Very good Kale vegan ramen. Very good service. A bit pricey ($15 for a bowl of ramen). Seating in was at narrow counters but the staff's service was good enough to more than compensate for the limited space. All in all a very good experience. Recommended.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Vegan Ramen
Benjamin R.
I really enjoyed my bowl! The meat was cooked perfectly and had lots of flavor! My friend tried the spicy one but it was too strong and just didn't taste good, so I recommend getting the original flavor!
Sabrina Rogers
Food is great. People are nice!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gyu Don Beef & Onion Rice Bowl
Megan Barma
Wanted a quick bowl of ramen and this place hit the spot. Friendly staff and free ice cream for the kids. Will be hitting this place up again next time I'm out in Berkeley.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Alex M.
I tried the matcha latte from Alley Kitchens, and it was top-notch. The matcha tasted high quality, and there were plenty of customization options - from sweetness level to milk substitutions. What made this a sub-optimal experience was the ordering process and the pricing.Orders are placed at a kiosk; while there are multiple kiosks available, a couple of them were not connecting to the wifi, which led to major delays for my group. Although we all placed our orders around the same time, some group members received their drinks nearly fifteen minutes after the rest of us (and we were the only guests at the restaurant).From a pricing standpoint, I experienced a little bit of sticker shock when I saw the final order total. To start, the drinks only come in one size (large). Alley Kitchens also charges a fee for plastic cups, which didn't make sense to me because I don't think there was an option to bring your own cup. Once I swapped in oatmilk, my beverage came out around $9! While the matcha latte was excellent, I don't see this becoming my new "regular" spot.
Cengiz Cemaloğlu
The ramen was pretty bad - very oily, the noodles felt like instant noodles, a ton of canned boiled corn. I sadly got food poisoning - would not recommend.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Marcus C.
Alley Kitchen is a convenient restaurant near campus for quick food and drinks. Their food never appealed to me, but I usually come here for their Whisk matcha, which was recommended to me by several friends. Their matcha latte has a very strong matcha flavor, which I enjoyed. I recommend using Snackpass for quick, reliable service so you don't have to wait too long!
Derrick C.
The gyudon was super spicy, which is fine, but it had very little meat and was pretty much just rice and sauce and onion. The salmon don was okay but there was too little salmon. And the rest was very separate, just felt like ingredients together. Both bowls definitely not worth the 15 dollars. The service was good, they let us get the ice cream after we ate.Restaurant is really narrow, tables are very thin. But is like an Alley I guess hahaThe pineapple soft serve cone was good! Assume it's dole whip
Blu M.
To put it simply, this place was just ok. I like the fact that their menu has a bunch of variety, but I also don't know if that's a good thing. I ordered a deluxe red ramen from here and it was mediocre. The noodles reminded me of dry ramen noodles, the broth was very soy forward, and the toppings were alright. I wish the broth had more depth and that the noodles were higher quality. I think the drinks were the best part, though they can be a bit on the pricier side. I'm near this area all the time, so maybe I'll give it another try. The food was filling but for the price I could find a better quality choice.
Angela L.
Dinner & drinks for three all in one place. Super quick service and very friendly staff. We took everything too go so had three large bags and they reminded me not to forget the boba strawsWhisk 5/5Delicious!! The drinks are so pretty! Love the matcha one the best. Tasted like real matcha Ramen 4.5/5 Pretty decent. Love that they separate ramon broth from the noodles. Still hot when we got home. Salmon don and chicken teriyaki rice bowl 3.5/5 Umm 80% rice on the bottom + a few pieces of meat and no real veggies... I wish at least the veggies could be more
I ordered extra rice bowl as part of takeout, yet they forgot it!
Food: 3
Service: 1
Petunia Pomegranate
Alley Kitchens is a really great place to go for a quick bite! I would recommend ordering ahead using the snackpass app. My favorite meal from here is the beef bowl, it tastes like really authentic Japanese beef and is served with just the right amount of food! As for atmosphere, all seating space is on two counters so it's a little more of a tight space but is great for if u just want a sit down meal for yourself of 1-2 friends. Honestly the whole set up makes you feel like you're in a quiet hole in the wall, in the midst of busy Berkeley.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Peter Choe
Miserable. A place specializing in ramen should have good ramen, and by that, I mean the essence itself, the noodles. What I received was honestly shocking. It was a glued-together mass of wheat flour that resembled a kindergartener's project. If the noodles are bound together so homogeneously that they elide, are they really noodles anymore? Mind you, I specifically ordered the firmest possible option. Staff, I'm sure are nice people. They are not fast workers. The broth was fine. Chasu was fine. Toppings, fine. But I ordered ramen, not broth, chasu or toppings. Also, there were TWO orders in front of me and it took 30 minutes, for what is clearly assembly work and not actual cooking, except for the noodles, which shouldn't take more than 30 seconds with how thin they are. I can't imagine what the wait would be like if the place had more than a few customers. If I sound unsympathetic I should mention that I was once a service worker as well, and know exactly what makes service intolerable to a worker, namely, the service. There is no service here. Obviously restaurant workers make pennies, but I doubt I'm the only one who believes that one should put effort into their endeavors, if not for others then for their own character.
Jia Ahn Pan
Ramen is great with good depth. Favorite was the black garlic one.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Fiona W.
It's what you would expect from Alley Kitchens. I ordered the Honey Teriyaki Chicken Don Rice Bowl. It wasn't that special but it's pretty filling. Flavor of chicken was decent. Steamed vegetables are interesting. If you're into unflavored steamed veggies then you'd like them. The rice bowls are better than the noodles. Do not order the ramen... I don't think I'd come back that often. It's just convenient since it's so close to campus and Snackpass has good group party discounts.
