Chicken Karaage Don
Tenka Ramen

Tenka Ramen

1404 W Lake St, 55408, Minneapolis, United States

Ramen • Asian • Seafood • Japanese


"Tenka 's shoyu ramen is consistently mediocre. The best thing in the bowl is the pork belly. The best thing in the bowl SHOULD be the broth! A properly made shoyu broth is very VERY tasty and addictive as hell. The shoyu broth at Tenka is ... nothing. The only thing I could taste in the broth today was the char from the pork belly. The broth doesn 't bring any of it 's own flavor to the party. It seems thin to me as well. It lacks body. Is there any gelatin from bones in this broth? None I could detect. The noodles weren 't all that terrific either. They tasted cheap to me. I 've had much better.Obento-ya in SE Minneapolis (now closed) had outstanding shoyu ramen and serves as my point of reference. Nothing else in the Twin Cities I 've found so far comes even remotely close. (I 've also had decent shoyu ramen in New York City.)Even the karaage was off today. The breading was mostly mushy and the flavor was unpleasant in a chemical sort of way.She asked what I wanted to drink and I said just water and ended up getting charged for a plastic bottle of Aquafina. That behavior may or may not be standard practice in Asia but here in Minnesota we expect complimentary tap water upon request. At bare minimum we need to be informed complimentary tap water is not available so that we can evaluate our options.I very much wanted to like this place so I 've been here probably twice a year since they opened. I 've given them lots of chances. I 'll give them credit for being consistent. Consistently mediocre that is.Given the 4.5 stars this place is pulling it 's clear many of us in town don 't have quality points of reference when it comes to ramen. Until and unless a quality point of reference comes along I recommend you all skip this place entirely and go get yourself a nice hot bowl of pho or mi instead.I 'm done with Tenka Ramen. I will not return."