Kasai has the worst ramen our family has ever had. My dish tasted like American barbecue soup and contained squash, and the broth that accompanied the ground beef bowl was shockingly bland. We saw reviews that claimed the broth was bland but I would not have anticipated it being this bad. We threw out most of our dishes because no one in our family wanted to finish them. Pork buns were ok.
Recommended dishes: College Bowl
Sharne Roberts
So they are closed on Mondays... Google and chow now says they're open and allowed me to order food. Site charged me for my food and at 8:12pm I looked completely dumb standing at the door wondering why the lights were off but it said my food was ready for pick up?? I doubt it's hard to change the hours posted on Google and these online order apps. I hope tomorrow I will see a credit to my account??
WildBill 1989
So this was a truly amazing experience, and to be lucky enough to have it in Syracuse, NY. This place is a gem; I ordered the shoyu ramen lunch special with a pork bun, and batch 39 by middle ages. So first off this ramen and everything else is hand made. The ramen had amazing flavor, and the meat was literally able to split by touching it with your chop sticks. The veggies inside were so fresh, and they paired so well with everything my only regret is I didn't get the big bowl. I also had the pork steam bun; which even though they had ghost sauce on them they weren't so hot you couldn't enjoy it. In fact it was the opposite it was amazing. To have steam buns in Syracuse, NY is such an amazing privilege. Usually this type of menu item is reserved for big cities, but we got lucky. The batch 39 IPA was smooth and refreshing and made with the hand made noodles from the shop. So why not it's the perfect pairing for your noodles. Long and short we're very lucky to have this good of a ramen shop, so let's show em some love.
asif price
Went down for a nice parent date night and had a good time. Local music was nice, we had ramin, spicy food was a bit overkill on the spiciness, you couldn't really taste the food, just burning, the fried octopus balls were a nice treat and the pickled Kim chi potatoes were the star of the night. And the wall art was dope too. If you plan on going, avoid the spicy ramin unless you like ingredients like "cobra venom" or "hell fire"
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tonkotsu Ramen
Jety Lefr
I've eaten here three times. The food is good enough, but my third visit was an event...The third time, I ordered the diablo bowl, and my partner ordered Shio Ramen substituting the pork for shredded chicken. There was a mixup with those two bowls. The four people at our table all confirmed the mistake after my partner ate some of their bowl.My diablo bowl (red broth) was not spicy. Their shio bowl (yellow broth) had all of the spice. We compared both bowls to a second shio bowl served at our table to confirm.This caused my partner immense pain and startled a medical condition they have, forcing them to lose their voice for the rest of the night, but the kitchen blamed the server for the mistake, not the kitchen.Through a series of emails with the owner, the error was explained as being the server's (though, the server blamed the kitchen and drew us to his side of that argument—occuring during our dining experience). Iam still not quite convinced of it, as the color oddity of the spice in the yellow broth bowl (not the other yellow broth shio bowl, or the red broth bowl) didn't seem to match the three bowl discrepancy that my table observed. It doesn't really matter where the mistake happened, but it was handled badly when it happened. If it was the cooks and not the server, I'm upset about the blame being passed to a new staff member. If it was the server, I'm upset for being dragged into an argument about it.The food was replaced, but the dining experience was ruined that night. The owner in their emails explained that compensation was offered in the form of free drinks, but also told me that my table had refused them. Noone at my table heard such an offer, nor would we have refused the offer if it was explained as compensation for the ramen mishap. If it did happen, it was misrepresented as a question if we just wanted to buy more drinks, not explained as a comp offer.The mixup with the ramen (whether it was the server or the kitchen) and with the bartender left me with a long-enduring sense of unprofessional mistakes—hopefully rare ones, and a one-off case of bad luck. Maybe it was all a fluke, and I'm editing this after time enough to feel less hurt by it all, but it still was a very bad night.I understand that it was an honest mistake:But with the kind of medical scare that the diablo mixup caused, we were understandably quite unhappy.P.S. — There was no music the first two times I ate here, which suited me. The third time, there was a band playing some jazzy music. I was trying to ignore them and focus on my company, but it was disruptively loud in the small brick restaurant space.
