Wabi House

Reviews 4

FA

Falcon

I travel a lot, so when Im in a new city, I make it a point to check out the best spots in town. Heard from many sources that this was THE place to grab ramen from, so I went and tried it out for myself. The restaurant itself has a smooth industrial feel. There was plenty of seating with a front + back bar and a patio with an awning. It is spacious enough for most events. The food was pretty amazing. Im a ramen lover myself, and having been to many other ramen establishments, I was pretty impressed at the level of quality I was getting. The prices are almost second to none. You can easily get full for $12-$15 here. The service was pretty decent for the most part. There was a snag at one point that Ill go in to detail in a bit. The servers were fast and efficient, but I did feel like they were trying to get me to order quickly to rush me out of the door. That happened on two separate occasions. Small snag, nothing crazy. Before I tell my story, I do want to note that from the time I came in until the time I left, I was somewhat of a difficult customer and the restaurant was a little busy. Now that thats been established, here you have it: My friend and I ordered an app, 2 bowls of ramen with add-ons, and a drink. When we finished the first drink (an Ozeki Nigori sake that usually comes in a 375 mL bottle), the server brought me another small carafe even though I hadnt asked for one. Assuming this second bottle was leftover from what the original Nigori bottle had, we drank it without questioning anything. At the end of the meal, the female server brought out the tab and had charged me for 2 orders. Obviously didnt fly with me, so I asked nicely for her to fix it. She replied that she couldnt because I had finished it. I asked to speak to her manager to work things out, which she then said "Hes too busy right now, so Ill just take it off your tab and pay for it myself." That option didnt make me happy either, so I insisted that I would wait until he was free. It seemed pretty strange to me that he was "too busy" to have a discussion with me, considering customer service is the backbone of the service industry...Anyway, he eventually came over and we discussed what had happened. He apologized and handled it very professionally, and said that as I would only be charged for one. Thinking everything was settled, I thanked him. I then paid for the tab, which was $48.72 without the second bottle of sake. I gave her $47 in cash and my card, telling her to do cash first and then the card. She came back with a tab that had $13.63 on it instead of my $1.72. I got the servers attention and questioned why it was the $13 instead of the $1 and change. Instead of apologizing or trying to rectify her mistake, she said instead "Oh! Let me give you back the $11 instead." Umm...what? That made no sense to me, but I had had enough dealing with the server so I said okay. I tipped a little over 20% and left. Im currently writing this in the parking lot. Overall, I had a pretty fantastic experience. The issue with the server wasnt ideal and extremely frustrating, but I dont blame her for not wanting to deal with me while she was busy with at least 3 other tables. Its just disappointing to feel like I wasnt treated as equally had it not been busy. I rated this place 4 stars because of the mishap or otherwise it wouldve been a perfect 5. When Im in Dallas again, Ill be back because the food is that good! If you read all this, thanks for your time. You the real MVP.

JO

Joshua N

This is my 2nd visit here and the service continues to be consistently great. We ordered the garlic albacore (good), sweet corn fritters (enjoyable) and the tonkotsu ramen. I will focus on the ramen since this is the reason why you will probably come in the 1st place. Broth – It’s good for what is available in Dallas but it is still not comparable to what Japan and Hong Kong offers. The broth in those places are very rich in consistency and full of complex flavors. This is not to be confused with the popular ramen shops in Cali which use thickeners but lacks flavors. The temperature of the broth could have been hotter. The bowl was slightly warm to the touch so heating this up more should solve this. Ajitsuke Tamago (which they call egg) - The yolk is slightly overcooked but much better than other ramen shops which completely overcook them (not a deal breaker especially since its included in the price of the ramen.) Chashu – I enjoyed the single piece of braised pork belly that was provided. It has a nice char and good thickness. If they can provide the same quality every time I would probably order an extra piece. My only complaint is that it was slightly tough so maybe a lower cooking temperature would solve this issue. I highly recommend this place and would give it a solid 4 to 4.5 stars. The pricing is great at $8 for lunch on a Monday – Friday, otherwise its $11.

SE

Semirrahge Egharrimes

Stopped in this morning with my wife after discovering Tei-An is now closed on Sundays. Wed talked about going for a while and we were very glad we stopped in! The scallops were luxurious, spicy tuna sashimi with goat cheese was unexpected and delightful. The place seemed a bit short staffed and service slowed down for the lunch rush but the food was always excellent even when it came a bit slowly. The staff was very friendly and calm under the pressure. We sat at the bar and enjoyed the crowd; people of all ethnic groups and ages seem to enjoy the food. Nico served us and made excellent martinis. I also enjoyed the pork croquettes; the bechamel sauce blended wonderfully with celery and other bright herbs to carefully balance between rich and creamy and light and tangy, not least because of the squid ink sauce. We finished our three-hour visit with ramen: tonkotsu for me and shoyu for my wife. She said the shoyu was better than the offering from Ten, with much stronger notes of aromatic herbs in the clear broth. My tonkotsu was excellent: buttery-silky white broth with short grain noodles of a very fine consistency. We did not have much room for dessert but shared the tapioca parfait, which was light and sweet with hints of cinnamon. Will definitely return!

CH

Chelsea P

My go-to ramen spot in Dallas! Best noodles Ive had so far that wasnt a 40 minute drive over to Plano. My Asain mom whos been eating ramen for 50 years approves of their noodles, so you know theyre good. If some of your friends arent into noodles or youre not in the ramen mood, their appetizers / share-ables are really interesting and tasty. I recommend their sushi plate. If you just want to try it out, I would go for lunch Monday through Friday. The ramen drops down to $8 and its not as crowded. The only thing that would make me want to give Wabi House a 4.5 stars instead of 5 is that it does get pretty crowded, especially dinner time Friday through Sunday. It is a fairly small place and parking isnt the best, so try to either get there early or call ahead. Maybe not the best place to take a first date if youre coming during those busy times (it does get a little loud and the staff can get a little overwhelmed), but for sure bring friends for some sake or cocktails with some great dinner. Oh, one last thing. Theyre deserts might seem expensive ($6 is half a ramen bowl), but Im telling the truth when I say its so worth it. Ive never had anything like their tapioca parfait before and as soon as I had that first bite, I was smiling.