KUKAI

Some of my favorite Japanese food in Tucson!! I love the takoyaki and hand rolls but I've never had anything I didn't love. They have a vegan ramen option which I also appreciate, as well as some vegan onigiri (and probably other stuff)!

Love their menu! Simple but full of delicious apps and noodles. I am a big fan of the onigiri (rice balls). They’re made fresh and well seasoned. Can’t wait to come back to try more of their dishes.

We came here for the first time today based on reviews. EXCELLENT ramen! I got the black garlic ramen and my girlfriend got the hakata Tonkotsu. Both had great flavor, the egg was good, chashu was good, we do prefer thicker noodles rather than the hakata style but their noodles have a great chew and grab the broth very well. We also got the karrage and korroke and takoyaki. Takoyaki and karrage were very very good, the korroke was pretty good but could use a little more flavor in the potato mixture. Definitely will be back whenever we return in the future.

I liked the vibe of MSA annex, but the food did not meet my expectations. The extremely thin slices of chashu and lack of toppings did not justify the pricing of the ramen although the flavor was quite good. The tempura don portions were off ratio, with 90% rice at a high price point as well. Some cabbage, pickled radish and miso soup to accompany the dish perhaps would have justified the price but instead was met with overcooked, small shrimp. The tempura roll was also underwhelming, I would suggest to go to a different location for sushi. Finally, they were out of curry at 5pm, despite opening for dinner service at 5pm. I ordered a side of tonkatsu and for 10 dollars, I would have expected a bit better as it was overcooked. Overall, I would suggest the owners a trip to Japan as a refresher. Or even to Los Angeles, they have some really great places there for the same price.

Highly recommend!! Staff were super friendly. Ambiance was nice. Ramen broth was super flavorful. Pork was not too fatty and had good texture. Egg was perfectly cooked. Noodles were nice and chewy. Will be dreaming of this dish! Can’t wait to go back.

Very disappointed I came out of state for work and was very excited to try this spot as my town doesnt have ramen place for the next 200 miles.Service was slow but I could see they were busy, so I just waited my turn and was at least acknowledged by one on the workers, I had placed my order at 7:18pm i waited patiently just like everyone else while waiting. I could hear one of the locals asking a young couple how long it took for their order to come in and they had stated it only took 15 min and that they were actually pretty fast but in response they said they had actually waited an hour and 30 min laughing at the fact that they had probably forgotten about them and wish for a good meal to them. I thought nothing about it as I had only ordered 2 appetizers and that maybe they had a big order. While waiting I saw other people after me receive their food in a timely manner so i chalked it up to online ordering, but after some time i could see people actually ordering food at the register after me and receiving their meal before me. I did not receive my order until 8:20pm, 10 min before they were closing up but only because i actually had to show them that I still had the sensors to alert me when my food is ready. They didnt even realize they were missing an order. Crazy enough after I had shown them proof it only took them 10 minutes to make my food but to honest I did not care for the food anymore and had one too two bites before I gave it away as my night was ruined for waiting for food that should have took 10 minutes. These guys need to do better ,while they were having fun in the kitchen and I understand the kitchen life is hard but if you got people excited for a experience its a shame to have it ruined because you didnt pay more attention to your customers.

I love the complex, with cute boutiques, fire pits and a beer bar. Got karage and meitaigo ramen from Kukai, the fried chicken are a bit too small for me. The ramen is great tho :) Its also amazing that you can eat the ramen at the beer bar near the fireplace !

The food is great, I pass through Tucson often and try to time my stops to pick up food from here. Unfortunately it’s very unreliable unless you call ahead, they seem to close 30 mins early often…