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| - Rushed to this place an hour after it opened for dinner for the very first time.
Food: A bit lack-lustre. I think in it's indecision about what it wants to be (Chinese? Korean? Japanese? A bar?) it is nothing at all. The menu is designed for sharing between two people, except for the ramen. The shoyu (soy) ramen was a little wanting. Something was weird about the noodles: they tasted like buckwheat, soba noodles; not really like ramen at all. Those who like their noodles, thick or curly and with a little resistance on the tooth may look elsewhere. The pork belly in the bowl was very good and very fatty. It was at least on par with Kinton Ramen, but about 1/5 the portion. The broth was... forgettable. Best thing on the menu were the lettuce duck wraps (the proper Korean name escapes me right now) followed by the korean fried chicken wings. Pork skewers were incredibly dry, not very tasty and rather spicy (though I suppose some might like them that way). In general, I think one would do well to stick with the snacks over the ramen.
Atmosphere: I do enjoy communal eating under dim lighting! I also like old punk standards, played load enough that I can hear them but not so loud that I can't hear my company! These things are best accompanied by a hooch menu though...
Service: Quite brilliant, even after the place filled up. Someone was always on hand to take away a dish or make sure that everything was satisfactory. The servers were also willing and able to explain everything on the menu. Australian accents also featured heavily (always a positive).
Summary: I don't think a rush was necessary. This place does get a lot of things right and with a proper drinks card would be a VERY welcome alternative to the 40+ minute waits at 416 Snack Bar. But as I said above, I think it's trapped itself between two good ideas and consequently done neither very well.
Prices: 2 bowls of shoyu ramen, 3 hot snacks, one beer, one non-alcoholic beverage came to $70 with tax and tip.
Side note: they DO have "tsukemen" ramen, which is currently all the rage in some circles in Tokyo (you get your ramen on the side and dip them in hot broth yourself). Worth a try. I personally do not like the concept.
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