Very good Kale vegan ramen. Very good service. A bit pricey ($15 for a bowl of ramen). Seating in was at narrow counters but the staff's service was good enough to more than compensate for the limited space. All in all a very good experience. Recommended.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Vegan Ramen
I really enjoyed my bowl! The meat was cooked perfectly and had lots of flavor! My friend tried the spicy one but it was too strong and just didn't taste good, so I recommend getting the original flavor!
Food is great. People are nice!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gyu Don Beef & Onion Rice Bowl
Wanted a quick bowl of ramen and this place hit the spot. Friendly staff and free ice cream for the kids. Will be hitting this place up again next time I'm out in Berkeley.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I tried the matcha latte from Alley Kitchens, and it was top-notch. The matcha tasted high quality, and there were plenty of customization options - from sweetness level to milk substitutions. What made this a sub-optimal experience was the ordering process and the pricing.Orders are placed at a kiosk; while there are multiple kiosks available, a couple of them were not connecting to the wifi, which led to major delays for my group. Although we all placed our orders around the same time, some group members received their drinks nearly fifteen minutes after the rest of us (and we were the only guests at the restaurant).From a pricing standpoint, I experienced a little bit of sticker shock when I saw the final order total. To start, the drinks only come in one size (large). Alley Kitchens also charges a fee for plastic cups, which didn't make sense to me because I don't think there was an option to bring your own cup. Once I swapped in oatmilk, my beverage came out around $9! While the matcha latte was excellent, I don't see this becoming my new "regular" spot.
The ramen was pretty bad - very oily, the noodles felt like instant noodles, a ton of canned boiled corn. I sadly got food poisoning - would not recommend.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Alley Kitchen is a convenient restaurant near campus for quick food and drinks. Their food never appealed to me, but I usually come here for their Whisk matcha, which was recommended to me by several friends. Their matcha latte has a very strong matcha flavor, which I enjoyed. I recommend using Snackpass for quick, reliable service so you don't have to wait too long!
The gyudon was super spicy, which is fine, but it had very little meat and was pretty much just rice and sauce and onion. The salmon don was okay but there was too little salmon. And the rest was very separate, just felt like ingredients together. Both bowls definitely not worth the 15 dollars. The service was good, they let us get the ice cream after we ate.Restaurant is really narrow, tables are very thin. But is like an Alley I guess hahaThe pineapple soft serve cone was good! Assume it's dole whip
To put it simply, this place was just ok. I like the fact that their menu has a bunch of variety, but I also don't know if that's a good thing. I ordered a deluxe red ramen from here and it was mediocre. The noodles reminded me of dry ramen noodles, the broth was very soy forward, and the toppings were alright. I wish the broth had more depth and that the noodles were higher quality. I think the drinks were the best part, though they can be a bit on the pricier side. I'm near this area all the time, so maybe I'll give it another try. The food was filling but for the price I could find a better quality choice.
Dinner & drinks for three all in one place. Super quick service and very friendly staff. We took everything too go so had three large bags and they reminded me not to forget the boba strawsWhisk 5/5Delicious!! The drinks are so pretty! Love the matcha one the best. Tasted like real matcha Ramen 4.5/5 Pretty decent. Love that they separate ramon broth from the noodles. Still hot when we got home. Salmon don and chicken teriyaki rice bowl 3.5/5 Umm 80% rice on the bottom + a few pieces of meat and no real veggies... I wish at least the veggies could be more
Restaurantji Recommends
I ordered extra rice bowl as part of takeout, yet they forgot it!
Food: 3
Service: 1
Alley Kitchens is a really great place to go for a quick bite! I would recommend ordering ahead using the snackpass app. My favorite meal from here is the beef bowl, it tastes like really authentic Japanese beef and is served with just the right amount of food! As for atmosphere, all seating space is on two counters so it's a little more of a tight space but is great for if u just want a sit down meal for yourself of 1-2 friends. Honestly the whole set up makes you feel like you're in a quiet hole in the wall, in the midst of busy Berkeley.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Miserable. A place specializing in ramen should have good ramen, and by that, I mean the essence itself, the noodles. What I received was honestly shocking. It was a glued-together mass of wheat flour that resembled a kindergartener's project. If the noodles are bound together so homogeneously that they elide, are they really noodles anymore? Mind you, I specifically ordered the firmest possible option. Staff, I'm sure are nice people. They are not fast workers. The broth was fine. Chasu was fine. Toppings, fine. But I ordered ramen, not broth, chasu or toppings. Also, there were TWO orders in front of me and it took 30 minutes, for what is clearly assembly work and not actual cooking, except for the noodles, which shouldn't take more than 30 seconds with how thin they are. I can't imagine what the wait would be like if the place had more than a few customers. If I sound unsympathetic I should mention that I was once a service worker as well, and know exactly what makes service intolerable to a worker, namely, the service. There is no service here. Obviously restaurant workers make pennies, but I doubt I'm the only one who believes that one should put effort into their endeavors, if not for others then for their own character.
Ramen is great with good depth. Favorite was the black garlic one.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
It's what you would expect from Alley Kitchens. I ordered the Honey Teriyaki Chicken Don Rice Bowl. It wasn't that special but it's pretty filling. Flavor of chicken was decent. Steamed vegetables are interesting. If you're into unflavored steamed veggies then you'd like them. The rice bowls are better than the noodles. Do not order the ramen... I don't think I'd come back that often. It's just convenient since it's so close to campus and Snackpass has good group party discounts.