Sumo Ramen

I stopped at Sumo Ramen for a quick lunch. With plenty of great ramen places in Honolulu, I have fairly high expectations. While it was fairly quick, the noodles were over-​done so they were too soft and lacked the «chew» that you should get from good ramen. I had ordered the vegetable ramen and the flavor of everything was OK but nothing to write home about. The restaurant itself, from the floor to the tables, could have been cleaner.

Ramen place near the house, how bad could it be?! BAD.
I called first to get directions and the woman that answered the phone said she was too busy to give them and hung up. Bad sign right, but since I was on the way to airport with about 45 minutes to spare I decided to go. I really wanted some ramen before the flight.
The 3 star rating was another bad sign, but the last three reviews were all five stars! How can this be?!
I unknowingly ordered the bland miso ramen combo that came with gyoza that was only done on one side! Also, the mini shrimp fried rice that only had three small shrimp on top was almost flavorless. So disappointing but I should’ve known better than to trust an overall 3!
When I went to pay, the woman who was too busy to give directions could not figure out how to get my card to work on the machine, asking the cook three times to come over to help. (Maybe this is what she was trying to figure out for a previous customer when I called earlier). This took about 10 minutes and I ended up being late to the airport.

My first time and last time ever going here. My mother, my daughter walked in with me and all the employees were having their lunch. I insisted that they take their time because we hadn’t decided quite yet. They all three sat there in silence and stared at us, no greeting, nothing. They all got up and dragged their feet to get back to work. Before we were ready to order the girl who returned to the register asked us rudely,“are you ready yet?”. So we ordered our food, with my money in hand I leaned forward to read the bottom of the menu behind her and she snatched the bill from my hand and tossed it on top the register. After we ordered we sat and waited for our to-​go bag. When our food was ready she walked over to our table and dumped our bag in front of us without saying another word.
When we got home I noticed my katsu curry combo had very small portions, way less than the picture in the menu. I felt like we didn’t get anything close to what we paid for.
I thought the service was terrible, so rude and unprofessional, I will never return or tell anyone to eat here.

They did it again! I love the place and hardworking people. Their noodles are good even the combo deals!

Over priced, super greasy and def not worth going too. There are so many ramen places that are a lot better Ramen ya and daichi ramen. Go there.

Best to call ahead and order because the wait for take-​out can be a little long. Friendly staff, but small place with few tables and not much room to stand and wait for your order. Best to wait outside!

I have come in here a number of times and not checked in. What I’ve realized is that, while English may not be their first language, they actually speak quite well. The problem is they don’t speak loudly, it’s usually something half mumbled, it is broken don’t get me wrong. But there isn’t many people in Hawaii who speak perfect, perfect English… come on pidgin is considered broken English although it is an actual language Creole English. Ok I digress… Anyways I’ve tried their fried chicken before, didn’t care for it. I have had their mochiko chicken curry, their curry is tasty but I am not one for mochiko chicken. I am a simple girl I suppose… I do enjoy their cold udon and/​or combo. It is simple, soothing, and yet delicious. I’ve sat in there nearly every time I’ve gone in. Once around lunch, and twice during dinner. I found them efficient in giving water right away. They also offer option of fork if you’re not one to use chopsticks. I use chopsticks but some of my friends do not. I haven’t tried everything on their menu but I am willing to try more. I do still prefer Curry House and their curry over Sumo Ramen but there is still more to try.

Quick, but the portions were small. They were good to our kids (which was a plus)!

Never EVER going there again, you guys suck, suck, and lazy ASS fuckers. It happen twice, made a phone order three hours before pick up. When I went to pick up my phone order they had no order for me. At least they dropped everything and made my order. I figured maybe the paper just got misplaced. few weeks later i made another phone order FOUR hours before pick up. when i reach there, again, my order was not ready, The freakin cooks was eating. they told my five minutes. FIVE MINUTES, I called in the order four freakin hours before pick up and yet I still had to wait, and not ever a sorry!!! what the fuck is that. I am calling the better business too. I also calling the Corporate office to report you fuckers for the bad service. Two times you screwed up. TWO times to many.

