One of my favorite places in the area. Atmosphere is cool yet cozy, food is delicious, and the staff are awesome. Highly, highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spicy Red Curry Ramen, Tater Tot Okonomiyaki, Beef Noodle Soup, Asian Sticky Wings
Zachary Belton
The food is actually good but when I found out it’s 2800-4000mg of sodium, I stopped eating it. That’s bad. Good food though for the ramen lovers
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Credible Critic
We liked their ramen. Both Tonkatsu and Kimchi ramen were good. But not great.
We never had shredded pork with ramen before and would prefer to have pork belly instead. The pork belly is an add-on a la cart item. Who would dream of this idea?
The downside and perhaps the breakpoint was the lack of slow cooked eggs to go with the ramen. They cited that the egg shortage forced them to forgo eggs in the ramen with no attempt to compensate, just a plain "sorry". Without eggs, they still charged the same price for each bowl.
May be this joint has become too famous for its own good....
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Shekie
food was great, worth the wait and our server bella was supa nice 🙏🙏
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
RJ Wallace
I've been to Alkaline twice now --- the first time was for a meet and greet I scheduled for a group that I run. I met some great people for a brainstorming session and forgot to leave a good word...but Alkaline is a great restaurant with a really cool atmosphere that is especially appealing if you are into anime and/or manga. There is artwork that reminds me of some of the more traditional Japanese restaurants that I've been to, but also things from Fullmetal Alchemist, among other things. To add, the staff is friendly and gave some good info when we asked a couple of questions about the food we were curious about.
The ramen was very tasty, and the bowls are rather large (or so I feel). I got the Tonkotsu Ramen and my partner got the Smokehouse Ramen. We tried each other's dishes and liked everything, but what I REALLY wanna talk about is the "Miso Butter Cake"...I have not encountered such a cake at the restaurants I've been to before. If someone was serving it, I was not aware...but the Miso Butter Cake at Alkaline is seriously one of THE best cakes I have EVER had. I STRONGLY recommend it, especially with the scoop of ice cream. The cake is warm and melts in the mouth, but it's also buttery and creamy, and the pecans and the flaky crust of the cake (near the back of the cake) --- all of those things go so well together, in my opinion. It was deceptively filling as well, but it could be because me and my partner already had shared an appetizer and had our own large bowls of ramen, prior to tackling the cake. So, sharing the cake was perfect for us.
If you try nothing else, definitely try the Miso Butter Cake!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Carbo Kuo (BYVoid)
The ramen is not delicious and the service attitude is particularly bad. The store owner directly told me that there were no eggs and would not provide any replacement or compensation because "the noodles themselves contain eggs, and the price has also increased." That's outrageous.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 1
Jacqueline Meneses
Our go-to ramen place. The ramen has rich broth that bursts with umami flavours. Yep, too irresistible especially on cold, rainy days. We highly recommend Spicy Red Curry Ramen and Tonkotsu Ramen.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Tangi Acquay
Highly recommend! Atmosphere a total vibe, great food, and excellent service. Will be back, and next time with a friend. Loved the eclectic music playlist a little for everyone. My visit was 2/23/2025 ordered the miso ramen with rice noodles and veggies. 10/10
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
christian
I was really excited to try this ramen, but unfortunately, it ended up being a huge letdown. First off, the flavor—or lack thereof—was the most disappointing part. The broth tasted like it had no seasoning at all, with almost a watery, bland quality that made it hard to enjoy. Even after adding extra seasonings and spices, it barely improved, leaving me with a tasteless and unsatisfying bowl.
To make matters worse, the temperature was off. It wasn’t even hot, just lukewarm at best, which is a huge deal when you're expecting a comforting, steamy bowl of ramen. The noodles themselves were soft and mushy, not the firm, chewy texture you typically get with fresh ramen.
What really sealed the deal for me was that it felt like something straight out of a pre-packaged meal. It lacked any depth or richness, and nothing about it screamed "fresh" or "authentic." It was more like a quick, mediocre convenience food than the satisfying, flavorful dish I was hoping for. Overall, this was a big disappointment and not something I would recommend to anyone looking for a genuine ramen experience to not come here.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 2
Mary Stackhouse
This is the best ramen in Norfolk. I always get the same thing - I love it so much. It’s the spicy red curry ramen. Very spicy and so much flavor. I ordered an extra sous vide egg in mine. My husband got the kimchi ramen this time. It’s really good. They have a good happy hour too. We’ll be back!
Starting out strong with delicious wings but the rest left something to be desired. The beef ramen was extremely underwhelming, nothing special. The broth had zero spice and tasted like it was poured straight from a box. The service was slowwwww. Ordered a round of drinks before our entrees came out, we ate, and still no drink. When we cancelled the drink order and asked for the bill, the server did just about every other task before returning (compared to the table next to Us who asked, received, paid and left promptly). There are better places to go to, don’t waste your time
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 3
Anthony Thomas
What a great bite to eat. Have not had a bowl this good since I lived in Tacoma!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Diane T
Service was really good but food was not up to par. We got the triple garlic and beef ramen but the broth for both were not very flavorful. We also got the green bean salad and it was good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Green Bean Salad
Chloe
This place has the best ramen and an even better atmosphere!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Wings
TAEIL TIME
The place has a nice atmosphere and wonderful service! Price wise spent about $40. The food on the other hand is different if you want a traditional ramen this is not the place for you, it’s more fusion food. The wings were crispy and definitely tangy but had an off taste to them. As for the ramen the beef had more of a Smokey flavor which I felt didn’t suite the broth, wasn’t spicy in the slightest had to ask the waiter if they gave me the wrong thing. Overall the food is pretty but not good!
