Noods Ramen - Honolulu

My husband and I came here on a whim while visiting Hawaii. It was a full restaurant despite being a Tuesday night. I’ve tried many different ramen places, from back in my hometown (ny) to Japan. I had the black garlic tonkotsu ramen and it was one of the best ramen I have tried so far. My husband got the Japanese curry chicken ramen which he also enjoyed very much. The gentleman serving us was phenomenal. The only downside was that they had run out of their garlic fried rice. We loved the ramen so much that we decided to come back the next day (today).Moving forward to today, the restaurant was packed yet again but we were able to be seated pretty soon. Unfortunately, the experience was not as great as the night before. Not only were they still unable to serve garlic fried rice, but they also ran out of the chicken katsu. We ended up getting the chicken chashu instead but it was not that good. The gentleman serving us was great as usual despite running what seemed like most if not the entire busy restaurant. The hostess, however, dropped off our check about 10 minutes into us enjoying our ramen, which we felt was pretty rude as we were still eating.Overall, we enjoyed the ramen and the server was great, but there is some room for improvement.

I've always Doordashed from this place because it's just sooooo good! I usually order the Tonkotsu and get a level 1 spice (cuz I'm a coward), and all of the elements-the noodles, the meat, the egg (already added on btw, no added charge), the bamboo shoots, and green onions (I think)-always comes together! This time, I didn't doordash and went in person with friends and it was just as good (if not better)!! Afterwards, my friends and I went to Cow Cow's which is conveniently right across the street. Highly recommend trying this place out along with the other local food places

Small casual spot, but the food is delicious. Great to have a variety of vegan options. I could eat the baos all day. Service is excellent. Ample paid parking available.

This is the best vegan ramen I have had!!! As someone from Asia and has visited Japan frequently, I have to say that Noods Ramen Bar has super great quality. This is totally out of my expectation! Also, their people are very nice!Thank you Noods Ramen Bar for your treat today!

Overhyped. What can I say?Ever since Noods Ramen Bar opened, I've been hearing how solid the ramen is my friends, and reading highly rated reviews with some noting it might be the best ramen place. I probably should have tried Noods at that time because it's not that good now.Noods Ramen Bar is located in Kaimuki at the top of Koko Head and Waialae Ave. It took over the previous Kaimuki Chop Suey spot. Parking is only metered or the lot a block over, which can be difficult at times.When entering, you do get the dark, dank, slightly sticky bar feel. It must be the black walls and ceiling, and sticky table. Oh, and can't forget about the restroom chemical bleach smell when you first sit down. I think that's the downfall of dining when they just started.There's a decent variety of ramen choices and appetizers. We started with the Shrimp Tempura Dynamite. It was very OK. There was a lot more breading than shrimp, and the topping was basically just sweet chili sauce and mayo. There was no savory element or anything that stood.Next was the Ginger Scallion Gyoza. It was pan fried very well to a nice crisp. The filling was the usual pork and veggie, but it was bland and definitely needed the scallion. The biggest issue was the Gyoza had A LOT of oil. It was literally drenched in oil. After eating, you feel kind of nauseous.The Tan Tan Ramen was ugh... First, the broth was quite strong and salty, and there wasn't much sesame taste. Definitely had to drink plenty of water after. The ground pork felt like it was just slowly cooked. There's no char, no miso taste, no savory taste. Just cooked minced pork. Half nori, half egg, a few slices of bamboo shoots, and that was it. The noodles were good though.The Tonkotsu Ramen was the same. Strong and salty--no depth of flavor. Half egg, half nori, thin slice of pork, and few slices of bamboo shoots. Noodles were good.It was weird there's no spice level now. There's a container of spice on the table, and you decide your level, lol. But that's good as my spice level seems to be able to go over the highest one, but I don't care to pay extra for it.Overall, when I think about Noods Ramen Bar and compare it to the many Ramen places around town, I'd rather go to those places. This place feels basic and generic. Nothing special. Everything was one note, strong, salty, and unnecessarily oily. Service was okay... We were asked if we wanted extra broth, but the server failed to mention it cost money even though the way it was asked implied it was free. Every time I was asked and received extra broth at other places, it was free... I hate places that keep quiet on cost....like another terrible place right next door.