This was one of our last meals in a restaurant before the stay at home order. Let me start by saying, this is a family of Asian food junkies! I'm Asian and our kids are half Asian. We have fairly discerning taste buds and we have been fortunate enough to visit Japan and eat authentic! The soup base here was very good. Deep complex flavor, well seasoned without being overly salty. For a couple of us though, the noodles left us scratching our heads. A couple of us got perfect, delicious noodles with good flavor and great texture. But a couple of us got lumpy, under cooked patches in our soup. The restaurant wasn't overly crowded so we don't feel like there was a reason for the flaw. And the food certainly took enough time to come out that speed also wasn't the reason for the problem. We would all definitely go back and try again but this time I would be more vocal about the issue and wait for fresh noodles.
Pascale A.
Best ramen in Asheville! My husband and I absolutely love Futo Buta. The beer selection from Resident Culture is also amazing.
Peter Lenoci
SNAPSHOT = Wow! "Excellent" understates the proposition that Futo Buta offers. Brilliant maximazstion of the space - details below.
Danh Dang
Omg amazing place for Ramen that is on par with places in Japan. With prices that are extremely well set too! The ramens were amazing with rich broth and flavoring on top. The meat and veggies that are seasonal makes a big different! The only let down is you can't select the firmness of the noodles ?. We tried the gyoza and they were super tasty. The atmosphere is hip and modern and the services was wonderful! Explained the menu and all the little details you could ask about! Overall highly recommend this location and the one in Charlotte!
FNU F
The place looks really cute vibes. We ordered two different kind of ramen the simple chicken noodle didn’t come out as good. The other one was really good and I love the appetiser and it’s presentation!! The staff was friendly and attentive. I just wish it was dog friendly so I could sit inside and eat.
Bruce Johnson
Great place to grab a big bowl of great tasing noodles! We had the Niwa and Shoyu bowls and a skewer of fried miso tofu. All were excellent and freshly made. They make their own noodles in house using red wheat. Service was excellent and ambiance very woodsy but with a giant artsy mural. The fire pit outside and the aroma drew me in!
Whitney Al-Khatib
Great for a hearty fill your belly meal. The ramen and rice dishes are equally yummy. Make sure to get some sake!
Christopher Grasinger
Incredible experience. Really taken care of at the bar by Josh - super informative on drink and cuisine options. Look forward to returning soon. This ramen is the real deal ?
Ariel F.
I don't know... I found it to be pretentious and strange here. I had heard of this place from several yelpers at an event several months back and when I found myself here with a friend I wondered "this is it??". The friend who took me here raved about the noodles and the ramen, which we did not end up ordering anyway since I wasn't super hungry so maybe that's what I'm missing. We ordered several small bites like the fried tofu, brussel sprouts, and a tuna dish. The tofu was decent although my friend disliked it. The brussels were too big to fit in your mouth and they were stupid. By stupid I mean the chef cut them in four almost all the way to the bottom but left them attached so you had to shove them entirely into your mouth like an idiot with your chop sticks because they don't give you knives and hope that your date thinks this is a cute look for you while you choke them down your gullet. A few other reviewers mentioned the noise level. They're not kidding. This is in addition to the ridiculous seating situation. At the door they ask you if you want a "table" or the bar. If you choose a "table" like we did, you are escorted to a 50 person bar where you walk around the other side of the room to scream at your date from across the aisle and bump elbows with the strangers next to you. I used to frequent this location when it was BarTaco and I am super salty that they left, so perhaps I went into it with a bad attitude. They did almost nothing to redecorate after BarTaco left other than slapping an anime mural on one of the walls. C- for effort.
Yonelle A.
Let me start off by saying that the venue looked awesome! I loved the layout and design of the place. There was a nice big fire pit outside. There appeared to be big door that you could slide open to the sitting outside. I thought that was pretty cool. Now to the food. We tried all three of the buns. The pork was definitely the best. Packed with a lot of flavor. The duck one lacked flavor to me. It was bland. As for the ramen...if you have never eaten ramen before, I would not recommend going here. This place has a different take from the traditional ramen. Not saying that it's bad...but if you are a ramen virgin, please try traditional first. I had the Tonkotsu while my bf had the Miso. Tonkotsu was rich in flavor while the Miso was very bland. I wasn't the biggest fan of the smoked pork. But it was flavorful. My bf was able to switch the pork for duck. I thought it lacked but he actually preferred the duck over the pork. I was genuinely pleased with my ramen. My bf on the other hand was very disappointed. We added some flavor with the seasoning and sauces they provided. Oh and I'm not a big fan of ginger but thought I would give it a try since the Tonkotsu came with pickled ginger buuuut I just wasn't feeling it. Also the egg is different compared to traditional. I'm personally not a fan of it. Overall this place was alright. Venue great. Servers nice. Food ok.
