We went for my friends birthday and oh my- it was INCREDIBLE. 5 star service. Ask for Seth! He was amazing and gave great recommendations. The largest bowl of chicken fried rice I've ever had in my life. Highly recommend! read more

Gaku Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

I came here for lunch because I was craving something warm and I figured, even in Vermont, how can a place screw up ramen THAT badly? They answered that question for me. The bartender/server was very friendly, but my veggie ramen took 20 minutes to come out and was lukewarm. Not very flavorful, full of raw cabbage. Tofu was extra. Not a fan. My server was nowhere to be seen for a while so I flagged down a different server to ask for my check, she said she'd bring it right away. Then I watched her spend 10 minutes talking to other tables, running food, doing anything but walk to the POS station in clear view of me to print my bill. I work in a restaurant and that sort of stuff really bothers me, because it's a huge no-no at my restaurant. It's rude and one of the fastest ways to upset a guest. A manager noticed I was sitting at my table looking grumpy and came over to ask if everything was ok. I told him I'd been waiting for my bill for a while and he went over and got it for me within 30 seconds. He comped my tofu which was nice, but still, I've never been to a ramen restaurant where the veggie ramen didn't come with tofu. I left half the ramen in the bowl because the flavor was just bad and it wasn't hot. I would absolutely not come back here or recommend it to anyone. read more

The ramen itself was very mediocre, but the service was absolutely abhorrent. When we first got in, we waited ~5 minutes to be seated when the restaurant was nearly empty. We figured maybe we could sit anywhere we'd like, so we sat down. Another couple comes in. Gets seated immediately. So, we get up awkwardly and wait for another five minutes. We waited a while to even be brought waters because our waitress was busy flirting with old guys at the bar. She didn't write anything down when she finally came to take our order, and lo and behold, she forgot the black garlic my boyfriend asked for. This place has become a punchline for us. "Hey, I had an idea lunch. How about GAKU RAMEN?" If you want ramen on Church Street, I highly recommended Asiana noodle shop instead. read more

The ramen was good and I enjoyed the food overall. However, I was a little disappointed by the wording on the menu regarding the noodle refill. According to the menu it said "KAEDAMA - EXTRA NOODLES FOR YOUR SOUP. IF YOU ARE HUNGRY TODAY PLEASE LEAVE SOME OF YOUR SOUP AND ASK FOR "KAEDAMA"! After eating most of my ramen, I still had about half a bowl of noodles left, but I asked if I could get a refill and was told it would be an additional $3. The waiter explained that the refill option was not for the "bowl." I found that confusing because the ramen noodles and soup are served in a bowl--so I'm not sure how "bowl" is supposed to be interpreted in this case. I think the menu could be worded more clearly to avoid misunderstandings. Again, the food itself was good, but I hope the restaurant considers making the refill policy clearer for customers. read more

Gaku Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

Nate and I stopped by Gaku twice while in the area - once in the evening just for drinks and the next day for lunch. It wasn't very busy either time we were there so we were seated right away. The whiskey highballs were tasty and just like what we had in Tokyo! The ramen was not quite as good, but still hit the spot on a bit of a cooler day. We did ask for an egg to be added but that was missing. Toppings can add up as everything is an extra charge. We also got an order of the pork bao, which were fluffy and tender. Service was polite and friendly both visits, and the ramen portion was quite big so we just shared that. The tonkotsu broth was slightly sweet which I was not really expecting, but I liked the noodles and the toppings. read more

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Asked to use the restroom and was looked like I was a peasant , was going to order until they told me I had to pay and was rude. I had to use the restroom so bad before ordering but will now never go to this place again read more

First time having Gaku Ramen and I was very impressed. The server was so polite and even helped us move our table when we asked. I got the miso ramen with gaku buns. It was a little pricy but worth it. Great portions. read more

Gaku Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

The staff and portions are very nice and I love going however it seems there's always something wrong or missing with my orders and for the pricing it's starting to become not worth the time or money read more

