Tabata
“The only problem is the location is small and will get packed at lunch so plan accordingly.”
“It is made of coconut milk and has a delicious, perfectly-marinated soft boiled egg.”
“I recommend the Sutamina Ramen (a bit spicy, fyi), Gyoza and Crispy Tofu!”
Tabata
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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For starters we got an order of their sweet potato tempura, which was made with purple sweet potato. It was nice and piping hot, fresh from the fryer, and came with a slightly tangy daikon dipping sauce.
I ordered the Lava Men, and the spiciness was a pleasant surprise because I'd never had ramen that spicy (without having to put in chili powder/oil myself). As expected of a Burmese-run restaurant 🙂 When I was placing my order, the waitress asked if I wanted to tone down the heat, and I said no. The burn was decent but tolerable. I'd rate the spiciness level a 6/10 and I have pretty good tolerance.
Wasn't a huge fan of their soft-boiled egg; while I liked the runniness of the yolk, the egg itself had a very slight soapy/chemically taste. Loved the pork – it was tender and fatty and everything I could ask of ramen pork. I had also gotten a small curry rice on the side which was decent, but I regretted ordering it because the appetizer + ramen was enough to fill me up. There were some items posted on the walls that weren't in their menus (I think), so be on the look out for those.
The inside is not very large, as soon as you walk in, there is a counter seating to the right, where you can see the kitchen, and just a few small table seating to the left. I always like those restaurants that let customers to look into the kitchen. I think that makes them more honest and also, they have to keep it rather clean. There is more table seating at the back, after you pass the counter, with larger tables. Even with all the available seating, it is not very big, and the space is narrow from front to the back. I believe there was not a single Japanese staff here, which is always a bit disappointing at a Japanese restaurant.
We started off with hot Green Tea and our waitress told us that the tea is $2 each. Some Japanese restaurants offers green tea for free, so it is good to be warned that the green tea is not free here. Their food is pretty good, tasty and reasonably priced.
At the end of our meal, we finished our food, content with everything, other than service, or lack of. We had to ask for refill on water and hot tea a few times, and also for the bill. No one really came to check on us while we were there.
Then, when we tried to pay with credit card, we were told "our credit card machine is broken today, can you pay (with) cash?" We were so shocked to hear this, I mean, if they know that their credit card machine is broken, shouldn't they inform their customers when they come in, so that they are prepare at the end of the meal??? We don't really carry cash around, so we didn't have enough cash to pay for the lunch. The waitress simply told us to go an ATM machine. And it happens that it was one of the freezing cold day… My husband had to walk in a cold for like 10 min one way to get cash from our bank ATM, which was not pleasant. While I was waiting for him to come back, another customer came in and placed a to-go order. As she waited for her food, the same waitress brought her a bill. When the lady handed her a credit card, once again, the waitress told her about their credit card problem and that she needs to pay in cash. The lady was of course shocked, told the waitress "ok" and left, and never came back. She probably didn't want to bother going to find an ATM and walk all the way back in the cold.
Very disappointed with the service. Food is still good but not sure if it is worth the negative feeling you are left with after the meal, Read my full review of the restaurant and food on my food blog, foodlovergirl.
Hidden spot near Port Authority. Their service is fast and there is rarely a wait. My favorites to get are the Tan Tan Men and agedashi tofu. The ramen has a large heaping of noodles so I always leave stuffed.
This place isnt bad at all! I very much enjoyed how we were the first at around 6:30pm then ofcourse after few minutes it started to get crowded!
Must try is their fried tofu!
Ramen was good too.. but enjoyed the Fried Tofu much more!!
BTW… They DO NOT take AMEX!
Came here twice with the coworkers for Friday lunches. Their ramen come in decent size bowls and are very flavorful. A tad bit saltier than my usual ramen place on the Upper East Size though.
I love their Fried Octopus! Good starter before the steaming Ramen!
Please note, the restaurant can get crowded and really warm during business lunch hours.
My go-to ramen place! I've never had to wait for a table here and the ramens come out really fast.
For appetizers, the gyozas are really good because of the paired dipping sauce. I also liked the agedashi tofu.
I've tried most of the ramens on the menu and tonkatsu is still my favorite (to be honest, I'm not a big fan of the coconut milk tabata ramen). The prices are great ($10-12) and almost every order comes with a flavored egg!
I highly recommend the mini gyu-don bowl add-on – it's only $5 and delicious. Make sure to sprinkle the red chili flakes mix condiment they have on the table. It makes all the difference!
And if you're in the mood for dessert, definitely try the ginger ice cream. It's got candied ginger bits and you get 2 scoops for just $3.
Come here for great value, fast service and best of all, no lines.
Total Yum. Delicious Ramen. Well priced. Accommodates vegetarians who don't eat fish – which is not always the case with authentic ramen. Not listed on their online menu, but I ordered a ramen with a mushroom based broth with vegetables. It was complete umami goodness.
Since I was only here once and on a Saturday I give 4 stars, rumor is it can be pretty packed on weekdays, especially lunch time. On my visit there were a number of open tables, but not empty. The other reason for 4 stars, they were out of vegetable dumplings. I substituted with vegetable spring rolls – fresher than I have had before. Finally, the music was really loud (and mostly power ballads!).
My friend and I went to Tabata on a Sunday evening. We were seated immediately; the restaurant wasn't packed but it wasn't empty, either. The place is pretty dive-y.
The people who work at Tabata are SO nice. Everyone greets you on your way in and says goodbye on the way out. We really liked our server and everyone else who stopped by our table for one reason or another. You could tell that they really cared about providing good service.
We ordered two appetizers to split and then we each ordered our own entree.
APPETIZERS:
SPICY CHICKEN WINGS ($6): 4 relatively large wings. Not great but not bad either. The chicken itself is good although a little oily. The spicy sauce definitely had a kick to it. The outside of the wings were crispy.
GYOZA ($6): 6 pieces of "pork dumplings". Was very confused/disappointed by these. I'm pretty sure we ended up with some sort of veggie dumpling because the inside was green. Not sure what exactly happened there.
ENTREES:
TONKOTSU RAMEN ($10.50): My friend ordered the tonkotsu ramen which had two large pieces of pork, sprouts, scallions, and an egg. The broth was plain; this was a simple ramen dish. Not outstanding but not bad either. Just normal, standard ramen.
TAN TAN RAMEN ($10.50): I ordered the tan tan ramen, which I really enjoyed. Another simple dish. I added an egg to it. It came with ground pork. I liked this soup.
Overall, for the PRICE, I think that this is a great value. Also, they will let you take the ramen you don't eat to go, unlike Ippudo, which made me super happy. Our total bill came to under $40. Tabata is a good restaurant for a solid meal that will not blow you out of the water, but will definitely leave you feeling full and satisfied – and, as an added bonus, you probably won't max out your credit card here. I would come back.