Good & legit ramen, with legit noodles! My number one pet peeve about most ramen places in Hawaii is they use the chinese-egg-noodle-kind "ramen noodles" and it definitely ain't the same. They also do the broth here really good. Their egg and charsu is also super on point. COME HERE!! 10/10
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Me You
We go there kind of often, because they make authentic Ramen and GyozaService used to be good but not anymoreLast time we went there, we were told the wait time is going to be 20min, so we were standing outside and waitingDuring the wait time, none of the employees had kept us posted how long more we should wait ,nobody apologized to us for the long wait, employee were just chatting and laughing.There were some seats available in the outside seating area but nobody offered us to have a seatAfter a long day at work, we ended up waiting for over 50min, we were just standing thereWe almost cancel and go homeThere used to be a young white boy who’s from California, who was very attentive and niceNow they have only Japanese employees and unfortunately none of them is good but less than mediocre
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Gyoza
Patrick H.
Hidden Gem Alert! (Though...I'm pretty sure word is out about Tanto) Tucked away off University Ave, Tanto Gyoza and Ramen bar is offering some amazing Japanese comfort food! We arrived just before noon and the place was buzzing! We were warmly greeted by our server and seated on their patio at counter style seating. Service was very friendly, they even lowered a shade for us to block out the mid-day sun! The space is intimate and truly feels like you've been transported to Japan. We ordered a few items so we could try the max amount of yumminess but the menu is vast...there are return visits already in the works. Gyoza is a MUST! Deceptively simple with cabbage and pork but so expertly made you'll want to order more. They serve them with a trio of dips, a shoyu sauce, garlic chili oil and salt. Pro-tip: They are smaller than what you might expect. 2 people could easily order 16 and still want more. We only ordered 8, but we also enjoyed some Negi-toro hand rolls before the main event. And about those hand rolls....wow! I had the spicy negi-toro which had a great kick and wonderful flavor. Meltingly delicious ahi over vinegar rice and the nice addition of shiso leaf all tucked away in some crunchy nori. I would come here just for this! For our mains...hubby had the shoyu Ramen and that broth is fantastic! A blend of chicken broth and shoyu with thin noodles, a nice piece of charsu pork, ajitama egg, bamboo shoots and more. I opted for the Goma (sesame paste, peanut miso broth) Tsukemen. Wider noodles served cold on the side for dipping in the rich broth. Wow. Flavor bomb! The broth had bits of pork belly and ground pork. Absolutely a home run! They offer lunch specials that include a bowl of ramen and gyoza which is a nice way to enjoy them. Also on the menu is Mazesoba, brothless ramen. Honestly, we can't wait to go back!
Jo K.
Rainy days and ramen. Some of the best meals are simplistic with the proper weather setting. It's been cold all day and choosing to go to a new spot rather than one of the favorites was lucky since it seems everyone had the same idea. We got seated immediately but the restaurant filled up quickly as the rain poured outside. Our gyozas came out first. It was delicate and warm but not very memorable. However their negitoro hand roll sushi was delicious and we had to order 2 more. The brightness of the fresh shiso came through, the fish was fresh and the nori stayed crunchy. Lastly the ramen we've been waiting for as served. The aroma of steaming hot bowl of ramen noodles! Muah. Shoyu Ramen add on spicy. Spicy sauce came on the side but I didn't use it. I did a small taste but the broth was flavorful just right without it. Menma, roast pork, grated daikon, and ajitama egg. I don't see this place replacing the favorites but I would definitely add it as a place to revisit.
Jillian T.
Coming back from my vacation to Japan, I needed a fix, and this place IS IT! When you open up that menu, the first thing it asks you is, "how many can you eat?" Gyoza, that comes in 16 to 100 pieces, I mean seriously, they're small but they're mighty, and you can't eat just one...dozen. And that Tonkotsu ramen, black, is so creamy and comforting, my mouth is literally watering again while writing this. Chicken Karaage, takoyaki, everything is made fresh to order. The servers are attentive and are trying to crank everything out as fast as they can. Because the items are made to order, the items may end up on your table at different times (not all at once) but that was okay with us, as it spaces out the time to eat and gives us more time to talk to each other. As for the restaurant itself, quaint spot with wooden seating. There's a stand outside where you place your name on a waiting list, but luckily when we went, there was no line and they took us in right away. Ample parking in the lot, costs about $1 or so for parking. Totally worth eating here and we'll definitely be back for more!
Riki K.
