered. Didn’t happen and she finally showed up. The black garlic ramen and sushi were good, but Ichiban’s soup is better, in my opinion. My issue was really with the service. Extended wait to be greeted, I had to get up and get my own napkins, and then our food took about 15mins to get out which was fine, but subsequently, we felt rushed through it. This place is tiny, so doing their job when I can see my server standing there is annoying. We were also there around 8:30 and they started closing duties. All three of us in our group are servers, so we understand that wholeheartedly, but our server started closing tasks an 1hr 15 mins before they actually close and didn’t really care for us since her BOH duties were apparently more important. The cooks and/or servers also turned up the music super loud when they started cleaning. Had it been 15-20 mins to close, I would’ve understood and as a server, I can take a hint and I won’t camp. This was a while before close and by this point we were halfway through our meal. Overall, lackluster service and decent food. I don’t like writing bad reviews or criticizing hardworking individuals in this oftentimes exhausting industry, but the attitudes and general lack of care were really frustrating. Recommend Ichiban on all accounts...