Hwal L.
Yelp
Overall 3.5 stars. The first time we came here was for dinner on a Friday night, and long story short, we ended up going somewhere else. There was a small throng of people already lined up in the confined space just a few steps from the tiny side entrance, and we discovered that if we put our name down on the waitlist, we might not be called until 77 minutes (!?!). In my book no ramen is worth waiting that long for, so we left and went somewhere else.
Since then we've been here once for lunch service and managed to get a table. I personally had such high hopes for their ramen, but the experience was hit and miss. Firstly, here's what worked: their soft boiled egg was spot on, and the 'pen and paper' ordering was easy enough to figure out and pretty efficient. I also thought the condiments, especially picked ginger and yellow relish, were a nice touch, although I could to without them. I wouldn't mind having esame seeds again, though.
Here's what didn't worked: pork shoulder definitely didn't work nearly well as pork belly, and if only for that reason, I would get a different topping if we went back. The tonkotsu broth surprisingly didn't have the depth of flavour that I expected, plus they certainly didn't serve enough of it. Is that why they charge extra for extra broth? The chicken broth...was exactly what we had expected and was nice to try.
Overall, I wish the 'basic' ramen came work many more toppings that it does, so that you don't have to spend extra $$ for simple toppings like a whole egg and bamboo shoots that I get without extra charge at several other ramen shops I've been to. Service was quick and drama free. I hope they continue to improve and stay busy.