I have never been to Gaku where I haven't waited at least 45 minutes from the time I put my order in to when the food arrives. I'm writing this after having waited over an hour for food. The food itself is good, but not so good as to be worth these wait times.
Update - 12/15/24:
I'm downgrading my review. I've eaten at Gaku twice in the past month, each time ordering Miso, with the curly style noodles adding Kadema. In the time since I first reviewed Gaku, something has changed about the way they are preparing the noodles themselves: They seem to be overcooked, and when eaten, the noodle is doughy, mushing together and losing consistency in the mouth. Normally the noodles have a distinct bounce in the chew that makes them enjoyable to eat. No longer. During my second to last visit the bartender noticed that I had not touched my extra noodles and asked what was wrong. I told him about the problem with the texture, and I asked him to touch the uneaten noodles to see what I meant. The bartender immediately remarked that he understood what I meant, agreed that the noodles should not be that way, and refunded me for the additional noodles. I couldn't be happier with this response, but my expectation was that this would lead to some quality control changes by the next time I ate at Gaku. I returned maybe a week or two ago and got the same order, but I had the same experience, and this time I explicitly sent the Kadema side back.
What sucks so much about this is that Gaku has shortened the time between ordering and receiving of food, but I believe that they are precooking the noodles to do so, which results in a downgrade to the food - the one saving grace of the my experience during the first iteration of my review.
It makes me cry every time I think about Onsen Ramen in Essex closing down, because they had truly nailed the food quality and time-to-service. Currently there doesn't seem to be any competitor delivering a decent ramen experience in or around Burlington, excepting Asiana Noodle House when they are running a seasonal dish.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 4
Brendan
Worst ramen I've had ever, gas station will do you better. Waste of $20 but the waiter wasn't bad.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
Elizabeth M
There's a reason this place has such horrible reviews. Went on a Tuesday afternoon. Bartender would say a beer on tap, go to pour it and not know it was kicked. They were out of 3 different beers and a cocktail. Also out of eggs (??) which is a huge part of ramen. And instead of the server/maybe manager going out to get eggs, she was taking shots with people at the bar. Save your time and money, ton of better restaurants elsewhere.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
silva sundberg
Yesss Emma our server was amazing
Vegetarian options: A lot
Dietary restrictions: Yes
Parking: A lot
Kid-friendliness: Yep
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Fried Rice
David Hennessey
Our server Emma was wonderful!!
Parking: So easy
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Shoyu Ramen
Michelle Carnella
I love this place! The pork ramen is so flavorful, and the staff really nice. The green tea is delicious. They can accommodate large group walk-ins as well. A+
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Tonkotsu Ramen
Bolefa Gaming
The food and atmosphere were great but the employee Maggie misunderstands the VT liquor laws. The laws state: It is illegal to sell alcohol to anyone who is visibly intoxicated or already intoxicated. However, the employee refuses to sell more than 1 bottle of wine at a table of two without taking into consideration the state of the people at the table.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 2
Melissa
Delicious ramen, good service! Gyoza were absolutely amazing 🤩
I ate here once and returned the food. I ordered a bowl to-go and got a container of clear broth with one tiny piece of chicken floating in it, plus some cheap noodles. They also didnt give me a container big enough to mix the two in to eat it! I asked for one and they said they were out. When I returned the food, the manager was very upset with me. I have a friend who worked here and said the owners are not local and dont treat their staff well. This place isnt good. Dont be fooled by the location and mainstream anime aesthetic. Go to Ichiban Ramen on north winooski ave instead!
My green salad was great. However my ramen came out cold and noodles were overcooked. My server was great and put the order back in but the soup was still moderately cold and the flavor of the miso ramen was off. Not sure why this place keeps missing the mark but I will not be coming back. Low rating because their featured dish is really not good...
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
Lino “Linofelino”
This food is the WORSE ramen I had ever had. Water with salt is what I had for $20 I was very very hungry that’s why I eat some of it. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE!!!
Camille Laverdure
The ramen was amazing, I took the one with pork. I passed with my friend on our trip to Burlington, it is definitely on the pricier side tho so keep that in mind!
Went to Burlington in hopes of going to a ramen place that must’ve closed post covid. Came in here based off reviews. Waitress was awesome but so understaffed. Empty were left with food, while there was a long line. Waited to sit down to be extremely disappointed in the ramen. I live in the Boston area so I’m spoiled but the ramen tasted bad and the protein servings was pathetic. 2 very small shaved pieces of meat, I was rattled. You’re better off buying instant ramen at the store than waste your money here.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Coco Yamada
Good Atmosphere and prices but ramen took 50 minutes to come out, chopsticks were too thick for ramen so it was hard to eat, and the noodles were clustered together and undercooked.
