Slurping Turtle

Came here a while ago and the only thing I ordered was one «pork belly bao» for … $ 4. That was all what I ordered because this place is incredibly expensive. The bao was pretty good, but not enough for me to ever pay so much for it. I’ve heard pretty good things — regarding to how the food tastes — about this place, but the prices are a downfall for the quality of the food.
I probably won’t be coming here for a while.

Super overpriced. The food is good, not phenomenal by any stretch. The best thing I’ve had are the steamed buns, I’ve visited on three separate occasions and each time I left wishing I had went somewhere else. Very «okay» quality.

I’ve been lusting after good ramen since I had the real deal in Toronto. Oh man, this was it. We had a couple of bowls of ramen and some appetizers delivered after a long day of moving, and wow, did it hit the spot. I’m looking forward to checking out the restaurant in person!

Saw this place recommended on tripadvisor, REALLY glad we followed up on it bc this place is very good. The ramens are all delicious and the salmon danburi is perfection. A definite recommend for all who are visiting Ann arbor.

3.5 stars. Every time I happen to be in Ann Arbor, a ramen craving hits or maybe I just crave ramen wherever I go. Anyway, spending summers and winters here for several years, I’ve only been to the ramen spot across the street. After the first and only time I had ramen here, I am sad that I didn’t come here more often! My sister and I came here for lunch and we were seated at the communal table in the middle. The décor is modern, simplistic and spacious. We were greeted by a friendly hostess. Once we were seated, our waiter made recommendations and gave us time to decide, but service was quick without the rush.
We both ordered the Tonkotsu ramen and it was good. The soup was creamy and delicious and went perfectly with the texture of the ramen noodles. The ramen was filling, but since I can’t say no to cream puffs, I also ordered a green tea cream puff. The flavor of the green tea cream was strong and it had a good consistency. I thought the texture of the pastry part could’ve been better, not soft and flaky like I thought it would be. Overall, I was happy with my meal here and would love to come back. I’d say they’re worth a try if you’re in the area and need a ramen fix!

We went to slurping turtle for dinner and I ordered the vegetarian sushi roll. I requested that it be dairy and gluten free.
I was kind of bummed with the outcome. I will say that the waitress did explain that a lot of the vegetables were fried, but for some reason, they weren’t able to do it without.
I ended up with a sushi roll that just had cucumber with red pepper on top of it and they still had fried onions on it. It also had a teriyaki glaze. It ended up being about $ 14. I think this is really the element that through me off because if it was a little less expensive, I would have been okay with it.
I’d give the place another shot because it was packed and I have heard great things, but my personal experience with vegetarian sushi wasn’t the best.
P. S. the tables are communal so if you’re looking for an intimate date spot, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Gluten free items listed on menu and great happy hour sake specials! They make their ramen noodles daily in house and you can taste the difference. Also the mochi dish is great if you like mushrooms. The servers and knowledgable, polite, and pretty quick even when busy.
I am not a fan of the community style seating — I had a bad experience once due to people sitting directly next to me on both sides because I had a lot of trouble even speaking to the person across from me without yelling, and there is zero privacy. Now I request a booth or sit at the bar, and have a much nicer experience :)

IMHO, here’s only one thing worth coming here for: the Tan Tan Men Ramen. And man, if you are craving that, then it’s a great bowl of ramen, especially on a wintery Ann Arbor night. It’s a bowl of ramen bursting with flavor, and truly warms the soul… that is, until you get your bill.
This place is overpriced and overrated for the price you pay. If you want good ramen, go across the street to Tomokun, where you can get a great, authentic bowl of ramen for a lower cost… their tapas were also small and pricey, and if you want tapas, go down the street to Aventura. The Tan Tan Men Ramen was the only saving grace nudging me enough to give them just one extra star than one.
I remember when they first opened it was all the rage… but despite all the hype, I’ve only been there twice, and sad to say, I don’t think I’ll be going back anytime soon.

Yeah, I won’t go back.
Service was painfully slow; blamed mistakes on others and didn’t comp a meal that was brought out 15 minutes later than everyone else’s in the party.
Seats were not comfy — too tight and not enough space on table for drinks, apps and bowls. Stuff wasn’t cleared promptly when finished so that made it worse.
Overall, I’ll go across the street for ramen that is much more flavorful and great service.

The noodle bowls are so so so yummy! Unfortunately the seating is awful and you will have to sit elbow to elbow with strangers so the conversation with whomever your with can’t be private. The tables are mostly high top so if you have a bad back it might not be the place for you. If your into exotic Asian food they definitely have it.

I was underwhelmed by Slurping Turtle, but perhaps my expectations were too high for a ramen spot in Michigan.
We had a wait on a Sunday evening, but it wasn’t too long. The restaurant is very brightly lit, and the TVs were on. Some were showing a football game and some one was showing Spirited Away.
Vegetarian menu items are clearly marked on the menu, though limited – one ramen, one stirfry, maybe two appetizers. (Why are fried brussel sprouts not vegetarian?)
Noodles are made in-​house, but aren’t anything special. If you’ve had good ramen (eg in LA/​NYC/​Japan) you will be sorely disappointed by Slurping Turtle ramen– paying $ 19 after tax and tip for an average bowl of noodles, broth, and protein/​mushrooms/​veggies in a not particularly upscale space was hard to palate, though service was quick and friendly.