We were nearby and got hungry, and decided on walking to Futo Buta. We sat at the bar and were promptly served. I ordered the Shoyu and my friend ordered the vegetarian Niwa. My Shoyu was amazing! The pecan smoked pork belly was well worth the entire visit. The noodles were great, but the pork bone broth was better. My friend’s Nuwa ramen looked beautiful, like a spring garden. It was the perfect choice on a snowy day. Service was nice and we loved the decor.
Adam D.
Ramen bars are in style and Futo Buta comes at the perfect time and in a perfect place, the heart of Asheville. Awesome environment with the attitude of rock and roll and ramen really makes this place stand out from the rest. The food was delicious and had some variety to the bowls however I wish there was more! It can be a little pricy for a broke college student but the food is most definitely worth it. I had the fire and ice dish which featured incredibly delicious smoked salmon, it was great but I found myself chewing through more bok choy than anything else. It was a great experience overall and possibly the best ramen bar in all of Asheville, worth a try for that delicious house made ramen taste!
Frankie S.
Ramen was really good and filling after a long day of drinking craft beers; and not ridiculously expensive. The sake flight was great, we let the bartender Make us one and the thought behind it was A good education on sake appreciation.
Nate R.
Great food however my wife and I split their largest bowl that our server assured us had plenty of meat... It did not. Also poor service... Asked for limes multiple times never received them. Server seemed kinda clueless. Would try again due to how good the apps were! Wish I could've tried the fried chicken they ran out at 7:00pm on a Saturday....
Heather W.
This place was amazing!!! Was very skeptical about this restaurant being like every other ramen noodle place. However I was very wrong. Although we didn't try one of bowels we did try the appetizers. We had both the pork dumplings and the vegetarian dumplings. We also tried the Japanese fried chicken and the roasted beet salad. The wait was very short we were seated within 10 minutes of our arrival and they were very busy. Our server was fantastic very knowledgeable of the dishes and hiis suggestions were spot on. We will definitely be stopping in during one of our next visits to Asheville.
This was one of our last meals in a restaurant before the stay at home order. Let me start by saying, this is a family of Asian food junkies! I'm Asian and our kids are half Asian. We have fairly discerning taste buds and we have been fortunate enough to visit Japan and eat authentic! The soup base here was very good. Deep complex flavor, well seasoned without being overly salty. For a couple of us though, the noodles left us scratching our heads. A couple of us got perfect, delicious noodles with good flavor and great texture. But a couple of us got lumpy, under cooked patches in our soup. The restaurant wasn't overly crowded so we don't feel like there was a reason for the flaw. And the food certainly took enough time to come out that speed also wasn't the reason for the problem. We would all definitely go back and try again but this time I would be more vocal about the issue and wait for fresh noodles.
Best ramen in Asheville! My husband and I absolutely love Futo Buta. The beer selection from Resident Culture is also amazing.
SNAPSHOT = Wow! "Excellent" understates the proposition that Futo Buta offers. Brilliant maximazstion of the space - details below.
Omg amazing place for Ramen that is on par with places in Japan. With prices that are extremely well set too! The ramens were amazing with rich broth and flavoring on top. The meat and veggies that are seasonal makes a big different! The only let down is you can't select the firmness of the noodles ?. We tried the gyoza and they were super tasty. The atmosphere is hip and modern and the services was wonderful! Explained the menu and all the little details you could ask about! Overall highly recommend this location and the one in Charlotte!
The place looks really cute vibes. We ordered two different kind of ramen the simple chicken noodle didn’t come out as good. The other one was really good and I love the appetiser and it’s presentation!! The staff was friendly and attentive. I just wish it was dog friendly so I could sit inside and eat.
Great place to grab a big bowl of great tasing noodles! We had the Niwa and Shoyu bowls and a skewer of fried miso tofu. All were excellent and freshly made. They make their own noodles in house using red wheat. Service was excellent and ambiance very woodsy but with a giant artsy mural. The fire pit outside and the aroma drew me in!
Great for a hearty fill your belly meal. The ramen and rice dishes are equally yummy. Make sure to get some sake!