Vegetarian options: The menu is annoyingly a QR code. The staff will give you a paper menu if you ask for one, but only one menu for the whole table, and there is no drink menu to hand out.When I attended, neither the menus nor the staff offer substitution suggestions for proteins or other items when an order asks that something be removed for dietary reasons. We did ask after a point. In truth, the meals are more customizable is obvious, so without making that known, the menu will put off a lot of people who do not eat meat.
Dietary restrictions: The menu is QR code, which is annoying. The staff will give you a paper menu if you ask for one, but only one menu for the whole table, and there is no drink menu to hand out.When I attended, neither the menus nor the staff offer substitution suggestions for proteins or other items when an order asks that something be removed for dietary reasons. We did ask after a point. In truth, the meals are more customizable is obvious, so without making that known, the menu will put off a lot of people who do not eat shellfish or meat.
rebecca adamitis
We enjoyed the food and the atmosphere was great. Service was very slow. Overall very unimpressed with the waitresses. We had to ask for our drinks to be refilled. Kitchen was slow getting food out even though the restaurant wasn’t very busy at the start of our dinner.
aneisha pitts
Ordered from them online through DoorDash. Got a text saying the restaurant was closed but they still charged my card $60 for a $42 order. And I had to go through my bank to make dispute because they did not refund me after allowing me to place an order when the restaurant was closed (fix hours on google to accurately reflect when you guys are open). And please more Bok choy and broth with the ramen please.
Rohan Bhattacharjee
I don't usually leave reviews for places. However, I would be doing a great disservice to the public if I left this experience unshared. This is to do with the food quality of the "Diablo ramen" and their resolution of the matter.This ramen was absolutely awful and among the saltiest things I've ever had in my life. It had no flavor. No taste. It is a foregone conclusion that it would fail the food quality guidelines miserably upon inspection because of the excessive salt content. The amount of salt in it made it simply inedible. This is not just my conclusion but the opinion of my three colleagues who were there with me. I've travelled across coasts in the U.S and internationally, and this is hands down the worst East Asian cuisine I've had in my life.Upon summoning the staff, I was told rudely that "we do not put additional salt in it". Implying that it is my problem and the issues are with my taste buds instead. What wrong could the so-called expert chefs do after all? All credit to them, they tried to fix it by putting hot water in it. That was unsuccessful. I eventually returned the ramen bowl to them, 80% of the food still in it, after trying my absolute best to eat it. The remainder of the evening was spent drinking cold water and trying to control my spike in blood pressure and uneasiness that came from having excess salt.When the time for payment came, the staff refused to remove the ramen from the receipt. Why? Because they say, there is a warning on the menu which states, "THIS BOWL BRINGS THE HEAT". It was bizarre to me when they said, "this bowl has been returned many times by other customers, so we cannot refund the amount". First of all, the issue with this ramen has nothing to do with the spice levels. It was pure excess salt. So it has no link at all with the warning. Second, I am Indian. I handle spice on a daily basis. It is laughable when my spice levels are attributed to be the problem. Third, the server's admission that the dish has been returned is bizarre because it indicates that the restaurant has been on constructive notice about the dangerous food quality issues pertaining to this dish. Finally, the plot twist? The server himself had recommended this dish to me at the beginning of our dining when I had asked, "what's a spicy ramen you would recommend?" He did not say one word pertaining to any warning/potential saltiness.Overall, extremely disappointing experience. Still reeling from my blood pressure spike. Equally horrendous resolution of the issue. It is a matter of time before the restaurant is flagged down by the food safety department.
Kevin Arnold
I wouldn't be in a rush to go back. Went for dining week but all 3 of us ended up ordering off the regular menu. Best part about dinner was the waygu cheeseburger steam bun. The smokehouse bowl tasted like BBQ Fritos, I was expecting a very different flavor. The Diablo Bowl was very spicy as promised and warned by the server. The server did a good job as it seemed like they were the only one serving. As such getting refills on drinks and ordering took a long time. The main complaint is that for the price of the ramen bowls it came with very little in them. I was surprised at the little amount of noodles, or filler items in the bowl (sprouts, shrooms, veggies, etc).