I went to this location when they first opened and I was very impressed with their gyoza. So much so that today I went back and ordered 24 and a bowl of rice. Something was wrong with the taste and I opened the gyoza to find only cabbage . Zero pork. I asked for the manager to complain and his response was that the put pork paste in the gyoza now. There wasn't even a hint of pork or pork paste flavor. Anyways, I hope they change it back to how it was. Everything else was good. My wife enjoyed the ramen.
Kalama E.
Enjoyed another very satisfying, reasonably priced meal for two tonight. Their Gyoza are delicious--the wrapper is delightfully thin. Plus, the tofu ginger appetizer is equally delicious. We had the Tokyo Umami Ramen and Japanese Mazesoba brothless Ramen Tanto Black. Noodles in both are excellent taste and size. The Mazesoba is now our favorite with the egg and minced pork (will try the spicy one next time). The dessert of Kanako Matcha powder atop vanilla ice cream drizzled with dark honey was delicious and visually appealing. Reasonable prices alcohol, Sapporo Beer and Sours (get the large one rather than two small) accompanied our order. The restaurant decor, branding on all with their cups, cutlery, uniforms is excellent and makes one feel as if they are partaking a meal in Japan. Tried their Yelp waitlist and was notified when our table was ready (took little over 30 minutes on Saturday evening). We ate everything quickly so only photo we snapped was of the pretty, tasty, yet simple dessert.
Kanani K.
Good food. Great service. Glad we decided to try this place. We will definitely be back!!
Customer C.
First time coming to this ramen place. I got the mix black with extra chili on the side, good flavor but too bad my noodle way overcooked. Tonkatsu black was good. Gyoza was served hot which is good. Service was not great, not sure bc it was busy night but we only have one glass of water throughout dinner, no one comes to check or refill our water.
Erin Y.
The restaurant is pretty small, but it's a cute place with friendly service. Their mazesoba is really good, and I liked the different sauces for the gyoza. The last time we went parking was free for the first hour.
Parking is easy to find in Puck's Alley lot. This place has changed hands many times. Used to be a southern food place, then a brunch place, and now ramen! It's been super cold and windy lately (for Hawaii) so soup weather seemed like a no brainer. Ordered takeout over the phone and food was ready pretty close to the estimated time. I loved the packaging it was cute, practical, and reduced wasted space which is important when you're a chronic over-ordered like me. We ordered the lunch special mazeman and tonkotsu black both of which came with 5 pan fried gyoza. In addition, we tried the dashi maki spicy cheese, one bite tonkatsu, takoyaki, 3 hand rolls- the ahi, the shrimp yuzu, and unagi. The tonkatsu was good and still crispy when we ate it. The dashimaki spicy cheese was not my favorite maybe the sauce didn't do much for me and I would have personally enjoyed the classical one with oroshi better. The gyoza was yummy and I'm sure we could have put many more pieces per person away. Takoyaki was standard. The hand rolls were alright and I know it would have been better if my husband didn't use my dipping sauce on his mazeman haha *sigh* I would absolutely come back and maybe try dine in to get the full experience. This place is tiny, super busy, and the two staff (owners?) get a lot done in this space and relatively quickly too. Give it a try, you won't regret it.
R F.
The Tonkatsu Black Ramen is excellent , small with a loose filling just as it should be , but which they would give more Gyoza sauce with the dish I always have to ask for more.,,, My fave ramen place in Hawaii,
Carley R.
Fabulous customer service and food. Every time we have visited this place we have always had a great experience. The ramen is delicious.
Ross M.
Second time eating here. Got here around 17:40 and made reservations thru the Yelp app. It indicates that the wait would be 12 minutes but surprisingly we only waited about 5. Wanted to order the chicken karaage rice bowl but they were out of rice for that? hmmm... ended up getting the Tabno Shoyu Ramen and a plate of gyoza. The gyoza came first. It was (temperature) hot. Really like that one side of the skin was crispy and the other side was soft and delicate. Love their gyoza. The ramen came out soon after. The shiru (broth) was at eating temperature and not hot - wish it were a little hotter. There seemed to be some oil that was not fully melted floating on the top. When I bit into the charsiu, there was a slightly cold section on it. Again, if the broth were hotter maybe it woud've addressed the other "issue" I noticed. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the noodles overall. I liked that the noodle was on the slightly him and chewy side. Need to come here at least one more time to get a 2-out-of-3 rating on this place. Had to drop my rating by one star due to the tiny "issues" mentioned. Don't get me wrong. This place seems to be popular among the younger crowd because a previous time we came, the place was crowded with a lot of people standing outside and. I presume, waiting to get a table.