I have never been to Gaku where I haven't waited at least 45 minutes from the time I put my order in to when the food arrives. I'm writing this after having waited over an hour for food. The food itself is good, but not so good as to be worth these wait times.
Update - 12/15/24:
I'm downgrading my review. I've eaten at Gaku twice in the past month, each time ordering Miso, with the curly style noodles adding Kadema. In the time since I first reviewed Gaku, something has changed about the way they are preparing the noodles themselves: They seem to be overcooked, and when eaten, the noodle is doughy, mushing together and losing consistency in the mouth. Normally the noodles have a distinct bounce in the chew that makes them enjoyable to eat. No longer. During my second to last visit the bartender noticed that I had not touched my extra noodles and asked what was wrong. I told him about the problem with the texture, and I asked him to touch the uneaten noodles to see what I meant. The bartender immediately remarked that he understood what I meant, agreed that the noodles should not be that way, and refunded me for the additional noodles. I couldn't be happier with this response, but my expectation was that this would lead to some quality control changes by the next time I ate at Gaku. I returned maybe a week or two ago and got the same order, but I had the same experience, and this time I explicitly sent the Kadema side back.
What sucks so much about this is that Gaku has shortened the time between ordering and receiving of food, but I believe that they are precooking the noodles to do so, which results in a downgrade to the food - the one saving grace of the my experience during the first iteration of my review.
It makes me cry every time I think about Onsen Ramen in Essex closing down, because they had truly nailed the food quality and time-to-service. Currently there doesn't seem to be any competitor delivering a decent ramen experience in or around Burlington, excepting Asiana Noodle House when they are running a seasonal dish.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 1
Service: 4
Worst ramen I've had ever, gas station will do you better. Waste of $20 but the waiter wasn't bad.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 2
There's a reason this place has such horrible reviews. Went on a Tuesday afternoon. Bartender would say a beer on tap, go to pour it and not know it was kicked. They were out of 3 different beers and a cocktail. Also out of eggs (??) which is a huge part of ramen. And instead of the server/maybe manager going out to get eggs, she was taking shots with people at the bar. Save your time and money, ton of better restaurants elsewhere.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 3
Service: 2
Yesss Emma our server was amazing
Vegetarian options: A lot
Dietary restrictions: Yes
Parking: A lot
Kid-friendliness: Yep
Wheelchair accessibility: Yes
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Fried Rice
Our server Emma was wonderful!!
Parking: So easy
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Shoyu Ramen
I love this place! The pork ramen is so flavorful, and the staff really nice. The green tea is delicious. They can accommodate large group walk-ins as well. A+
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: Tonkotsu Ramen
The food and atmosphere were great but the employee Maggie misunderstands the VT liquor laws. The laws state: It is illegal to sell alcohol to anyone who is visibly intoxicated or already intoxicated. However, the employee refuses to sell more than 1 bottle of wine at a table of two without taking into consideration the state of the people at the table.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 2
Delicious ramen, good service! Gyoza were absolutely amazing 🤩
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Gyoza - Pork Dumplings 6 pcs, Chicken Shoyu Ramen
Ramen!!!!!!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
I ate here once and returned the food. I ordered a bowl to-go and got a container of clear broth with one tiny piece of chicken floating in it, plus some cheap noodles. They also didnt give me a container big enough to mix the two in to eat it! I asked for one and they said they were out. When I returned the food, the manager was very upset with me. I have a friend who worked here and said the owners are not local and dont treat their staff well.
This place isnt good. Dont be fooled by the location and mainstream anime aesthetic. Go to Ichiban Ramen on north winooski ave instead!
Atmosphere: 1
Food: 1
Service: 1
Restaurantji Recommends
My green salad was great. However my ramen came out cold and noodles were overcooked. My server was great and put the order back in but the soup was still moderately cold and the flavor of the miso ramen was off. Not sure why this place keeps missing the mark but I will not be coming back. Low rating because their featured dish is really not good...
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 2
Service: 4
This food is the WORSE ramen I had ever had. Water with salt is what I had for $20 I was very very hungry that’s why I eat some of it.
DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY HERE!!!
The ramen was amazing, I took the one with pork. I passed with my friend on our trip to Burlington, it is definitely on the pricier side tho so keep that in mind!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Cucumber Salad, Tonkotsu Ramen
Went to Burlington in hopes of going to a ramen place that must’ve closed post covid. Came in here based off reviews. Waitress was awesome but so understaffed. Empty were left with food, while there was a long line. Waited to sit down to be extremely disappointed in the ramen. I live in the Boston area so I’m spoiled but the ramen tasted bad and the protein servings was pathetic. 2 very small shaved pieces of meat, I was rattled. You’re better off buying instant ramen at the store than waste your money here.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Good Atmosphere and prices but ramen took 50 minutes to come out, chopsticks were too thick for ramen so it was hard to eat, and the noodles were clustered together and undercooked.
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