Will C.
Yelp
Visiting Denver so I'm not a ramen expert of these parts, but decided to stop at Sukiya because its menu looked promising. TL/DR: The ramen is okay/mildly disappointing, but the appetizers are fine, the atmosphere is fun, and the service is good.
For the ramen, there were a few issues. First, the shio (salt) ramen broth lacked the advertised (clear) pork broth flavor and the telltale drops of porkfat oil. Rather, it was a lot of salt and some seaweed dashi. I can't say for certain, but there's a decent chance it's been boosted with cartons of premade broth. To support this possibility, my friends' tonkotsu broth were similarly thin and low on pork flavor. Second, the thin slices of pork belly chashu was inconsistent. One side would be pretty tasty, yet the other side would be grilled to the consistency of bacon, which was not appealing.
Third, the bowl contained toppings such as corn and pickled red ginger (beni shoga) that might be associated with ramen or Japanese cuisine, but amounted to Japanese culinary cosplay. Corn is often in miso ramen, but in shio ramen it's simply too sweet and overwhelms the subtle flavor of the shio broth. Beni shoga is a palate cleanser that one often sees in heavy, oily yakisoba and donburi, but is not necessary in ramen and rather overwhelms each bite.
The disappointing ramen was a shame, since Sukiya is quite good in other areas. Even within the ramen itself, I liked some of the topppings and the noodles had decent bite...though I believe they use the same noodle for all their bowls, which is not recommended. The karaage, though fried for too long, at least used thigh meat and was decent. Décor and atmosphere was terrific, with plenty of Japanese anime figurines about and Japanese televeision commercials playing in the background. Service from our server was excellent too, with helpful and honest recommendations of what to order.
Sukiya is a fun location with some decent food options. The ramen falls short of its claim of "Authentic Japanese Ramen," but it will do in a pinch. I just hope they will consider making a few changes to up their game even more.