Place is really cool — very industrial — communal seating, a few seperated tables, and a small bar.
As an appetizer we ordered the shrimp tempura bao and they were just OK. The bao buns were breaking apart and made them very messy, also I wouldn’t go crazy about the flavor.
We also ordered the brussel sprouts app and they were yummy.
The best part of the meal was dinner — we ordered the Kinoko-​Mochi and the Chahan (fried rice) and both bowls were just bursting with flavor. Delicious!

We headed over to Slurping Turtle on a Sunday morning after watching an episode of Top Chef which had a contestant who was a chef at this place. (Because hey! If the chef’s good enough for the show, s/he’s good enough for us: D)
Even though it was a Sunday and we were expecting a fairly long wait time, we were seated right away, and both the host and the server were really friendly and helpful.
We ordered the duck fat fried chicken as an appetizer, my boyfriend had the tan tan men ramen and since my friend and I don’t eat pork, we ordered the tsukune chicken ramen with a side of volcano paste (I definitely enjoy my food on the spicier side!). The wait time was a little long, but I think that could to be attributed to the lunch rush hour, coupled with the fact that it was Valentine’s day, and they had some sort of special going on.
Without doubt, the duck fat fried chicken was one of the best appetizers I have ever had, with a creamy side salad, crispy sesame spotted skin and juicy, tender meat that tasted like it had been marinated for hours. I’m not a fan of fried chicken because it’s almost never as moist and flavorful on the inside as I’d like it to be, but damn! I could write a love letter to this dish for making me a believer: D
The ramen dishes were both sumptuous and filling, and adding the volcano paste and the chili oil (ALWAYS add the chili oil!) gave a flavorful kick to the otherwise slightly bland broth. The tsukune chicken pieces were cooked really well, and as someone who enjoys a hefty helping of vegetables in my meat dishes, I wasn’t disappointed. I’m a ramen newbie, but honestly this is how I always imagined restaurant style ramen would be like!
For dessert, we had the special which was a almond berry cheesecake, and the vanilla cream puff. There cheesecake fell short, as it was a little dry and could’ve done with some sort of syrup or whipped cream on the side, but the cream puff was light, airy and completely melted in my mouth. Next time, I’m going to be a little more adventurous and try the green tea one.
Seriously though, just writing this review makes me want to go back there and get the duck fat fried chicken again!

It’s been 1.5 years since my last trip to slurping turtle. and the bf figures it’s time we give them another shot, so we headed here for dinner.
Pros:
–nice waitstaff. I appreciate that our waitress acknowledged the long wait time for food.
–edamame is good
Cons:
–hamachi tacos: definitely not worth $ 14. I don’t remember being terribly impressed with these at my last visit, but we both agreed it lacked flavor and just wasn’t worth it
–tonkotsu ramen: broth had no flavor, pork was flavorless, and egg was cold. but the noodles were ok. Im used to rich, flavorful broth and a runny egg that’s at least warm, but this soup was so BLAND and the egg was COLD. not sure how that works.
–tan tan men ramen: noodles weren’t good, pork meatballs were bland and flavorless, and egg was «refrigerator cold».
–long long wait for food. I don’t exactly know, but we were in there for 2 hours total, including a 15 – 20 min wait for the table. so you can do the math for how long it took for the ramen to come out.
No thanks.

Guess my expectations were a bit high after trying ramen shops like Ippudo in NY, but this place will definitely satisfy your ramen cravings like it did for me.
Walked in on a saturday night and it was pretty packed — wait was around 30 minutes and my group of 4 was sat around this long communal table in the middle of the restaurant.
I had the tonkotsu ramen ($ 14) and it was pretty good. Broth was flavorful but just didn’t have the depth that I wished for.
We also got the duck fat fried chicken ($ 9) and hamachi tacos ($ 11). The fried chicken was flavorful but something that’s duck fat fried, I really expected a crispier exterior. The hamachi tacos were really fresh and enjoyable.
Come here only if you’re really, really, really craving slightly more authentic ramen, otherwise, I’d save some money and eat some instant noodles at home.

My husband and I went in for dinner on a weekday evening. We were pleasantly surprised to hear that there was a wait. Good sign, right?
There are two long communal tables in the middle of the restaurant and some booths along the wall. We were seated in the middle of a communal table. I was fine with it, but my husband, who has very broad shoulders, was feeling really cramped and uncomfortable. (to this day, this is the reason he will not go back!) I enjoy communal tables but would like to have a little bit more room.
We ordered a spicy tuna roll and gyoza for appetizers. Maki roll was unremarkable. The rice as well as the fish lacked flavor and the fish-​to-​rice ratio was off. Gyoza was good– nice and crispy.
For our main, I ordered the tan tan men and my husband ordered the tonkatsu. Tan tan men wasn’t at all spicy but the broth had good flavor and I very much appreciated the al dente noodles. Next time, I would order it sans meatballs. They were so small and tough– perhaps overcooked? Lastly, I was expecting a salty, flavorful molten egg. Unfortunately, I think it was just a plain softboiled egg. Tonkatsu had an excellent broth! We both agreed that the flavor of Tonkatsu was extremely flavorful and rich. After trying my ramen, my husband wished that the Tonkatsu was served with tan tan men’s ramen noodles as he enjoyed the thicker, al dente noodles of the tan tan men more than the thinner ones served with his Tonkatsu ramen.
We were too full to try any desserts (next time, there will be sharing… portions are huge!) but we’ll be back (maybe to-​go orders to appease my broad-​shouldered husband) to try more appetizers and desserts.