We came here with our 9 year old and we all loved it. Each of our ramens were delicious. Since we could customize our orders with the add-ones, each one was so unique. Add the butter miso to your dish! Testimonial from the kid: "This place is the BEST!" read more

Isabelle and Mom got dinner here together. Isabelle (8yo): "I really liked it actually. My review would be a four. They have great ramen with good options and it tastes delicious. So, I do recommend coming here" Mom: The ambience was nice. I liked the indoor/outdoor seating options. The service was really quick and friendly; however, there really wasn't anyone else in there. I got the vegetable ramen and thought it had a really unusual flavor to it. As a high-volume ramen eater, I hadn't encountered this flavor before and found it off putting. I put a lot of spicy miso sauce in which helped, but I wouldn't go here again. read more

Bamboo shoots seemed not fresh, and the noodles were undercooked. Unfortunately, I developed diarrhea afterward and am still experiencing symptoms. This has raised concerns about food safety and food handling. I hope the management looks into this seriously. read more

Gaku Ramen - miso ramen - Ramen Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

If you have limited time or in a rush, I won't recommend you eat here. Location, food and servers were great but it took almost 30 mins to serve the food. Looks well-prepared and the plating looks fab though, esp the cucumber thing! Gyoza tasted like it didn't come from the freezer! Yum! Ramen more flavorful that anything my husband tasted, according to him. In front of the city hall; walking distance from the waterfront; no parking in front of the resto itself but there are street parking everywhere. read more

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My mom loves Gaku so whenever we are in Burlington we stop here for a meal. The vegetarian ramen is good but I think it could use a bit more flavor in the broth (which I know is different because no meat). The service from Seth was great. I always have leftovers since the portion sizes are big (in my opinion) and it heats up well the next day! read more

I cannot say enough good things about Gaku! We started with the Gaku buns and those were the best bao I have ever eaten in my entire lift. We had it with chicken. The pickled veggies were just top notch. We live in MI and were on vacation when we stopped here - I've joked with hubby that for my bday I want to come back to Gaku for dinner. Hubby ordered a shrimp ramen bowl. The broth was incredible! Very savory and flavorful. I wound up drinking a bit of the broth. On to my meal - I have a bad stomach. I was feeling a little rough from eating out over the past few days so I ordered white rice with a piece of grilled salmon. It was perfect - just what my poor stomach needed! In the pic, you will see a few noodles that my hubby put in my bowl for me to try. read more

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Food is pretty good, staff were polite... BUT WOW ARE THEY SLOW and did not come around to Ask if we needed anything else like another round of drinks.... read more

Food and service was good. Overall ramen was ok I suppose for the area. No cocktails really just sale and wine. Chicken karrahe was good tho read more

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Been here about twice now and both times it took forever for us to get food. I've been with my friends and we all go to uvm. Both servers we've had barely approached us and gave us little to no attention when they're not even busy. We waited twenty minutes for an appetizer that was cold and had absolutely been just sitting in the kitchen. Do not recommend, stupid to stereotype bc we're just college kids. read more

delicious food, great service & environment - would go back and recommend to a friend

Have not been here in a while. (2+ years). It's cold out so I decided to get take out. Ordered a ramen bowl and I arrived 5 minutes after the online pick up time... I then waited another 15 minutes for the food to be ready. The ramen did taste okay however for the. Price $22 plus fees I expected more than three small pieces of chicken. Overall not pleased and probably won't be returning. read more

I don't leave reviews, but this is the worst ramen. Literally tasted like the frozen ones you get at Costco. Prices are absurd for what you get. A disgrace and a scam. read more

Stopped for lunch with two of my favorite people, we ordered Gaku chicken buns, and pork buns for appetizers, the pork ones really were the winners. Tonkotsu ramen was tasty but not stellar, vegetable shoyu, was ordered with a little spice, it came out and the broth was to spicy to finish. My pork belly fried rice, was good, It had a slight taste of vinegar which I could have done without, and the bowl needed a little soy to liven it up. The pork belly was delicious with nice crisp edges, It would have been nice to have a few more pieces in it for the price of the bowl... read more