One of my favorite places in the area. Atmosphere is cool yet cozy, food is delicious, and the staff are awesome. Highly, highly recommend.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spicy Red Curry Ramen, Tater Tot Okonomiyaki, Beef Noodle Soup, Asian Sticky Wings
The food is actually good but when I found out it’s 2800-4000mg of sodium, I stopped eating it. That’s bad. Good food though for the ramen lovers
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
We liked their ramen. Both Tonkatsu and Kimchi ramen were good. But not great.
We never had shredded pork with ramen before and would prefer to have pork belly instead. The pork belly is an add-on a la cart item. Who would dream of this idea?
The downside and perhaps the breakpoint was the lack of slow cooked eggs to go with the ramen. They cited that the egg shortage forced them to forgo eggs in the ramen with no attempt to compensate, just a plain "sorry". Without eggs, they still charged the same price for each bowl.
May be this joint has become too famous for its own good....
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
food was great, worth the wait and our server bella was supa nice 🙏🙏
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I've been to Alkaline twice now --- the first time was for a meet and greet I scheduled for a group that I run. I met some great people for a brainstorming session and forgot to leave a good word...but Alkaline is a great restaurant with a really cool atmosphere that is especially appealing if you are into anime and/or manga. There is artwork that reminds me of some of the more traditional Japanese restaurants that I've been to, but also things from Fullmetal Alchemist, among other things. To add, the staff is friendly and gave some good info when we asked a couple of questions about the food we were curious about.
The ramen was very tasty, and the bowls are rather large (or so I feel). I got the Tonkotsu Ramen and my partner got the Smokehouse Ramen. We tried each other's dishes and liked everything, but what I REALLY wanna talk about is the "Miso Butter Cake"...I have not encountered such a cake at the restaurants I've been to before. If someone was serving it, I was not aware...but the Miso Butter Cake at Alkaline is seriously one of THE best cakes I have EVER had. I STRONGLY recommend it, especially with the scoop of ice cream. The cake is warm and melts in the mouth, but it's also buttery and creamy, and the pecans and the flaky crust of the cake (near the back of the cake) --- all of those things go so well together, in my opinion. It was deceptively filling as well, but it could be because me and my partner already had shared an appetizer and had our own large bowls of ramen, prior to tackling the cake. So, sharing the cake was perfect for us.
If you try nothing else, definitely try the Miso Butter Cake!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The ramen is not delicious and the service attitude is particularly bad. The store owner directly told me that there were no eggs and would not provide any replacement or compensation because "the noodles themselves contain eggs, and the price has also increased." That's outrageous.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 2
Service: 1
Our go-to ramen place. The ramen has rich broth that bursts with umami flavours. Yep, too irresistible especially on cold, rainy days. We highly recommend Spicy Red Curry Ramen and Tonkotsu Ramen.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Highly recommend! Atmosphere a total vibe, great food, and excellent service. Will be back, and next time with a friend. Loved the eclectic music playlist a little for everyone. My visit was 2/23/2025 ordered the miso ramen with rice noodles and veggies. 10/10
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I was really excited to try this ramen, but unfortunately, it ended up being a huge letdown. First off, the flavor—or lack thereof—was the most disappointing part. The broth tasted like it had no seasoning at all, with almost a watery, bland quality that made it hard to enjoy. Even after adding extra seasonings and spices, it barely improved, leaving me with a tasteless and unsatisfying bowl.
To make matters worse, the temperature was off. It wasn’t even hot, just lukewarm at best, which is a huge deal when you're expecting a comforting, steamy bowl of ramen. The noodles themselves were soft and mushy, not the firm, chewy texture you typically get with fresh ramen.
What really sealed the deal for me was that it felt like something straight out of a pre-packaged meal. It lacked any depth or richness, and nothing about it screamed "fresh" or "authentic." It was more like a quick, mediocre convenience food than the satisfying, flavorful dish I was hoping for. Overall, this was a big disappointment and not something I would recommend to anyone looking for a genuine ramen experience to not come here.
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 2
This is the best ramen in Norfolk. I always get the same thing - I love it so much. It’s the spicy red curry ramen. Very spicy and so much flavor. I ordered an extra sous vide egg in mine. My husband got the kimchi ramen this time. It’s really good. They have a good happy hour too. We’ll be back!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Restaurantji Recommends
Starting out strong with delicious wings but the rest left something to be desired. The beef ramen was extremely underwhelming, nothing special. The broth had zero spice and tasted like it was poured straight from a box. The service was slowwwww. Ordered a round of drinks before our entrees came out, we ate, and still no drink. When we cancelled the drink order and asked for the bill, the server did just about every other task before returning (compared to the table next to
Us who asked, received, paid and left promptly). There are better places to go to, don’t waste your time
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 2
Service: 3
What a great bite to eat. Have not had a bowl this good since I lived in Tacoma!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Service was really good but food was not up to par. We got the triple garlic and beef ramen but the broth for both were not very flavorful. We also got the green bean salad and it was good.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 3
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Green Bean Salad
This place has the best ramen and an even better atmosphere!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Wings
The place has a nice atmosphere and wonderful service! Price wise spent about $40. The food on the other hand is different if you want a traditional ramen this is not the place for you, it’s more fusion food. The wings were crispy and definitely tangy but had an off taste to them. As for the ramen the beef had more of a Smokey flavor which I felt didn’t suite the broth, wasn’t spicy in the slightest had to ask the waiter if they gave me the wrong thing. Overall the food is pretty but not good!
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