Hanaah F.
Yelp
Arrived 15min before opening time at 11:30am. They start accepting customers exactly at 11:30am. Not a long line today, but I've heard people start lining up. There was 1 other couple ahead of us today (Fri), but as soon as it was around 11:45am, more people started to arrive and the restaurant was nearly full. The parking lot is on the small side, and holds approx 15 vehicles. However, this lot is shared amongst the other businesses in the plaza. It wasn't in the nicest area, so definitely a different scenery from the Waikiki strip. Nothing luxurious. I didn't feel unsafe though.
We were seated right away, and after our orders were taken, our items came out pretty fast. We ordered the corn tempura (hot, crispy, a bit salty, but good, didn't have to dip in the side of salt crystals they provided), shiro tonkatsu ramen, and garlic tonkatsu ramen. The neat thing about this ramen joint is that they allow customers to choose the type of noodles (thin, thick, standard), the level of spiciness (none, mild, med, spicy, etc), and the saltiness of the broth (standard, less salt, etc). I ordered standard for all options and added corn, and it wasn't salty at all. The broth was creamy, not too salty like other tonkotsu ramen places, and the noodles tasted great. The garlic tonkotsu ramen was good too- thick noodles, medium spicy (wasn't too bad, just a kick to it). The portions are decent. We ended with their yuzu citrus sorbet, which was refreshing. It tastes just as it sounds- citrus yuzu in sorbet style. So nothing special, but was refreshing after a savory meal. In Oahu, I would say this is one of the best ramen places, however, back at home, there are a few really good ramen places that would top this place. Regardless, no complaints on the food and service. The restaurant seems like a typically Japanese ma and pa shop. The restroom wasn't the cleanest, and the ramen soup was a bit worn out (at least the one I had). I guess some wouldn't mind it, but it low key got to me, although I ate with it regardless.