The chashu in this ramen were hands down amazing. Perfectly barbecued, very juicy and fatty! Glad to see that @gakuramen brings good Japanese ramen to Vermont, and was definitely surprised to see the price point to be closed to NYC's as well...! read more

Gaku Ramen - Tonkotsu Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

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The staff were nice and the food was ok but they didn't have many of the ingredients on the menu, and we waited about an hour to receive our food after ordering and it was barely warm :( read more

Everything was OK. Chicken shoyu and tonkatsu were just average. The only good part is they are not salty. The kaarage and the pork buns however are very salty. Vermont weather it was really nice to have a warm pot of noodle soups. So we still glad we chose this as our early lunch. Just don't expect great ramen. read more

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Amazing food, friendly staff, and inviting setting had made me and my family repeat customers for yrs.

This place deserves better ratings - out of all the places I've had lunch on Church street, Gaku has been consistently so good. Their ramen is great - I love the vegetable shoyu and my friends have enjoyed the chicken ramen and the friend rice options. They have lovely outdoor seating, friendly staff, prompt service, nice drinks in the evening (recommend the lychee martini) and in the summer the interior opens up so you can get a cool breeze and people-watch. It's great, was shocked to see it had anything less than 4 stars. read more

Gaku Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

***Just a heads up it seems this place may be permanently closed. My group went here last year when it was open. This year it had a "closed for the holidays" sign still on, in early March. --Edit: A manager reached out to me, they did have to close abruptly, although they hope to be staffed back up soon! I wish the best of luck to them! ~April 7th is their goal to reopen. Food: 8/10 Service: 7/10 Ambience: 7/10 We all got bowls of ramen here, all were absolutely delicious, and soul warming on such a cold day. Service was certainly a bit slow, we easily waited 45mins to an hour for our food. If we weren't absolutely famished, it would've been a bigger issue than it actually was. Ambience is a typical small scale intimate experience, nothing to complain about. read more

Why ramen place if bad ramen :( For real though, the ramen is so bad it took forever to come out and it was cold! Huge disappointment. Do not come here read more

I'm a ramen snob and quite hard to please, but the ramen here is phenomenal. I would eat it every day if I could. It's flavorful, the noodles aren't mushy or starchy, and they use actual pork belly for the pork roll. Also big fan of the Gaku buns, though they do seem to run out of those pretty regularly. The chicken appetizer is something special and I can't stop eating it. Service is generally fine, sometimes one server is over-extended and doing the whole room alone, which impacts service speed and interactions, but not in any profoundly negative way. If it's busy, food will be slightly slower to hit the table, but not appreciably so. Ambiance is good... It's clean, minimally decorated, and generally an anime is playing at the bar which is a fun touch. Bathrooms are always in very good condition. Only complaint is that it can get very loud if it's busy, more so than a normal restaurant. They are closed right now and I guess they plan on reopening... I hope they do because my kids miss it terribly and I'm dying for plum wine, a Gaku bun, all enjoyed by the window so I can people watch (which, in Burlington, is always next level). read more