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Pork Bun
SouthwoodTruck
Dinned here with friends over restaurant week. It is actually set up very nicely with two floors. The decor is nice. The appetizers and the main dishes were cooked perfectly. The main dish could have been a bit more plentiful. The desert was very simple, a bit more effort next time. The service was kind and polite, but very slow. It took very long time for everything, from drinks, to appetizers to main dishes. This has potential with a bit more effort, to become a great place. So speed up service, and definite add a bit more to your dishes.
After 2 years of comming this is my experience! I order the same thing every time and the flavor is always a little different! Portions have slightly decreased and the wait is long for fresh food, but over all a nice experience every time! Expect a different and unique experience everytime and that's what you will get. They sell Art from local artists on the walls! And steam buns are great!
Hoang Nguyen
I had dinner here with a few people. Seating on the floor with the entrance was terrible as there was a huge draft and blast of cold air whenever anyone came in or left.The servers were attentive when they were around. They must have been very busy as we didn't see them around very often. We waited at least 30 minutes for appetizers and maybe 20 more minutes for the entrees.The appetizers were better than the entrees. I had the shio ramen and the broth was very overpowering compared to everything else in the bowl.It wasn't a bad overall experience but I was expecting better.
Lynda N
Cool ambiance and friendly service. Madi was very attentive and made some good suggestions. House made bao buns were tasty but very small in size for $4 each.Unfortunately the ramen was a miss for me- I ordered the smokehouse bowl and although it had a very intense Smokey flavour, it was very salty and did not resemble ramen. The broth was pretty thick and resemble more of a gravy. The burnt brisket ends were tasty and the house made noodles were good.My partner got the Diablo bowl and it surely lived up to its hot warning. It was spicy without taking away from the flavour. Again, the broth here resembled more of a gravy. Maybe its the style here? But when I think of ramen, I look forward to a hearty soupy broth.
Sena Hunde
I’d dare to say they make the best Japanese fusion! The Mushroom Buns were super ?.The vibes and the bartender Mary was phenomenal! Try her Smoked Maple Manhattan.
Genevieve McCormack
As someone who’s lived in DC and NYC I had low expectations of Kasai. Let me tell you, this place blew me away. The noodles were definitely homemade and the broth was so flavorful. The staff were very friendly and I would recommend to anyone who loves ramen!
Kasai has the worst ramen our family has ever had. My dish tasted like American barbecue soup and contained squash, and the broth that accompanied the ground beef bowl was shockingly bland. We saw reviews that claimed the broth was bland but I would not have anticipated it being this bad. We threw out most of our dishes because no one in our family wanted to finish them. Pork buns were ok.
Recommended dishes: College Bowl
So they are closed on Mondays... Google and chow now says they're open and allowed me to order food. Site charged me for my food and at 8:12pm I looked completely dumb standing at the door wondering why the lights were off but it said my food was ready for pick up?? I doubt it's hard to change the hours posted on Google and these online order apps. I hope tomorrow I will see a credit to my account??
So this was a truly amazing experience, and to be lucky enough to have it in Syracuse, NY. This place is a gem; I ordered the shoyu ramen lunch special with a pork bun, and batch 39 by middle ages. So first off this ramen and everything else is hand made. The ramen had amazing flavor, and the meat was literally able to split by touching it with your chop sticks. The veggies inside were so fresh, and they paired so well with everything my only regret is I didn't get the big bowl. I also had the pork steam bun; which even though they had ghost sauce on them they weren't so hot you couldn't enjoy it. In fact it was the opposite it was amazing. To have steam buns in Syracuse, NY is such an amazing privilege. Usually this type of menu item is reserved for big cities, but we got lucky. The batch 39 IPA was smooth and refreshing and made with the hand made noodles from the shop. So why not it's the perfect pairing for your noodles. Long and short we're very lucky to have this good of a ramen shop, so let's show em some love.