Incredible experience. Really taken care of at the bar by Josh - super informative on drink and cuisine options. Look forward to returning soon. This ramen is the real deal ?
I don't know... I found it to be pretentious and strange here. I had heard of this place from several yelpers at an event several months back and when I found myself here with a friend I wondered "this is it??". The friend who took me here raved about the noodles and the ramen, which we did not end up ordering anyway since I wasn't super hungry so maybe that's what I'm missing. We ordered several small bites like the fried tofu, brussel sprouts, and a tuna dish. The tofu was decent although my friend disliked it. The brussels were too big to fit in your mouth and they were stupid. By stupid I mean the chef cut them in four almost all the way to the bottom but left them attached so you had to shove them entirely into your mouth like an idiot with your chop sticks because they don't give you knives and hope that your date thinks this is a cute look for you while you choke them down your gullet. A few other reviewers mentioned the noise level. They're not kidding. This is in addition to the ridiculous seating situation. At the door they ask you if you want a "table" or the bar. If you choose a "table" like we did, you are escorted to a 50 person bar where you walk around the other side of the room to scream at your date from across the aisle and bump elbows with the strangers next to you. I used to frequent this location when it was BarTaco and I am super salty that they left, so perhaps I went into it with a bad attitude. They did almost nothing to redecorate after BarTaco left other than slapping an anime mural on one of the walls. C- for effort.
Let me start off by saying that the venue looked awesome! I loved the layout and design of the place. There was a nice big fire pit outside. There appeared to be big door that you could slide open to the sitting outside. I thought that was pretty cool. Now to the food. We tried all three of the buns. The pork was definitely the best. Packed with a lot of flavor. The duck one lacked flavor to me. It was bland. As for the ramen...if you have never eaten ramen before, I would not recommend going here. This place has a different take from the traditional ramen. Not saying that it's bad...but if you are a ramen virgin, please try traditional first. I had the Tonkotsu while my bf had the Miso. Tonkotsu was rich in flavor while the Miso was very bland. I wasn't the biggest fan of the smoked pork. But it was flavorful. My bf was able to switch the pork for duck. I thought it lacked but he actually preferred the duck over the pork. I was genuinely pleased with my ramen. My bf on the other hand was very disappointed. We added some flavor with the seasoning and sauces they provided. Oh and I'm not a big fan of ginger but thought I would give it a try since the Tonkotsu came with pickled ginger buuuut I just wasn't feeling it. Also the egg is different compared to traditional. I'm personally not a fan of it. Overall this place was alright. Venue great. Servers nice. Food ok.
Restaurantji Recommends
We were nearby and got hungry, and decided on walking to Futo Buta. We sat at the bar and were promptly served. I ordered the Shoyu and my friend ordered the vegetarian Niwa. My Shoyu was amazing! The pecan smoked pork belly was well worth the entire visit. The noodles were great, but the pork bone broth was better. My friend’s Nuwa ramen looked beautiful, like a spring garden. It was the perfect choice on a snowy day. Service was nice and we loved the decor.
Ramen bars are in style and Futo Buta comes at the perfect time and in a perfect place, the heart of Asheville. Awesome environment with the attitude of rock and roll and ramen really makes this place stand out from the rest. The food was delicious and had some variety to the bowls however I wish there was more! It can be a little pricy for a broke college student but the food is most definitely worth it. I had the fire and ice dish which featured incredibly delicious smoked salmon, it was great but I found myself chewing through more bok choy than anything else. It was a great experience overall and possibly the best ramen bar in all of Asheville, worth a try for that delicious house made ramen taste!
Ramen was really good and filling after a long day of drinking craft beers; and not ridiculously expensive. The sake flight was great, we let the bartender Make us one and the thought behind it was A good education on sake appreciation.
Great food however my wife and I split their largest bowl that our server assured us had plenty of meat... It did not. Also poor service... Asked for limes multiple times never received them. Server seemed kinda clueless. Would try again due to how good the apps were! Wish I could've tried the fried chicken they ran out at 7:00pm on a Saturday....
This place was amazing!!! Was very skeptical about this restaurant being like every other ramen noodle place. However I was very wrong. Although we didn't try one of bowels we did try the appetizers. We had both the pork dumplings and the vegetarian dumplings. We also tried the Japanese fried chicken and the roasted beet salad. The wait was very short we were seated within 10 minutes of our arrival and they were very busy. Our server was fantastic very knowledgeable of the dishes and hiis suggestions were spot on. We will definitely be stopping in during one of our next visits to Asheville.