Hokkaido Ramen & Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Waco

While it might be a bit over stimulating for people with sensory issues, I HIGHLY recommend this place. Some of the friendliest staff I've ever met, and who speak well of the owner: they were funny, alert, and helpful. Atmosphere was good, the place was clean, the tables shone, and the decor was really fun. Idk about the restroom for assigned males, but the one for afabs was really well stocked, and had a display between the sinks which had everything from sanitary products to makeup remover and hand lotion. Such a relief. As For The Food: This was probably my favorite food I've had in 2024. The jalapeno poppers were so good that I almost ordered more instead of getting an entree. I can't recommend them highly enough if you are able to eat fried foods. The sushi itself was as good as my previous favorite sushi place, and it didnt leave me feeling any discomfort or nausea which the other sushi place often had. I got the firework roll, and while the toppings might bother people with a sensitivity for mixed textures, I did not have any such issue and I LOVED it. It was a pretty big portion as was the ramen, so I unfortunately couldnt fit both, but the ramen looked stupendous, smelled amazing, and when my friend shared a sip of their broth with me it proved to be rich, and flavorful. For dinner my friend and I split a tray of mochi (they are frozen, and come in a set of three, we picked mango, strawberry, and matcha) and a hokkaido boba tea. Again I wish I could have tried more things but the food was really filling, and I would have probably burst. My sister had been craving their tempura fried cheesecake ever since she first tried it a year and a half ago, so she ordered that and even with a year and a half of buildup she was not disappointed. In conclusion, as a native Texan, I cant speak to the authenticity of the venue or the food, but I can tell you that the people were lovely, the food was Amazing (Those Poppers Tho!), and the venue was so enjoyable that we loitered there far longer than was kind. My sister is on the autism spectrum and it didnt give her any problems, she just carefully chose cooked sushi for textural reasons. The staff were marvelous and I hope to go back to Waco soon so that I can eat...

Pros: food was super great, one of the better ramen houses I’ve been to based on taste. reasonable pricing. Bathroom was the most generously well stocked I’ve ever seen in my life! Wow

Cons: staff very much needs training on dietary restrictions/allergens. My 2 year old daughter can’t have dairy. We came to an Asian restaurant because they usually have fewer dairy ingredients than other restaurants. I asked about each menu item to verify if they had dairy (fried rice usually doesn’t but I always ask) and our server said “yes, it does not have butter, just oyster sauce.” I ordered that for her. After we had our food for 15 minutes, my daughter started asking to try our ramens. I spoke to two more different employees to ask about our ramens, and both of them started saying the same thing “oh I don’t think the broth has dairy.” I had to explain to them what should have been already known — I need to be 100% sure, it’s not a matter of “it’s probably ok”, I need to know if the allergen is there or not. I appreciate that one of the two went in the back and completely confirmed for me. About 5 mins later, our original server came back and said “I’m so sorry, the fried rice did have butter. I’m so sorry. Has she been eating it?” Yeah, she had been eating it for about 15 mins because the waitress had already told us that it did not have butter. She had also gone off of what she had guessed, instead of confirming.

Because of this mistake, I am dealing with a sick 2 year old. There was nothing we could do at this point. The cherry on the top perhaps was that the employees didn’t even offer to comp the fried rice that my daughter now couldn’t eat, or anything similar.

I was shocked that that many employees thought it was ok to just guess on ingredients instead of really confirming, and we were the ones to pay the price.

Other con was that the bathroom floors were quite grimy and didn’t seem like they...

I was thrilled to try this place, but it seems like things went bad as soon as I read on the door, "temporarily not serving sushi", then to make matters worse they sit us next to the restrooms. Our waitress had a scent of cigarettes on her person and every time she made any movement, I would smell the slate smel of cigarettes. The only option was to order ramen since sushi was out of the question. I spotted the veggie ramen as it looked good and didn't say it contained any eggs. I was excited, but only to be even more disappointed once the food arrived. The veggie ramen broth was thick and creamy consistency. The broth tasted like egg yolk and smelt like eggs. The taste was acquired and disgusting.

I had my boyfriend, friend, and brother sample it which they all said it tasted like eggs. I ask the waitress if any egg byproduct was in the ramen. Her response, she doesn't think so. So, the chef comes to the table to confirm that there wasn't any egg byproduct, but instead soybeans. I didn't finish the bowl of ramen.

The chef insisted that he can make me anything. He suggested fried rice and I asked him, "without eggs?" He shrugged and said, maybe not. I kept saying, "no it's fine! Please no." The chef insisted and settled on veggie spring rolls.

I only eat spring rolls from Thai restaurants because they aren't fried. I insisted against it because I lost my appetite with the ramen. I wasn't going to eat the fried spring rolls and hadn't planned on it.

After the ramen sat for a while, it began to smell sour and rotten.

Another thing I didn't like was the fact the waitress assumed to ask, that I wouldn't like the boba fruit tea. The kumquat and lemon tea was tasty. I originally had fresh kumquat in Jamaica. The fruit tea was the only tasty thing at the restaurant.

Vegans beware of this...