Went down for a nice parent date night and had a good time. Local music was nice, we had ramin, spicy food was a bit overkill on the spiciness, you couldn't really taste the food, just burning, the fried octopus balls were a nice treat and the pickled Kim chi potatoes were the star of the night. And the wall art was dope too. If you plan on going, avoid the spicy ramin unless you like ingredients like "cobra venom" or "hell fire"
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Tonkotsu Ramen
I've eaten here three times. The food is good enough, but my third visit was an event...The third time, I ordered the diablo bowl, and my partner ordered Shio Ramen substituting the pork for shredded chicken. There was a mixup with those two bowls. The four people at our table all confirmed the mistake after my partner ate some of their bowl.My diablo bowl (red broth) was not spicy. Their shio bowl (yellow broth) had all of the spice. We compared both bowls to a second shio bowl served at our table to confirm.This caused my partner immense pain and startled a medical condition they have, forcing them to lose their voice for the rest of the night, but the kitchen blamed the server for the mistake, not the kitchen.Through a series of emails with the owner, the error was explained as being the server's (though, the server blamed the kitchen and drew us to his side of that argument—occuring during our dining experience). Iam still not quite convinced of it, as the color oddity of the spice in the yellow broth bowl (not the other yellow broth shio bowl, or the red broth bowl) didn't seem to match the three bowl discrepancy that my table observed. It doesn't really matter where the mistake happened, but it was handled badly when it happened. If it was the cooks and not the server, I'm upset about the blame being passed to a new staff member. If it was the server, I'm upset for being dragged into an argument about it.The food was replaced, but the dining experience was ruined that night. The owner in their emails explained that compensation was offered in the form of free drinks, but also told me that my table had refused them. Noone at my table heard such an offer, nor would we have refused the offer if it was explained as compensation for the ramen mishap. If it did happen, it was misrepresented as a question if we just wanted to buy more drinks, not explained as a comp offer.The mixup with the ramen (whether it was the server or the kitchen) and with the bartender left me with a long-enduring sense of unprofessional mistakes—hopefully rare ones, and a one-off case of bad luck. Maybe it was all a fluke, and I'm editing this after time enough to feel less hurt by it all, but it still was a very bad night.I understand that it was an honest mistake:But with the kind of medical scare that the diablo mixup caused, we were understandably quite unhappy.P.S. — There was no music the first two times I ate here, which suited me. The third time, there was a band playing some jazzy music. I was trying to ignore them and focus on my company, but it was disruptively loud in the small brick restaurant space.
Vegetarian options: The menu is annoyingly a QR code. The staff will give you a paper menu if you ask for one, but only one menu for the whole table, and there is no drink menu to hand out.When I attended, neither the menus nor the staff offer substitution suggestions for proteins or other items when an order asks that something be removed for dietary reasons. We did ask after a point. In truth, the meals are more customizable is obvious, so without making that known, the menu will put off a lot of people who do not eat meat.
Dietary restrictions: The menu is QR code, which is annoying. The staff will give you a paper menu if you ask for one, but only one menu for the whole table, and there is no drink menu to hand out.When I attended, neither the menus nor the staff offer substitution suggestions for proteins or other items when an order asks that something be removed for dietary reasons. We did ask after a point. In truth, the meals are more customizable is obvious, so without making that known, the menu will put off a lot of people who do not eat shellfish or meat.
We enjoyed the food and the atmosphere was great. Service was very slow. Overall very unimpressed with the waitresses. We had to ask for our drinks to be refilled. Kitchen was slow getting food out even though the restaurant wasn’t very busy at the start of our dinner.
Ordered from them online through DoorDash. Got a text saying the restaurant was closed but they still charged my card $60 for a $42 order. And I had to go through my bank to make dispute because they did not refund me after allowing me to place an order when the restaurant was closed (fix hours on google to accurately reflect when you guys are open). And please more Bok choy and broth with the ramen please.
