The Roast Beef bowl looks completely different from the picture. I tried another location (Champaign) and was so much better— more presentable and tastier.
Chicago Kajiken (left picture) vs Champaign Kajiken (right picture)
Ryan Pickering
Absolutely epic noodles! It was very tasty! The salad was excellent and fresh and the mango crepe cake was a good portion and oh so good. I will definitely be going back,
Brenda Yip
We ordered the original noodles, which is good, but the ramen and don rice portions are very small and not the kind of noodles I like. Overall service is lacking and portions are small.
L J
Was recommended by my sister since its Michelin star guide recommended. They have one in Seattle and was excited to see they had one here. Chinatown is a little far for us but made the effort to get out of the house and drive to city to try it out.
Ordered the gyoza and noodle bowls - roast beef, original and plain noodles with sides of roast beef and egg. The noodles tasted great! The gyoza tasted good too.
But the toppings - roast beef had very thin slices on both dishes. Ordered a side of roast beef for the plain noodles we got for our daughter and only came with two thin slices, a bit pricey. Might as well have ordered another main dish if we knew it was only a couple dollars more to get more protein.
As with service, waters were never refilled. They only came back when they handed the check at the end and we had to ask.
Bathroom was ok, no paper towels.
No room if you have kids and a stroller. They didn’t accommodate, we had to ask another family that had an older child to see if we can switch with them so the stroller didn’t block their way (They just came in at same time also and the server just stood there when we asked if there was another area to sit since we had a stroller). Leave it in the car if you decide to go.
It was our first time going out since the birth of our new baby and wanted a nice dinner. Our experience with how much we paid was just a little disappointing.
Novita Wong
Best dry (broth-less) ramen in town! Service is fast & good. The restaurant is always clean. Highly recommended!
Daisy Guzman
Came in for a solo lunch, loved it! Got the soulless ramen and I’m thinking about it days later still. Edamame with spicy chili is a nice starter.
Teja Pamganamamula
We got the Vegan Soba and it was very bland to say the least and that too after adding chilli oil and loads of pepper. Maybe this is a place to go for people that eat meat because there aren't many options for vegetarians and whatever option there was seemed to lack salt, pepper, or spice. Service was quick and courteous so no issues there.
March 2025 Dined here for the first time. Place was packed on a Sunday night. Menu looked decent. Total spent $75 with tip.
4/5 stars overall on food Ordered shoyu tonkatsu ramen, regular tonkatsu ramen, and one homura don to try the rice bowl. Appetizers gyoza and the age tofu.
The two appetizers were good, just enough portion wise to wet your appetite. Typical dumplings that you can buy in the frozen section but still tasty. The tofu lightly coated and fried sat on top of a slightly sweet soy based sauce.
The two ramen bowls were good size. However, everyone agreed that the broth in the shoyu bowl was tastier, 4 stars. 😋 The other one was bland 😒, according to the person who ordered it, but adding the chili oil helped, 3 stars. Bowls were mostly bamboo shoots, one piece of seaweed, 2 pieces of thinly sliced chashu pork belly plus half soft boiled egg. Approx $15 each.
As for the homura don, which was a ground pork rice bowl, this was the most disappointing, 2 stars, compared to other Japanese restaurants back home in Michigan, as well as the Taiwanese version, which is lots of ground pork drenched over rice with a sauce and pickled vegetables, which were nonexistent in this recipe.
For $8.99, this was basically a bowl of rice, with maybe a tablespoon of ground pork, sauce, green onions, plus half soft boiled egg. Also added a side of kimchi for a dollar. This was not what I expected. I would not order this again. Basically ate a bowl of rice for dinner with kimchi. The pork had no flavor and not even visible in this dish. 😢
5/5 stars on service and atmosphere The waitstaff are all male and in observing all the busy tables plus ours, and a line waiting to be seated, they were on top of it. They filled water glasses, food came out fairly quickly, took care of people walking in...kudos to great service! 👏👏👏
The atmosphere is quite lively. The space comprised of some booth type seating, with a few tables to accommodate 4 to 6 people; and places for 1-2 guests available separated by a wood panel. Comfortable and easy for conversation.
We would go back and try a few other dishes to see how we like it, next time we visit Chicago.
Aya Ito
Food was good and very reasonably priced! Definitely coming back to try other dishes
Ritz Xu
The dried mix noodle is really good. We also had karaage. It is crispy yet tender inside.
Ryan Niven
love the Ramen, great choice for authentic Japanese Ramen in Chicago
Gurleen Kaur
One of my new favorite spots on Chicago! This noodle place has such cute decorations and an intimate eating space. The dishes have a pretty wide range while also staying true to the theme and everything is reasonably priced (can be really hard to find these days especially in a big city)! We got the chili edamame and fried chicken to share and then I got some really great noodles for my main! Everything was delicious and I’d definitely recommend this spot to anyone and everyone!