I really wanted to like this meal but was left feeling kind of disappointed. I had been craving this place all week, and after salivating at their menu pictures, I ordered the char siu ramen combo set for take out.
When I got home, I discovered that the 4 pieces of gyoza had been badly burnt (see pictures) to the point that I had to peel each one apart and throw away the wrapper (my favorite part). I couldn’t even salvage some parts of the wrapper because there were little burnt specks all over the gyoza.
Also the ramen portion was pretty small and only included one slice of char siu and one slice of kamaboko. The picture on their menu in the store made me think that I’d be getting more, so that’s probably why I was disappointed with the portion. Broth and noodles tasted good though.
Really the saving grace of this meal was the fried rice. It was a nice portion and tasted really good with the pieces of pork, egg, and kamaboko.
Overall though, for a $ 10 meal, I had been expecting better — I mean, at least give me gyoza that I could actually eat and have a chance to enjoy.

This is my go to ramen spot whenever I’m feeling under the weather and don’t wanna drive too far. It’s only a 5 minute drive away from home so it’s really convenient to go here for ramen cravings. It’s located in between subway and starbucks. I choose to always take out and enjoy my meal at home since this spot is too hot to eat at especially during the summer. Somehow the sun shines directly in the store on most of the seats inside so I probably would be sweating double from eating ramen and soaking in the sun. Even waiting for the food can get super hot in there. That’s why its best to always call in your order!
Service is quick and prompt whenever I go there to pick up my phone take out orders. Although they do offer rice plates and curry, I usually go there for their ramen combos. My recent visit I got the spicy seafood ramen with fried rice and gyoza for the combo and added a side order of chicken wings. All filing and satisfying! I actually ate it in 2 sittings since it was a little much for me. Prices are reasonable and those combos are at least $ 10. So you get a lot for what you pay for.

My go to place when I don’t feel like driving far since I only live less than 5 minutes away. Haven’t dined in in a long while but always managed to do take-​out which is a quick process.
Usually when I dine in, I would order the ramen which are pretty good to me. But since I’ve been doing takeout, I’ve been ordering the curry plates which are just as good! GYOZA IS ALWAYS A MUST!
Only giving a 4 stars is because though takeout is quick and always ready and hot, when I call in, everytime, they never ask for my name, number, or time of pick up. Luckily I live close and I order during non-​peak hours so my order is usually the only one sitting there. Another thing is that I noticed people who are waiting for their takeout sit in the dining area where potential dine-​in customers could eat. I mean, yeah it’s hot to sit outside but if there are customers wanting to dine-​in, ask takeout customers to move! Or customers, be considerate and move if you see people wanting to dine-​in! Don’t be rude!

We were in Kamehameha Shopping Center, and we both wanted udon or curry ramen, so we decided to stop by here.
The service is bad. When we entered the restaurant, the lady at the cash register motioned to us to sit down. We didn’t know what she meant, so we kept standing there. Finally she yelled out, «YOU CAN SIT AT THAT TABLE!» So anyway, we obeyed her and sat down.
I went for the curry udon. Or at least, it WAS curry udon under the pounds and pounds of bean sprouts LADEN on there. I know they’re healthy, but c’mon! So anyway, I ended up having to pick out most of them and place them to the side. And the curry udon itself? The curry was okay, definitely not bad. And the udon noodles IN the curry were exactly what I had wanted. Unfortunately, there were still «swimmer» bean sprouts floating around in the soup, which ruined the dish.
Why the 2 stars instead of 1? For one thing, as aforementioned, the curry wasn’t bad. And the udon noodles were exactly the way it should be. What ruined it for me, like said before was the rude cashier and the excessive amount of sprouts.

This location sucks. Been to both the pearl Kai and the ward locations and never get this bad of a service. They are a full house. There are people sitting outside waiting for a table to open yet they let people sit at tables while they are waiting for their takeout orders.

Must do a new review, since its new ownership for over three years.
Still can’t give you five stars though, even though I consider him to be a great friend and former coworker. They are a hard working couple working side by side. Their prices remain reasonable and understandably more expensive than since inception with rising costs of materials…
Only because they lacked some crucial ingredients in my cold noodle!!! No wakame and menma? ;(It was seriously lacking toppings. Also one bite of stew meat was kind of really tough. But man their curry and mochiko are yummy. Can’t beat their gyoza.