I don't usually leave reviews for places. However, I would be doing a great disservice to the public if I left this experience unshared. This is to do with the food quality of the "Diablo ramen" and their resolution of the matter.This ramen was absolutely awful and among the saltiest things I've ever had in my life. It had no flavor. No taste. It is a foregone conclusion that it would fail the food quality guidelines miserably upon inspection because of the excessive salt content. The amount of salt in it made it simply inedible. This is not just my conclusion but the opinion of my three colleagues who were there with me. I've travelled across coasts in the U.S and internationally, and this is hands down the worst East Asian cuisine I've had in my life.Upon summoning the staff, I was told rudely that "we do not put additional salt in it". Implying that it is my problem and the issues are with my taste buds instead. What wrong could the so-called expert chefs do after all? All credit to them, they tried to fix it by putting hot water in it. That was unsuccessful. I eventually returned the ramen bowl to them, 80% of the food still in it, after trying my absolute best to eat it. The remainder of the evening was spent drinking cold water and trying to control my spike in blood pressure and uneasiness that came from having excess salt.When the time for payment came, the staff refused to remove the ramen from the receipt. Why? Because they say, there is a warning on the menu which states, "THIS BOWL BRINGS THE HEAT". It was bizarre to me when they said, "this bowl has been returned many times by other customers, so we cannot refund the amount". First of all, the issue with this ramen has nothing to do with the spice levels. It was pure excess salt. So it has no link at all with the warning. Second, I am Indian. I handle spice on a daily basis. It is laughable when my spice levels are attributed to be the problem. Third, the server's admission that the dish has been returned is bizarre because it indicates that the restaurant has been on constructive notice about the dangerous food quality issues pertaining to this dish. Finally, the plot twist? The server himself had recommended this dish to me at the beginning of our dining when I had asked, "what's a spicy ramen you would recommend?" He did not say one word pertaining to any warning/potential saltiness.Overall, extremely disappointing experience. Still reeling from my blood pressure spike. Equally horrendous resolution of the issue. It is a matter of time before the restaurant is flagged down by the food safety department.
I wouldn't be in a rush to go back. Went for dining week but all 3 of us ended up ordering off the regular menu. Best part about dinner was the waygu cheeseburger steam bun. The smokehouse bowl tasted like BBQ Fritos, I was expecting a very different flavor. The Diablo Bowl was very spicy as promised and warned by the server. The server did a good job as it seemed like they were the only one serving. As such getting refills on drinks and ordering took a long time. The main complaint is that for the price of the ramen bowls it came with very little in them. I was surprised at the little amount of noodles, or filler items in the bowl (sprouts, shrooms, veggies, etc).
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Pork Bun
Dinned here with friends over restaurant week. It is actually set up very nicely with two floors. The decor is nice. The appetizers and the main dishes were cooked perfectly. The main dish could have been a bit more plentiful. The desert was very simple, a bit more effort next time. The service was kind and polite, but very slow. It took very long time for everything, from drinks, to appetizers to main dishes. This has potential with a bit more effort, to become a great place. So speed up service, and definite add a bit more to your dishes.
Restaurantji Recommends
After 2 years of comming this is my experience! I order the same thing every time and the flavor is always a little different! Portions have slightly decreased and the wait is long for fresh food, but over all a nice experience every time! Expect a different and unique experience everytime and that's what you will get. They sell Art from local artists on the walls! And steam buns are great!
I had dinner here with a few people. Seating on the floor with the entrance was terrible as there was a huge draft and blast of cold air whenever anyone came in or left.The servers were attentive when they were around. They must have been very busy as we didn't see them around very often. We waited at least 30 minutes for appetizers and maybe 20 more minutes for the entrees.The appetizers were better than the entrees. I had the shio ramen and the broth was very overpowering compared to everything else in the bowl.It wasn't a bad overall experience but I was expecting better.
Cool ambiance and friendly service. Madi was very attentive and made some good suggestions. House made bao buns were tasty but very small in size for $4 each.Unfortunately the ramen was a miss for me- I ordered the smokehouse bowl and although it had a very intense Smokey flavour, it was very salty and did not resemble ramen. The broth was pretty thick and resemble more of a gravy. The burnt brisket ends were tasty and the house made noodles were good.My partner got the Diablo bowl and it surely lived up to its hot warning. It was spicy without taking away from the flavour. Again, the broth here resembled more of a gravy. Maybe its the style here? But when I think of ramen, I look forward to a hearty soupy broth.
I’d dare to say they make the best Japanese fusion! The Mushroom Buns were super ?.The vibes and the bartender Mary was phenomenal! Try her Smoked Maple Manhattan.
As someone who’s lived in DC and NYC I had low expectations of Kasai. Let me tell you, this place blew me away. The noodles were definitely homemade and the broth was so flavorful. The staff were very friendly and I would recommend to anyone who loves ramen!
Vegetarian options: Vegetarian ramen
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