Sigh. Massive sigh!
I tried so hard to like this place. I really did. I love ramen. And their ramen is good. The broth flavoursome, the chashu, delicious for what it is.
But this is where it ends. Sadly.
From the moment you enter what appears, from the street, to be a cute interior, your eye catches the details. I'm talking about the front of house staff. Why so glum, chump? A bunch of unwelcoming, sour faced, hipsters, whose souls seemed to have fallen in to a vat of stock and drowned, while their bodies continued to exist after.
Maybe it is because I work in customer service that I have a certain level of expectation, maybe it is because I am simply another human who thinks humans should interact with another in a more hospitable and social manner, after all we aren't yet in the age of robots, or maybe it's because I'm out on a Friday night and I'm spending money in your eatery that I expect a welcoming, "hi" at the very least. We get firstly, No Hair guy, who after processing the bill for a table leaving, ignores us or doesn't see us for over a minute. Not hard to miss us, 2 rugby built guys. He looks up eventually, and when I ask for a table for 2, he appears almost stunned that we are there, and clumsily asks us if it is for the both of us. Perhaps it is because one of us is caucasian and the other, Caucasian? I'll never know. Another guy, All Hair, chats with No Hair about seating us and All Hair gets on the phone in front of us, not once making eye contact. I'm guessing to check on diners that had out their name down, okay by me but a bit of keeping us informed wouldn't go unappreciated. No Hair then mumbles something about the table he was cleaning and we look at each other and head to it assuming he said it is ready. There was little graciousness and much awkwardness, I couldn't tell if it was inexperience or blasé.
Our evening was further irked when we dug into our meals and we realised there was no ramen in our ramen. When we asked about it, there was some whispering amongst the staff and No Hair asked us if we had touched the plate of vegetables they had given. We were a little taken aback as we thought the vegetables were like the little dishes of Hors d'oeuvres that you get in a Japanese restaurant; but even more surprising was his disappointment when we said we had eaten some of it. Turns out we got the meals from a different table's order (honestly, who orders ramen without ramen?), but to No Hair's credit, he said not to worry about the vegetables which was actually very tasteless.
One other incident was somewhat worrisome. All Hair came down the stairs at one point and used his tea towel which I presume is for wiping tables, to dust off a bit of dirt from the steps. I'm fairly certain this is a health hazard! To his credit, he did farewell us fondly as we left. We won't be going back there, even though the ramen is really delicious. The kitchen is staffed with Asian cooks and so, that is no surprise. It is a pity the Asian staff were not at the front of house. As this place really needs some Asian hospitality.
Compared to Shujinko in Melbourne CBD 9km away, this place pales pathetically.
One star for the ramen flavour, half a star for the girl who took our order and was the only one who smiled. read more