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We ate here for lunch and sat outside. An appetizer of Gaku Buns with pork, entrees of Chicken Shoyu Ramen and Pork Belly Rice Bowl, all of which we shared. Service was on the slow side after ordering. The drinks came fairly soon but the food took too long and the appetizer and entrees arrived together. I'd be more understanding if the place was busy but it was not. I don't fault the servers for this though; they were mostly attentive and personable. Gaku buns were simple: just a piece of seasoned pork wrapped with a soft doughy bun. We liked them. I did have to locate soy sauce though from another table. The ramen was unimpressive: the broth lacked complexity, seemed "tinny" in flavor. The onions were raw and cut too large. The chicken, though there wasn't really enough of it, was good: not dry at all and was probably thigh not breast which I'm not a fan of. The rice bowl was fried rice with scallions, shiitake mushrooms, corn, and more, with the pork belly prepared as a single slice on top. The pork itself was quite good: not overly fatty but far more interesting than a leaner cut. But as with the ramen the meat portion was too small. At first I liked this dish. But as I continued to eat I began to notice the oilyness of the rice, which became more objectionable as it cooled. My drink: a cocktail made with tequila, grapefruit, and cinnamon. Interesting; I've never had that combination before. Plenty of tequila. Her drink: prosecco. What can I say? Prosecco. Bubbly. Refreshing. "Make It Spicy - 0.50"? Yes they actually printed that on the menu! What's up with that? Sheesh! read more

This place must be doing great. Too bad I didn't get to experience what Vermont has to offer when it comes to Ramen. If I'm going to come eat & be a paying customer , I only ask be able to sit somewhere im comfortable with sitting. Although there were a handful of empty tables , the guy behind the bar only offered us to either sit between 2 other parties (too close in my opinion , It was almost shoulder to shoulder) or at a high seated table which was located in an awkward centered location. Those kinds of seats are not comfortable especially for a woman of my size and I like to be comfortable when I'm eating. I asked if we could sit at another table and he said no. Offered no other options. Not even outside seating or maybe offer us to wait. I felt as if they didn't need us to come eat and spend our money there anyway. If tables are clearly available , you should let customers come in , not wait for ghost customers to maybe show up to fill them up. Weird business practice but okay. First time I turned around and left a restaurant for this reason which is fine because there is plenty of other places to eat within walking distance. read more

Spouse and I are foodies from Washington, DC, and I've also lived i Japan for a few months. I went here via recommendation from a local friend but was honestly skeptical getting served by what appeared to be an all-white staff. Typical Vermont, though, to be fair. I was quite impressed. In also typical Vermont fashion, everyone was friendly and welcoming. As for the food, the broth was quite good. I got the chicken shoyu ramen, subbing chicken with tofu and adding spicy kick + black garlic. The broth was savory yet light, the tofu was fried well, and the garlic and spice just elevated the dish to the next level. Truly the garlic... The noodles were thick and fine. My criticism was I wish more toppings than the main protein, egg, and scallions were included. Other ramen places in DC and NYC are more generous, typically including things like nori, fishcake, and/or corn without extra fees. My spouse had the miso ramen with pork chashu. It came with thin noodles. A thicker broth. He liked it as well but preferred my noodles. I may have preferred *his* noodles. We came here on a Friday for lunch in August, shortly after it first opened that day. Unlike other reviewers, i found the service to be good on our day. The ramen did seem to take longer than usual to come out, but not to the point where I would complain, and the food was nice and hot. Decor props were kinda stereotypical japanese samurai swords and such. The art along the back wall is quite cool and different. Spacious for social distancing, plenty of natural light from the window wall facing the main street. To the reviewer who said "gaku" doesn't mean anything in Japanese or Chinese, it means several things in Japanese: picture frame, learning/scholarship/knowledge. I cannot speak for Chinese, nor do I think that is relevant given this is a Japanese restaurant. read more

Gaku Ramen - Chicken shoyu, subbing chicken itself with fried tofu, black garlic, and spice kick - Ramen Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

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Food ramen nice & spicy chicken shoyou . Small menu but choices are good. Shortage of staff . read more

Very slow service. We expected a quick lunch here but it took almost 30min to get our food. It's weird as there are not many people in the restaurant in the first place. Ambiance is good. The ramen I got is well below average. The broth is very plain and not flavorful. The noodles are not really ramen noodle. The pork pieces are stale and have off-taste from oxidization. read more

