Tabata Ramen
| Address: | 540 9th Ave, New York, NY 10018, USA |
| Phone: | +1 212-290-7691 |
| Site: | tabatanewyork.com |
| Rating: | 4.1 |
| Working: | 11:30AM–10:30PM 11:30AM–10:30PM 11:30AM–10:30PM 11:30AM–10:30PM 11:30AM–10:30PM 11:30AM–10:30PM 11:30AM–10:30PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
FO
Foodlover Girl
The inside is not very large, as soon as you walk in, there is a counter seating to the right, where you can see the kitchen, and just a few small table seating to the left. I always like those restaurants that let customers to look into the kitchen. I think that makes them more honest and also, they have to keep it rather clean. There is more table seating at the back, after you pass the counter, with larger tables. Even with all the available seating, it is not very big, and the space is narrow from front to the back. I believe there was not a single Japanese staff here, which is always a bit disappointing at a Japanese restaurant. We started off with hot Green Tea and our waitress told us that the tea is $2 each. Some Japanese restaurants offers green tea for free, so it is good to be warned that the green tea is not free here. Their food is pretty good, tasty and reasonably priced. At the end of our meal, we finished our food, content with everything, other than service, or lack of. We had to ask for refill on water and hot tea a few times, and also for the bill. No one really came to check on us while we were there. Then, when we tried to pay with credit card, we were told "our credit card machine is broken today, can you pay (with) cash?" We were so shocked to hear this, I mean, if they know that their credit card machine is broken, shouldnt they inform their customers when they come in, so that they are prepare at the end of the meal??? We dont really carry cash around, so we didnt have enough cash to pay for the lunch. The waitress simply told us to go an ATM machine. And it happens that it was one of the freezing cold day... My husband had to walk in a cold for like 10 min one way to get cash from our bank ATM, which was not pleasant. While I was waiting for him to come back, another customer came in and placed a to-go order. As she waited for her food, the same waitress brought her a bill. When the lady handed her a credit card, once again, the waitress told her about their credit card problem and that she needs to pay in cash. The lady was of course shocked, told the waitress "ok" and left, and never came back. She probably didnt want to bother going to find an ATM and walk all the way back in the cold. Very disappointed with the service. Food is still good but not sure if it is worth the negative feeling you are left with after the meal, Read my full review of the restaurant and food on my food blog, foodlovergirl.
RO
Roy Quek
Worst ramen Ive eaten! Many ramen-ya and noodle houses in New York use Sun noodles, thats no secret, nor something to be ashamed of. But the miso ramen I had here was appalling. The broth was bland and tasteless, and the miso tare was completely absent. The chopped vegetables look like theyre either from the supermarket frozen section, or from the scraps of a salad shop. Theyre pale and unappetizing. Their egg and pork slices were decent, and to be honest, despite my hunger, I was tempted to just finish the two slices of pork and the additional egg I ordered and leave. Do yourself a favor: walk into any Asian or Japanese supermarket, buy a pack of Sun noodles (miso flavor), and I guarantee youll cook a better bowl. Its so embarrassingly bad, it makes college kids instant noodles look gourmet. My lunch partner had gyu-don, and while it was a lot more palatable, I still gave it one star. Thats because it tastes way too similar to what you can get at the frozen section of a Japanese supermarket for $4! Yes, you can get frozen gyu-don at the supermarkets here that are actually very good. Its sweeter than Yoshinoyas, so I suspect they used a less well known brand. For $11, youre paying them to steam you a bowl of rice and microwave the beef. Anyone could buy that and microwave it for a lot less than youll spend here. Overall, a shockingly bad restaurant.
TA
Taylor Yi
Tabata Ramen is a small, modest noodle shop that I had high hopes for given its consistently high rating on "NYC best ramen" lists on the internet. The restaurant itself has very limited decor, though this isnt really a complaint for me since I dont go to ramen restaurants for the atmosphere. The fried wings to start were delicious--incredibly crisp and flavorful on the outside and very moist and juicy on the inside. This got me excited for my bowl of Tonkotsu ramen, but that turned out to be a huge let down. Nothing about the bowl of noodles and condiments was that good. The soup did not have the intense richness that I have come to expect of tonkotsu. The pork charsiu was fine but not particularly flavorful. The scallions were a little bit overpowering. Overall, I was just left wanting more of my bowl of noodles. It wasnt particularly bad, but it most certainly was not particularly good. Perhaps I am judging too quickly and I would not be opposed to going back to try a different type of ramen if Im in the area, but if youre really looking for a good bowl of noodle soup, try Ippudo Westside or Totto Ramen, both which are just 10 streets farther north (though unfortunately probably a 1-2 hour wait).
AL
Alvin R.
The standard for Asian medium priced restaurants in NYC is pretty high. The Tabata is scraping by with below average in my opinion. I ordered the Mackeral set, which was supposed to have fish, rice, and pickled vegetable. I wanted a salad with my meal, so I ordered the $5 side salad. The hot tea was an additional $2. Lunch arrives in stages: 1st) The side salad which was ok, 2nd) the green tea which taste like powdered tea, 3rd) the fish, rice, and another salad(?). No pickled vegetables but a salad almost identical to the side salad that was order at additional cost. The waitress could have told me that a salad would be substituted for the vegetables and saved me $5. The Mackeral had an after taste, because it was cooked on the same grill as the pork and chicken. The environment is not family friendly. There are vagrants and drug addicts sleeping on the sidewalk outside the Tabata. You will have to manage this obstacle course to get in and out of the area. There are a dozens of nice Asian restaurants in the area that are in clean wholesome environments with fresher food.
MA
Matthew Lee
One of my favorite ramen places in the city. As I work around this area, Im often stumped as to what food options are available to me that will not be infested with many tourists. Unfortunately, this usually means anything east of 8th Avenue is out of the picture. Luckily, right near the back entrance of Port Authority lies Tabata. This is the second of the Tabata restaurants, the first merely an avenue away on 8th Avenue. The lunch there is cheap, under 15 dollars for a giant bowl of ramen and a side salad. My recommendations would be either the Tonkatsu Ramen, the Lava Men (which is just a spicy version of the Tonkatsu), or the Shoyu Ramen. Those are my personal favorites. The ramen is well made, the broth delicious, and the noodles are cooked to the texture I like. I would say comparable to the more well known ramen places (such as Totto Ramen), but without the long wait and the steeper prices.
