Monthly Archives: February 2014

Maruko Ramen

Maruko Japanese Noodle House on Urbanspoon

Ramen!!! I got the $15 Groupon ($30 value) and was excited to try the place out. Since most ramen are $8.95 – $10, you can easily have 3 dine with one voucher. We had 4 people, but still, it was a great bargain.

We walked in and saw that it was really busy and people were waiting for tables.There were no greetings by neither the guy nor girl that worked the floors. EVER.
There were two tables with 2 seats each that was available when we walked in.

We stood around and watched as how the restaurant was run. I tried raising my hand to get the servers attention, but they completely made sure to ignore us. There were 2 families that were waiting for the big tables to be free and cleared. We tried getting the attention of the servers to see if were allowed to sit at the two empty tables since I could sense that the 2 families had their eyes set on the large tables.

The first large table was cleared and one family sat. As the second large table was being cleared, the waiting families sat in the seats at the 2 empty tables I knew we would get seated at. And I was right. No one came to talk to us or anything, so I pushed myself to ask if we could sit at the two empty tables. They acknowledge from afar. I don’t know how long we waited, but it was extremely frustrating with the lack of service. They were both Japanese, and couldn’t believe this treatment.

I sat with Sheepie, while the other 2 guys sat at the other table.The hot tea in glass came promptly, but they didn’t come back to take our orders. We wondered why they weren’t. When I asked my friends at the other table, outrageously, their orders were already taken! It wasn’t like they could forget us. We were next to each other. Again, I tried to get some attention so we could order, but seems like there is a invisible curtain blocking their view to us. Finally, I said to the guy “Can we order?!” (in English). He walked on by and told the girl in Japanese to take our order without making any eye contact with me, or saying to us that she would be coming soon. At that time, I thought of saying ‘excuse me?’ in Japanese to see if they would react differently…but I didn’t.

I hate to bring this topic up, but Sheepie began to feel because he was the only ‘Caucasian’ in the restaurant. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been the first time that we have both experienced some avoidance or unacceptable behavior on either party. Sheepie didn’t look like a bum or anything. In fact, on that day, he was wearing a complete suite, with proper shoes and hair all done nicely for an event before that. He looked posh and a well citizen more than anyone else in the restaurant.

Midway through our meal, I noticed another Caucasian. I could see he came a single customer. There was a single seater table which I thought he could sit at, but he was made to wait. When we were about to leave, I saw him being seated at that very same table. I have worked at restaurants before, and this is not the way to run. Of course, they’re food is really good, so people come back, but the service is bad. I hope it’s just an organizational issue and not something else.

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Shiro Ramen $9.50

I ordered Shiro Ramen (not to be confused with Shio. Shiro is white, while Shio is salt) which is $9.50 on it’s own and onigiri $3.50, but combining into a set (Set A) came to $11.90. The onigiri was super hot and tasted good. I really liked the Shiro ramen. Finally! Another ramen-ya other than Benkei that I liked. Yes, I’m not a big fan of the infamous Santouka like everyone else. Maybe the staff saw me taking photos and jotting down notes, but after that, the service was a bit better – or normal I should say.

There isn’t much room when it’s all packed. No place to hang your coats, but there are fabric cubed baskets under the table to place you belongings. One of the four went back to Maruko on a weekday for lunch. He said that at that time, it wasn’t full and was quiet. So I guess it depends when you go.

I was really not happy with the service, but since the ramen was really good, I plan to go back again :)

Return Again for Lunch

I went back twice for lunch. The first time, I ordered the same Shiro ramen. Not sure why, but I didn’t feel that the ramen was good as the very first time. The restaurant was pretty empty and slow for both times. Service was also good for both times, so I gave them 2 more carrots to the Service rating to the average 3 carrots.

idearabbit-MARUKO5Chicken Ramen

The second time for lunch, I ordered the Chicken Ramen for a change. I was disappointed in the quality of the chicken. It was all fatty and chewy. I left most of the meat uneaten T_T. I know that Japanese tend to love meat with a lot of fat. For some reason, it’s considered better meat there. Same with Toro – the fattier the better. Blah. I didn’t like it at all. Wont be ordering this again! So I’ve taken one carrot of the taste (from 4 carrots) since this is the second time I haven’t been wowed with their ramen.