After reading Honolulu Unilocaler Florence K’s review, I decided this place is definitely worth a try. You get a lot of bang for the buck here. I ordered their chicken katsu curry combo which came with chicken katsu curry rice, ramen soup and 4 pieces of gyozas all for under $ 10. You can’t go wrong for that price. I went there about 1 pm and it was still quite busy there. I did manage to find a place to sit and was served my meal in about 5 mins. Their chicken katsu curry wasn’t bad. There is some tastier curries out there, but nothing to complain about here. I was surprised that I got such a big piece of pork on top of the ramen. It too passed the taste test. The gyozas were bigger than I expected and it was tasty too. Overall, I was quite satisfied with the meal. For those who want a quick fix of curry, ramen and gzoya, this is the perfect place for that.

Let’s be honest.
Sumo Ramen doesn’t serve the BEST ramen. They don’t serve the BEST curry. They don’t even serve the BEST gyoza.
So why the 5 stars?!
Because I can’t get a plate of curry with my choice of protein (beef, mochiko chicken, chicken katsu, fried oyster, shrimp tempura, etc.), a bowl of ramen and 4 pieces of gyoza for less than $ 10 from anywhere else!
Yup, here at Sumo Ramen at Kamehameha Shopping Center, you can be super full from a $ 10 meal if you can eat, or you can make 2 meals with $ 10 if you are like me and don’t eat a lot at once. Although the curry isn’t as good as Curry House (the only Japanese curry place I could think of off the top of my head), the ramen isn’t as good as Yotteko-​Ya (my favorite ramen joint on island) and the gyoza isn’t as good as the one my dad makes (trust me, he stuffs that wrapper well), they serve a pretty decent version of each. The curry is warm and flavorful, and I love the mochiko chicken that they serve here. The ramen has a great texture and the broth isn’t bad. The gyoza are small but packs flavor. Honestly, you can’t really go wrong with the food they serve here unless you have high standards (which a poor student like me does not have!).
My boyfriend and I have been here a few times and each time we have been satisfied with the food, and never fail to be surprised by how much we receive for the amount we pay. Honestly, I’ve never finished my food when I order one of the curry/​ramen/​gyoza combos and I’m happy I have lunch the next day!
If you’re looking for a cheap, quick, and satisfying meal, Sumo Ramen definitely won’t disappoint!

Dear Sumo Ramen and Curry,
I love your mapo tofu ramen and gyoza.
I do not like any of your other ramens. I think the regular ramen tastes a bit like dishwater.
I enjoy your curries. Especially the spicy chicken wing and mochiko chicken.
I like that you are near my house. I like that you are open until 10pm and 9pm on Sundays. I also do not like these elements because you are far too easy to obtain and sometimes I do things like eat mapo tofu ramen and gyoza three nights in a row.
I suppose that’s more my issue than yours.
See you soon,
Angela

Being one who loves ramen, this is usually my first choice of where I’d go to grab lunch while I’m at work. Being that I work within the shopping center, makes it really convenient for myself. Workers are nice to the point where they already know what I wanna order. Noodles are always cooked perfectly to my taste.
The only downfall here is the wait on your take out order. Sometimes they take as long as 20 mins just to make your food, even if its not busy in the restaurant. That’s exactly why I do a phone order right before I clock out for lunch, and by the time I get there, it’s pretty much either ready or ready within a few minutes after paying.

Wonky service, but the curry was good. When I walked in the door, they just said «You call in?» I was a little confused, expecting maybe some sort of friendly greeting. The menu is huge and difficult to navigate. They also aren’t very patient for newcomers. I got the Chicken Kotsu Curry. No way could I have finished. This is a very straight-​up dish — It had two decend sized chicken patties, sliced, and about a pound helping of rice, covered with curry gravy. They had a «mini» version, which I’m sure would have been enough. I also got a soda, which brought the price up to $ 9.95.
The food was very good. Something I don’t know that I can get back home, but loved when I lived in California. I would have liked a hotter version, but Sriracha was there to add, so no worries.
I asked for a refill on my soda and the lady at the counter said «We charge it.» Never did ask her what the cost was. I passed.
I would probably try it again if it wasn’t a few thousand miles away, and in one of the most obscenely crowded parking lots I’ve ever witnessed.