Good & legit ramen, with legit noodles! My number one pet peeve about most ramen places in Hawaii is they use the chinese-egg-noodle-kind "ramen noodles" and it definitely ain't the same. They also do the broth here really good. Their egg and charsu is also super on point. COME HERE!! 10/10
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
We go there kind of often, because they make authentic Ramen and GyozaService used to be good but not anymoreLast time we went there, we were told the wait time is going to be 20min, so we were standing outside and waitingDuring the wait time, none of the employees had kept us posted how long more we should wait ,nobody apologized to us for the long wait, employee were just chatting and laughing.There were some seats available in the outside seating area but nobody offered us to have a seatAfter a long day at work, we ended up waiting for over 50min, we were just standing thereWe almost cancel and go homeThere used to be a young white boy who’s from California, who was very attentive and niceNow they have only Japanese employees and unfortunately none of them is good but less than mediocre
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 3
Recommended dishes: Gyoza
Hidden Gem Alert! (Though...I'm pretty sure word is out about Tanto) Tucked away off University Ave, Tanto Gyoza and Ramen bar is offering some amazing Japanese comfort food! We arrived just before noon and the place was buzzing! We were warmly greeted by our server and seated on their patio at counter style seating. Service was very friendly, they even lowered a shade for us to block out the mid-day sun! The space is intimate and truly feels like you've been transported to Japan. We ordered a few items so we could try the max amount of yumminess but the menu is vast...there are return visits already in the works. Gyoza is a MUST! Deceptively simple with cabbage and pork but so expertly made you'll want to order more. They serve them with a trio of dips, a shoyu sauce, garlic chili oil and salt. Pro-tip: They are smaller than what you might expect. 2 people could easily order 16 and still want more. We only ordered 8, but we also enjoyed some Negi-toro hand rolls before the main event. And about those hand rolls....wow! I had the spicy negi-toro which had a great kick and wonderful flavor. Meltingly delicious ahi over vinegar rice and the nice addition of shiso leaf all tucked away in some crunchy nori. I would come here just for this! For our mains...hubby had the shoyu Ramen and that broth is fantastic! A blend of chicken broth and shoyu with thin noodles, a nice piece of charsu pork, ajitama egg, bamboo shoots and more. I opted for the Goma (sesame paste, peanut miso broth) Tsukemen. Wider noodles served cold on the side for dipping in the rich broth. Wow. Flavor bomb! The broth had bits of pork belly and ground pork. Absolutely a home run! They offer lunch specials that include a bowl of ramen and gyoza which is a nice way to enjoy them. Also on the menu is Mazesoba, brothless ramen. Honestly, we can't wait to go back!
Rainy days and ramen. Some of the best meals are simplistic with the proper weather setting. It's been cold all day and choosing to go to a new spot rather than one of the favorites was lucky since it seems everyone had the same idea. We got seated immediately but the restaurant filled up quickly as the rain poured outside. Our gyozas came out first. It was delicate and warm but not very memorable. However their negitoro hand roll sushi was delicious and we had to order 2 more. The brightness of the fresh shiso came through, the fish was fresh and the nori stayed crunchy. Lastly the ramen we've been waiting for as served. The aroma of steaming hot bowl of ramen noodles! Muah. Shoyu Ramen add on spicy. Spicy sauce came on the side but I didn't use it. I did a small taste but the broth was flavorful just right without it. Menma, roast pork, grated daikon, and ajitama egg. I don't see this place replacing the favorites but I would definitely add it as a place to revisit.
Coming back from my vacation to Japan, I needed a fix, and this place IS IT! When you open up that menu, the first thing it asks you is, "how many can you eat?" Gyoza, that comes in 16 to 100 pieces, I mean seriously, they're small but they're mighty, and you can't eat just one...dozen. And that Tonkotsu ramen, black, is so creamy and comforting, my mouth is literally watering again while writing this. Chicken Karaage, takoyaki, everything is made fresh to order. The servers are attentive and are trying to crank everything out as fast as they can. Because the items are made to order, the items may end up on your table at different times (not all at once) but that was okay with us, as it spaces out the time to eat and gives us more time to talk to each other. As for the restaurant itself, quaint spot with wooden seating. There's a stand outside where you place your name on a waiting list, but luckily when we went, there was no line and they took us in right away. Ample parking in the lot, costs about $1 or so for parking. Totally worth eating here and we'll definitely be back for more!