MOST AMAZING RAMEN I HAVE EVER HAD!!!!
100/10
Kaki fry recommended!
The Roast Beef bowl looks completely different from the picture. I tried another location (Champaign) and was so much better— more presentable and tastier.
Chicago Kajiken (left picture) vs Champaign Kajiken (right picture)
Absolutely epic noodles! It was very tasty! The salad was excellent and fresh and the mango crepe cake was a good portion and oh so good. I will definitely be going back,
We ordered the original noodles, which is good, but the ramen and don rice portions are very small and not the kind of noodles I like. Overall service is lacking and portions are small.
Was recommended by my sister since its Michelin star guide recommended. They have one in Seattle and was excited to see they had one here. Chinatown is a little far for us but made the effort to get out of the house and drive to city to try it out.
Ordered the gyoza and noodle bowls - roast beef, original and plain noodles with sides of roast beef and egg. The noodles tasted great! The gyoza tasted good too.
But the toppings - roast beef had very thin slices on both dishes. Ordered a side of roast beef for the plain noodles we got for our daughter and only came with two thin slices, a bit pricey. Might as well have ordered another main dish if we knew it was only a couple dollars more to get more protein.
As with service, waters were never refilled. They only came back when they handed the check at the end and we had to ask.
Bathroom was ok, no paper towels.
No room if you have kids and a stroller. They didn’t accommodate, we had to ask another family that had an older child to see if we can switch with them so the stroller didn’t block their way (They just came in at same time also and the server just stood there when we asked if there was another area to sit since we had a stroller). Leave it in the car if you decide to go.
It was our first time going out since the birth of our new baby and wanted a nice dinner. Our experience with how much we paid was just a little disappointing.
Best dry (broth-less) ramen in town! Service is fast & good. The restaurant is always clean. Highly recommended!
Came in for a solo lunch, loved it! Got the soulless ramen and I’m thinking about it days later still. Edamame with spicy chili is a nice starter.
We got the Vegan Soba and it was very bland to say the least and that too after adding chilli oil and loads of pepper. Maybe this is a place to go for people that eat meat because there aren't many options for vegetarians and whatever option there was seemed to lack salt, pepper, or spice. Service was quick and courteous so no issues there.
Noodles here are 👌
Restaurantji Recommends
March 2025
Dined here for the first time. Place was packed on a Sunday night. Menu looked decent. Total spent $75 with tip.
4/5 stars overall on food
Ordered shoyu tonkatsu ramen, regular tonkatsu ramen, and one homura don to try the rice bowl. Appetizers gyoza and the age tofu.
The two appetizers were good, just enough portion wise to wet your appetite. Typical dumplings that you can buy in the frozen section but still tasty. The tofu lightly coated and fried sat on top of a slightly sweet soy based sauce.
The two ramen bowls were good size. However, everyone agreed that the broth in the shoyu bowl was tastier, 4 stars. 😋 The other one was bland 😒, according to the person who ordered it, but adding the chili oil helped, 3 stars. Bowls were mostly bamboo shoots, one piece of seaweed, 2 pieces of thinly sliced chashu pork belly plus half soft boiled egg. Approx $15 each.
As for the homura don, which was a ground pork rice bowl, this was the most disappointing, 2 stars, compared to other Japanese restaurants back home in Michigan, as well as the Taiwanese version, which is lots of ground pork drenched over rice with a sauce and pickled vegetables, which were nonexistent in this recipe.
For $8.99, this was basically a bowl of rice, with maybe a tablespoon of ground pork, sauce, green onions, plus half soft boiled egg. Also added a side of kimchi for a dollar. This was not what I expected. I would not order this again. Basically ate a bowl of rice for dinner with kimchi. The pork had no flavor and not even visible in this dish. 😢
5/5 stars on service and atmosphere
The waitstaff are all male and in observing all the busy tables plus ours, and a line waiting to be seated, they were on top of it. They filled water glasses, food came out fairly quickly, took care of people walking in...kudos to great service! 👏👏👏
The atmosphere is quite lively. The space comprised of some booth type seating, with a few tables to accommodate 4 to 6 people; and places for 1-2 guests available separated by a wood panel. Comfortable and easy for conversation.
We would go back and try a few other dishes to see how we like it, next time we visit Chicago.
Food was good and very reasonably priced! Definitely coming back to try other dishes
The dried mix noodle is really good. We also had karaage. It is crispy yet tender inside.
love the Ramen, great choice for authentic Japanese Ramen in Chicago
One of my new favorite spots on Chicago! This noodle place has such cute decorations and an intimate eating space. The dishes have a pretty wide range while also staying true to the theme and everything is reasonably priced (can be really hard to find these days especially in a big city)! We got the chili edamame and fried chicken to share and then I got some really great noodles for my main! Everything was delicious and I’d definitely recommend this spot to anyone and everyone!
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