Kizuki Ramen & Izakaya (Olympia)

Reviews 5

DA

David Albert

Ramen is Japanese fast food. It is supposed to be fast, hot, filling, cheap, and aesthetically pleasing. If you get some in Narita Airport, you will make your choice among many in about two minutes, and you will have wonderful Ramen in 3-5 minutes. I REALLY wanted to like this place. We were looking forward to going for a week, and waited to late Sunday to go, hoping the crowds would have cleared. We got there at 7:47. Waited til 8:05 to be seated. Okay, it happens. Ordered quickly. Then waited, and waited, and waited. Server was very apologetic. All the other tables were waiting, too. We drank tea. Food came out at 8:50. Mine was tepid at best, half a bowl. In those 45 minutes, they didnt even have a chance to cut the egg in half. Just stuck it in whole. It tasted okay for tepid soup. Better than 50 cent ramen at home, though much less quantity. The kitchen, which you can see from the tables, was in chaos. People walking around looking dazed, but not doing much of anything. Some others with sweat dripping (those must have been the ones who knew what they were supposed to do.) This was most definitely not Japanese efficiency. I would say understaffed, except there were always people standing around not doing much of anything. I think they probably need to cut the number of menu items at least in half. The design aesthetic was good - almost. Nice Japanese black with beige, and a little white...except, except that the ceiling was covered with huge airconditioning/heating/exhaust pipes covered in shiny silver insulation. Now I understand Olympia grunge, but this place is brand, spanking new. What were they thinking? And there seemed to be more staff on the floor than customers, all bumping into each other. They probably need to rethink the entire layout. So back to the whole point: fast, hot, filling, cheap, and aesthetically pleasing. It wasnt fast, it wasnt hot, it wasnt filling, it wasnt cheap ($12 for a half a bowl), and it wasnt aesthetically pleasing. Back to my favorite Pho place, for about half the price. I really, REALLY did want to like the place. P.S. I should add that the city inspectors must have been asleep at the wheel. There is NO WAY a person in a wheelchair could ever get into this place, or use a bathroom. I thought we had laws about disability access. There is no excuse - this is a brand new building.

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MA

Marc Greenwald

I love the food and the atmosphere. I only have one issue, and thats why I rated it 4 instead of 5. They have a sign at at the entrance that is pretty easy to miss that says they add on an 18% service charge. The sign makes it clear that all of this goes to the staff, not the company, and it goes on about how people need to get paid their work. I have been there several times and I only saw the sign the last time I was there because we had to wait a while for our table. The 18% is added on and you can see it on the final bill, right above the tax line. It is added on before tax, and its really easy to miss. Of course the credit card slip has a place for the tip, but there is no indication there that anything has been added on. If you pay by credit card and you didnt see the sign you will tip again, most likely on the price on the credit card slip which includes the service charge. I was recently there and they added on the 18%, which brought the bill to something like $35. this included tax and just under $5 added on. If I didnt realize that the tip was included I would have added a $7 tip, because I usually tip 20%. On a check that came to around $30, tax included, they would have got a $12 tip. Im sure people tip extra without realizing that 18% is already added on all the time. usually tip 20%. I felt like jerk not tipping on top of the already added on %18. If they want to the add the tip on they should make it extremely clear to all customers. Im not against tipping, I used to be a server and I get it. Its a hard job, and I believe in tipping appropriately. But what they are doing is sneaky and deceptive, and it makes me not want to go there.

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JE

jessica m

My 6 year old son was served chicken with a 2 inch long 18 gauge wire in it. Had we not seen it before he ate it, it could have ment a trip to the hospital or even surgery....or worse. It wasnt just on his chicken, but jammed into a piece. My husband saw just the end sticking out and pulled it out. When we talked to management about it, the only offered us half off our meal, still charged us for the chicken my son didnt touch and then didnt give us service for the rest of the evening. We left and made sure we were very....vocal...about what we found so other patrons could make the choice for a better establishment. Several did. Aside from the dangerous food, their food is greasy, bland and the wait staff looked at me like I was stupid when I asked them if they made a smoked eel ramen or don. They told me smoked eel was not a traditional Japanese food or they would serve it. Wow. Just wow. Will never return and I would suggest sushi train or koibito off sleater kinny instead. Save yourself the hassle and do not come to this chain restaurant.

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RY

ryjil xiao

This place was a great experience, as well as a major let-down. The restaurant is very nice, the staff is pleasant and friendly. Ordering was easy and any questions were quickly answered by the knowledgeable server. Most of the soup was good, except the meat. My wife had chicken ramen; and while everything aside from the chicken was great, the poultry was three massive hunks of pale breast meat. The meat was flavorless and resembled boiled chicken that I used to feed dogs at a kennel I once worked at. I ordered spicy pork ramen. Again, MOST everything was great. In my case not only was the meat bland and flavorless, but the slice of pork was super thin. Were talking 1/8" cut. Also, there was an egg cooked in what tasted like soy sauce. The inside was gelatinous and not cooked at all. Luckily I saved the egg for last, so it wasnt a total loss when my appetite was ruined. All-in-all I liked this place, I just know next time to try something that doesnt have pork or chicken, and to stay away from the eggs.

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LI

Liz B

Have been here twice. First time with a large group. Service was very attentive and informative. Food was very good and with a large group an automatic gratuity is expected. Came here my second time with a friend, just the two of us. And was dismayed to find an automatic 18% gratuity added to all checks regardless of the size of the party. Ive worked and managed restaurants for many years in the past and kind of felt offended that I was forced to pay the 18% regardless of the service or food. If my server is good I always tip 20% or more but if the service was lacking how can you force me to pay this on top of the menu prices Im paying. When we spoke to the manager about it he was terribly rude and said its to ofset the cost of having to raise the minimum wage recently and that all the restaurants are doing it. I love good food but have a hard time paying $20 for a bowl of ramen noodles. Wont be back.

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