EM H.
Yelp
3/3.5 stars.
Mom and I checked out Dohatsuten for the first time on Wednesday, November 23, 2022. I found them via Yelp search, but since it was the evening before Thanksgiving, I gave them a call to make sure that they were open. When the waitress answered the phone and I asked them if they were serving dinner that night, she replied, "Yes, we are open..." and immediately hung up. I tried to call back to find out what time they were closing, but my second ring was left unanswered.
Upon arrival, Mom and I immediately recognized the restaurant which we have driven by so many times. Finally, we were about to try them out.
The venue is like a small house that could probably host about seventy-five to eighty-five guests inside and possibly about forty more outside. There is a small parking lot for patrons and if you arrive sans reservations, the wait list is at the hostess podium for signing in.
When we arrived, there was a family of four on the sign-in sheet before us. We probably waited between fifteen to twenty minutes to be seated. Not sure if they were short-staffed that night, but there were only two servers on the floor, so moving tables wasn't done in the most expeditious manner. In fact, our waitress, whom I speculate was the same person who answered the telephone when I called earlier, seemed overwhelmed by keeping up with everything. Her stress level didn't soothe until incoming traffic slowed down. As such, service was ok - not the best, but not the worst.
We ordered a small hot sake to share and three food items:
Pork Gyoza - Great flavour with a nice crisp.
Asahi's Chashu Ramen with Tonkotsu Pork broth - Thumbs up from Mom.
Vegetable Ramen with Tonkotsu Pork broth plus a Whole Soft Boiled Egg & Spicy Minced Pork - Good, but a little more variety in the veggies would have made for a better bowl. Perhaps trade the baby corn for spinach? The scoop of minced pork was also not much bigger than the Whole Soft Boiled Egg...and I would have loved a lot more broth.
I usually like to order a curry dish with ramen, but after learning that Dohatsuten's Curry Don is served without curry sauce, I didn't order this Donburi. Our neighbours at the adjacent table told me that the Curry Don is a go-to/regular dish and is very tasty. I might need to try it if I return.
Overall, B grade.