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| - Gah, I so wanted to fall in love with Futo Buta. Having eaten various regional styles of ramen in Japan I was so excited about its potential. It took me ages to finally try it, nervous this place, like many other asian spots in Charlotte before it, would let me down. Unfortunately it did just that. So I gave it another chance, ordering other things, still....nah.
Tonkotsu ramen when done right is one of the best foods out there. Hot, rich, creamy, meaty broth with an incredible depth of flavor. I never would bother ordering miso or shoyu as those are too easy. Tonkotsu broth, however, takes hours upon hours to develop the right flavor. So on my first visit, I felt the best way to test their ramen making skills was to start with the piece de resistance of Japanese ramen.
Before I get to the ramen, we started with an order of the brussel sprouts and the karaage (fried chicken). The brussels were horribly under seasoned. The karaage was more like popcorn chicken bits and would have fared better with the traditional accompaniments (i.e salt, lemon, mayo) than the so-so runny dipping sauce it came with. Not bad but it had me wishing for the real thing. Alright now for the ramen. It came out looking beautiful. All the usual garnishes were there and THEN some. I tasted one spoonful of the broth and my heart sank a little bit. The right flavors were there, but dialed WAAAAAAYYYY down. As if the broth hadn't been cooked long enough, or they watered it down to get more servings out of it. What a shame. The pork however was absolutely delicious. The onsen egg was a nice idea but soft boiled eggs fare better in tonkotsu broth, so I missed that texture in there. The noodles, while I appreciate that they make them in house, are cooked too long, lacking a slight chew that one looks for in a ramen noodle. I cannot say on any level that the ramen was terrible. It just wasn't right. If you have never had the real thing before, I can see how this would still be delicious. But if you have a point of reference its rather disappointing. Especially considering the bill.
To avoid being a complete negative Nancy I will say that the avocado soft serve was really tasty, if I lived in this neighborhood I would be dropping in or this in the summer on the regs, and they do have a really nice pot of green tea.
Since my friends adore this place they once again invited me for a meal there. I accepted with hesitation but figured it wouldn't be right for me to write off a place after one visit. I decide I would go again and try other things off the menu. This time around I ordered the pork belly buns and the tuna donburi. The pork belly buns were pretty good, but I suppose I was expecting pieces of pork like what comes in the ramen, but instead of melt in your mouth succulence it was quite dry and chewy. A little over sauced too, since gochujang has a tendency to be overpowering. But it was a decent size for the price I would say. Now the tuna donburi, while appealing to the eye, was pretty bad. The tuna was super fishy tasting (seconded by my friend who tried what I no longer had interest in eating), made worse by the pulverized texture of the tuna. No amount of soy sauce could help with the flavor. I had a few bites and couldn't stomach any more.I did try a spoonful of my friends shoyu ramen and it was rather tasty, far more flavor than the tonkotsu broth (which is also tried again..same verdict).
As for service, the waitress we have had both times is very friendly and peppy, However one can't help but notice the other waitress' attitude dropping off or picking up plates as well as her interaction with other patrons. Its as if she came to work immediately finding out her dog died or something. She has a miserable expression on her face, slams down plates and rolls her eyes. Not sure why she has a job dealing with people as she seems to loathe them.
To wrap up this epically long review....I don't really get the hype. Perhaps very few people in Charlotte have had the real thing, or perhaps they do as my friends do which is add in every hot sauce and condiment until you can't even taste what was in there in the first place. But even still the taste of that tuna was universally inexcusable. I will say that the tunes they play in here are really quite brilliant but there is a still an authentic ramen void in my heart, right along side authentic Korean food and a place like The Steeple. Bummer.
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