I went to this location when they first opened and I was very impressed with their gyoza. So much so that today I went back and ordered 24 and a bowl of rice. Something was wrong with the taste and I opened the gyoza to find only cabbage . Zero pork. I asked for the manager to complain and his response was that the put pork paste in the gyoza now. There wasn't even a hint of pork or pork paste flavor. Anyways, I hope they change it back to how it was. Everything else was good. My wife enjoyed the ramen.
Enjoyed another very satisfying, reasonably priced meal for two tonight. Their Gyoza are delicious--the wrapper is delightfully thin. Plus, the tofu ginger appetizer is equally delicious. We had the Tokyo Umami Ramen and Japanese Mazesoba brothless Ramen Tanto Black. Noodles in both are excellent taste and size. The Mazesoba is now our favorite with the egg and minced pork (will try the spicy one next time). The dessert of Kanako Matcha powder atop vanilla ice cream drizzled with dark honey was delicious and visually appealing. Reasonable prices alcohol, Sapporo Beer and Sours (get the large one rather than two small) accompanied our order. The restaurant decor, branding on all with their cups, cutlery, uniforms is excellent and makes one feel as if they are partaking a meal in Japan. Tried their Yelp waitlist and was notified when our table was ready (took little over 30 minutes on Saturday evening). We ate everything quickly so only photo we snapped was of the pretty, tasty, yet simple dessert.
Good food. Great service. Glad we decided to try this place. We will definitely be back!!
First time coming to this ramen place. I got the mix black with extra chili on the side, good flavor but too bad my noodle way overcooked. Tonkatsu black was good. Gyoza was served hot which is good. Service was not great, not sure bc it was busy night but we only have one glass of water throughout dinner, no one comes to check or refill our water.
The restaurant is pretty small, but it's a cute place with friendly service. Their mazesoba is really good, and I liked the different sauces for the gyoza. The last time we went parking was free for the first hour.
Restaurantji Recommends
Parking is easy to find in Puck's Alley lot. This place has changed hands many times. Used to be a southern food place, then a brunch place, and now ramen! It's been super cold and windy lately (for Hawaii) so soup weather seemed like a no brainer. Ordered takeout over the phone and food was ready pretty close to the estimated time. I loved the packaging it was cute, practical, and reduced wasted space which is important when you're a chronic over-ordered like me. We ordered the lunch special mazeman and tonkotsu black both of which came with 5 pan fried gyoza. In addition, we tried the dashi maki spicy cheese, one bite tonkatsu, takoyaki, 3 hand rolls- the ahi, the shrimp yuzu, and unagi. The tonkatsu was good and still crispy when we ate it. The dashimaki spicy cheese was not my favorite maybe the sauce didn't do much for me and I would have personally enjoyed the classical one with oroshi better. The gyoza was yummy and I'm sure we could have put many more pieces per person away. Takoyaki was standard. The hand rolls were alright and I know it would have been better if my husband didn't use my dipping sauce on his mazeman haha *sigh* I would absolutely come back and maybe try dine in to get the full experience. This place is tiny, super busy, and the two staff (owners?) get a lot done in this space and relatively quickly too. Give it a try, you won't regret it.
The Tonkatsu Black Ramen is excellent , small with a loose filling just as it should be , but which they would give more Gyoza sauce with the dish I always have to ask for more.,,, My fave ramen place in Hawaii,
Fabulous customer service and food. Every time we have visited this place we have always had a great experience. The ramen is delicious.
Second time eating here. Got here around 17:40 and made reservations thru the Yelp app. It indicates that the wait would be 12 minutes but surprisingly we only waited about 5. Wanted to order the chicken karaage rice bowl but they were out of rice for that? hmmm... ended up getting the Tabno Shoyu Ramen and a plate of gyoza. The gyoza came first. It was (temperature) hot. Really like that one side of the skin was crispy and the other side was soft and delicate. Love their gyoza. The ramen came out soon after. The shiru (broth) was at eating temperature and not hot - wish it were a little hotter. There seemed to be some oil that was not fully melted floating on the top. When I bit into the charsiu, there was a slightly cold section on it. Again, if the broth were hotter maybe it woud've addressed the other "issue" I noticed. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the noodles overall. I liked that the noodle was on the slightly him and chewy side. Need to come here at least one more time to get a 2-out-of-3 rating on this place. Had to drop my rating by one star due to the tiny "issues" mentioned. Don't get me wrong. This place seems to be popular among the younger crowd because a previous time we came, the place was crowded with a lot of people standing outside and. I presume, waiting to get a table.
but very tights
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5