A note of caution: the door is super heavy to the point it’s locked. LOL.

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The Eatery

The Eatery on UrbanspoonThe acquaintance who introduced Green Leaf Sushi to us kept talking about The Eatery, so we decided to go check it out. It was jam packed on a rainy evening and were told that they were full. There were 2 tables side by side that were empty and when we questioned about it, the staff told us that they were holding it for a reservation at 8pm. It was 7pm. There was only Sheepie and I and we told them we were just going to grab something quick to eat and go. 1 hour was plenty of time. After we sat down, the table next to us was also seated.

The restaurant was dark, with neon lights. There were many crazy paper-mache creatures hanging from the ceiling. A unicorn, glass covered monsters, octopus, and so on. It was really funky. There was a live DJ that kept the atmosphere lively and loud. The candle holder was a beer bottle. The seats were a bit torn or stained, but with such dim lighting, it was really hard to ‘examine’ the interior except for the odd decors.

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Apparently, food isn’t the only thing you can order…

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Everything we ordered on one plate

The servers were very friendly, though a bit hard to hear in the noisy atmosphere. I ordered the Andy Warhol roll $6.50 and Tuna Takaki $8.50 while Sheepie ordered the Bob Marley roll $5.95 and Found Nemo Roll $6.95. Not only were they creative with the interior, but also with the names of the rolls.

All our dishes came out on one single plate. I was disappointed in the presentation despite the cost of the rolls. It didn’t seemed to have been considered that much, and having all of it on one plate made it look crowded. Secondly, Warhol’s roll was only 5 pieces for $6.50. None of the roll was anything special in spite of the fancy names. The tuna tataki was ok, but for the same price, you could get something way better at Green Leaf.

After having 4 dishes, we were still hungry, but because we thought the table was being used for a reservation, and also wasn’t too thrilled with their food, we decided to eat more at home instead.  When the server came to ask us if we wanted dessert, we asked for the bill instead. She asked us if we were in a hurry because of the reservation. She informed us at that time that they were going to use another table that was free elsewhere, so there was no rush. However, we had decided that we were done.

It was a really unique restaurant – definitely not your typical Japanese restaurant. In fact, there was nothing Japanese about it except for the sushi and reference to Hello Kitty. I wasn’t a fan of their food, especially for the price and for those of you who have read my previous blogs also know I don’t really like loud atmosphere. I don’t think I’ll be ever be going back again.

Second Time for Lunch

idearabbit_eatery23 idearabbit_eatery22 idearabbit_eatery21 idearabbit_eatery20This time, the restaurant was pretty empty on a Sunday lunch. We had a group of 12 at a long table. Again, the odd and funky paper-mache works hanging from the walls were the talk of the members as many took photos. The ‘interesting’ menu also gave some of us a chuckle.

I ordered the Nabeyaki Udon $9.95 (their menu has a typo, it says Nabe Yake. In fact, I think it should be one word, not two.) The description sounded great ” The complete comfort soup with chicken and egg in udon broth, served with prawn and veggie tempura, with rice on the side. For one thing, I thought it was odd to have a rice bowl come with udon – you’d never find this in Japan. But then again, you wouldn’t find this dish with the tempura coming out separately either. This is just a Western version. However, it was good since if you wanted to eat the crispy tempura with sauce and rice, it went well. The udon was a huge disappointment. It was the worst udon I’d ever had. I can make so much better (not to mention for probably less than a twoonie.) The noodles were all broken apart. It was soggy, as if they have been sitting in the broth for a really, really long time. The Japanese man sitting beside me agreed it looked questionable. It didn’t really taste good… However, the lady sitting in front of me (maybe Filipino?) said it was good. Maybe if you don’t know Japanese food, then you might like it…

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