I have always walked by this place and I have always heard mixed reviews. In my opinion it is not very good. The ramen that I got was very wrong in a few aspects. The broth tasted a bit luke warm and like it was watery soy sauce. There were pieces of raw onion in it and the noodles were all clumped together and not very fresh. What I did like was the appetizers, if you want good drinks and a few appetizers this is the place to go. But, if you want quality ramen, which I have experienced other places don't go here. read more

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I'm upgrading to a 4-star review at my daughter's request. She insisted! She said that a 4 is a b performance and I concur it's a b and not a c performance here at Gaku. Cook down that broth more and I'd be very happy! A lovely place with fine service and pleasant ambiance. The restaurant was warm and inviting and noodles just sounded great on a chilly winter evening. We were seated promptly and drinks came promptly. These are all good things. We ordered Japanese cucumber salad, which i thought would be sunomono. Instead, the clues were dressed in a slightly peppery avocado oil vinaigrette. It was good but fusion-y. I ordered the black garlic tonkatsu and DD orders the straight up tonkatsu. The broth was on the thin side. The black garlic did offer a nice flavor however. The mushrooms were really something like wood ear fungus, which both DD and I love. But I wish there had been *actual* mushrooms as the menu had indicated.And overall, we both enjoyed our experience very much. In spite of the three stars, I'd consider coming back. It's a nice spot in a cute area. The lychee martini was too thick and sweet for my taste. Martinis should be refreshing. Less sugar and more lime perhaps and maybe some ginger would make it so that I would drink so many that I would have to walk home. read more

Gaku Ramen - The bar - Ramen Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

So I actually enjoy the food here, that's why I always come back - However, the "staffing shortage" has completely exacerbated what was already very slow service. There was one server for the whole restaurant (props to her, working very hard) and the manager pitches in when he feels like it. Ultimately, after my 20 minute travel time I ended up waiting another 35 minutes for my pickup order at the actual restaurant. When I got it, the food was lukewarm like it had been sitting. (Wouldn't surprise me) Probably won't be back for a while. read more

We recently visited Gaku Ramen again, this time under new management. My wife felt the ramen had lost a step; my dish was fine. Other than that, things were mostly unchanged. -They still appeared understaffed -The host--while very polite--looked like he had recently escaped from a lengthy stint in a Russian penal colony -The wall being open would be great, but for the flies competing with me for my food -The service was ok, but the server had a detached air about her and missed some social cues. -Ambience was again bohemian, with the kinds of patrons that, let's say, were more likely to overlook or even celebrate the restaurant's less-flattering characteristics. Still, I give three stars this time for decent food that was reasonably priced, two functioning bathrooms, and no intestinal issues. read more

Very nice and very attentive server, food was amazing, really good, tasteful, just perfect!! The place has a very good ambiance . We will come back next time we come back in Burlington .. read more

Gaku Ramen - Tonkotsu and Gyoza - Ramen Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

This is my 14-year-old niece's very favorite place to eat in Vermont! And she lives near Boston where there is plenty good ramen to be had in every neighborhood, and she's been to Japan, so she would know good ramen when she sees it--and this, folks, is good ramen! She gets the vegetable ramen, spicy, and I like the tonkatsu (pork) ramen, spicy. Those tender disks of pork or so good!!! We also get the blistered shishito peppers, which I find addictively good, but which she just tolerates politely. The ramen broth is right where it should be--flavorful with lots of umami, but not too salty. I do wish they had more fresh veggies in the pork ramen and that it came with the egg. Raised in ramen with egg the way others were on PB&J, I must have egg in my ramen, and this egg is a perfectly cooked jammy egg! The noodles are the perfect texture, never overcooked. The portion is perfect: even though my mouth wants more, my stomach says we're happy--3 bites more would put it in pain! During Covid summer, they have about 6-8 tables outside under the trees, and they have some seating inside, which is not bad since the entire front of the store opens up, garage-door style. The service is efficient and friendly, the perfect compliment to some awesome ramen for lunch with my favorite niece. read more

Gaku Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Burlington, Vermont

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