Kuru Kuru Ramen — Restaurant in Worcester

Let me start by saying I may be a bit biased as a Spoiled 🍜-Snob, having lived in Kyoto for my junior-year of highschool via study abroad. I know what ramen should be, and I've had some seriously top-tier—I'd call it Michelin Star quality—dishes during my time in Rising Sun Land. So, that said, my opinions here may be a bit harsher than the average bear's, so keep that in mind.

First, A+ on setting. The atmosphere and service style these folks have cultivated here in Worcester are superb. They've managed to capture that Japanese ramen-ya vibe, but without being hokey; and without taking on that weeby, patronizing, unconscious culture-theft feeling that so often seems to occur in US-side attempts at ramen-shops...

The dudes that served us had friendly, helpful attitudes, a clean workspace and customer area, and the vibe was so on point that it sent a flood of pleasant memories of my time in Japan rushing back.

Next, I do gotta say, they have a rather attractive price point, at $13/bowl as of June 2025. Especially considering most of the other Worcester area ramen-ya and Japanese restaurants seemed to be pushing $20 - $30 per meal, at this point. So thanks to these dudes for bucking that rather obnoxious trend.

Now comes arguably the most important assessment: how was the food. I had the Mega Miso (Spicy variant), the other two folks in my party had regular Super Shoyu and another Mega Miso (sans-chili oil).

All three of us enjoyed our meals and came away satisfied, for the most part. Taste was pretty-well decent, as far as American ramen shops go. Presentation was great. Ingredient selection stuck to traditional interpretations (broth base, ramen noodles, bamboo shoots, scallions, corn, soft boiled egg, etc).... Mostly a fantastic meal, at a fantastically affordable price.

Turns out, the only beef I had was, ironically, with the pork. The chashu slices were WAY too small, and WAY too thin, IMO. They were only a little larger than silver dollar-sized in diameter, and reminiscent of sandwich deli-meat in terms of thickness...

Don't get me wrong, the taste was fine. But the portioning was such that your bowl only has what feels like two bites of chashu for the whole thing... I mean, on the one hand, I get it. Chashu is one of, if not THE most expensive of all the ingredients, and at $13 a bowl, they clearly can't go nuts with it. But it's also one of the most important parts of the dish, I'd say. Rounds out the overall flavor profile for the dish, etc.

The end result was that I was left feeling as if I was already to the point of finishing up the final quarter of my bowl, but after having only consumed two "bites"...

And so, the rating. Maybe I'm being picky here, but the "I'm almost done" feeling throughout the entire bowl kinda monkey-wrenched the whole shebang for me... What was otherwise a great experience and fantastic dish was pushed into "meh" territory, in the end.

And I guess, for $13 and everything you get with it, perhaps I should just shut my proverbial pie hole. They clearly love what they do, and are honestly trying to open ramen up to wider accessibility, so everything seems in good faith.

I dunno. I'm not gonna say I won't go back. But I'll definitely have to buy add-on chashu slices I think. Or maybe just adjust overall...

I ordered the Spicy Miso soup to eat at home later. What I didn’t know or expect is that I would get top-tier customer service AND food to go with it. I was given clear, easy to follow instructions on my ramen to eat later that day as well as a card with the same instructions that were given. The food was so good, I can’t wait to go back. They also have a loyalty program but your stamp card is an actual Pokémon card. I’m happy I pulled an Electabuzz; They have a lot of anime/pokemon/Japanese items decorating their area and between their personable attitudes and welcoming environment and great food to boot, this is a...

Are we in Japan or Worcester?

Great food and vibes overall! Chef Geno & Nick know how to make their guests feel welcomed and share their love of ramen and anime with everyone. If you aren’t sure of what to get, you can 100% put your trust in them in helping you make the choice of what ramen to get. You literally cannot go wrong!

What makes them unique from all of the ramen shops I have been to is Chef Nick and Geno will Pokémon battle you when you pay for your bowl of ramen! It’s part of their unique loyalty program where you can unlock in-house bowls, utensils, and secret...