This was my second time here and I had the Hamachi Tacos and Tan Tan Men Ramen.
I taco shell for the Hamachi Tacos was a little too processed and lacked texture, but I loved the concept. The flavors were very good. The Tan Tan Men Ramen was spicy and had complex flavors in the broth. The noodles are bland, but the overall quality of the soup is very good.
I think this is a great place to stop in a very competitive Ann Arbor market. I’m not a fan of family style seating, so I just take a seat at the bar.

I enjoy eating here. The restaurant is sleek and modern, with a friendly waitstaff.
Now onto the food: they have great happy hour deals, which is the main reason why I come to this restaurant. While the ramen and other noodle dishes are unique, I don’t think it is enough to justify their significantly above-​average prices compared to other noodle bars in Ann Arbor. Worth trying at least once, but it isn’t enough to convince me to become a regular.
The appetizers, on the other hand, is where Slurping Turtle really shines. One dish I’ve fallen in love with is the duck fat fried chicken. But as much as I enjoy it, they only give you a few pieces of chicken, and at $ 9, I don’t think it’s worth it. HOWEVER, the chicken is on their happy hour menu, so I like to come and order a handful of appetizers and share with friends. Along with drinks there are about a dozen different appetizers priced between $ 4 – 6 during happy hour, and it’s a great way to try more of their menu offerings without paying exorbitant prices. The hot and cold sampler plates are a fantastic way to try everything and find the dishes that you like. I’ve also heard great things about the quail egg shooter here, so if you’re craving a sweet and feeling adventurous, it will definitely be a good option to try.

Was really amped to try this place out since I saw an article of the top food places around colleges on Yahoo which had in-​house made ramen noodles. And since I was going to be in town for my cousins graduation we had sometime to explore and check out this place.
Atmosphere: located near University of Michigan. Very modern style place to get Ramen and other food items. Main tables are shared tables. Can be very small and cramped in. Barely and leg room. They also have booth seating to seat comfortably for 2−4max and also a full bar. The décor is modern style Japanese. Nice architecure. White tables. Clean. 2 large TV’s on the main floor and downstairs another full bar with long sharing tables. Great ambiance but confined seating.
Food: started out with the bao w/​pork. Very delicious. The bun was soft, the pork belly was tendor and flavorful. Everyone in my party was getting ramen and this gave me a chance to sample their broth.
–ordered: Red Miso Ramen (special). came w/​2 pork chaisu, baby bok choy, seaweed, naruto (fish cake), & a slice of chicken.
In order to have great ramen it must have both excellent noodles and tasty broth. The broth was egh. in my red miso. I sampled the spicy ramen, that tasted watered down and threw some spice on top. The Tonkotsu ramen was decent the better choice of flavor. In addition, their noodles are amongst the best I’ve tried thus far.
Service: so-​so. it was about 15min wait to get seated. the hostess was nice. our server was blah. seemed like he just wanted to get out of his shift. The place started to get busy after 5pm and plenty of people were waitingto be seated.
Overall: I’ve experienced better. After all the hype on that Yahoo article, the noodles in the ramen was the only thing to remember. Seems they spend more time on the noodles and forget that the broth is just as is important. Good place to hangout for happy hour/​offer karaōke on certain day (s). But for the value of the ramen, I expected better quality and bigger portions for $ 14.
I’ve had ramen in SD, LA, SF, along the west coast, so my expecations were high (especially an article mentioning this place). Good ramen for (Ann Arbor) those who are not accustomed; bad for those who have had experience with other types of ramen.

Here’s the quick and dirty: expensive mediocre food.
For a starter, got the duck fat fried chicken. My favorite thing on the plate was the sriracha mayo, if that says anything about the dish. I couldn’t taste the duck fat and the meat inside was gray… blech! Not impressed so far.
Before my main course arrived, I had the pork belly bao. Pretty good, but not spectacular. The pork belly was overly sticky with a sweet soy sauce concoction.
For my entrée, I had the Chiyan-​Pon. It’s essentially crispy noodles in broth with octopus, shrimp and scallops. This was the worst thing I had. Every protein was horrendously overcooked, and although the noodles were relatively ok, the broth was too sweet for me.
For dessert was the chocolate cream puff. Buyers beware! This is no cream puff. It was a pasty filled with wayyyyy too much chocolate pudding. Flavor wasn’t horrible, but when I buy a cream puff I’m expecting a pastry with a light cream inside. What you get is a decent pastry with enough pudding to sink a ship.
Now for the aspects that don’t matter quite as much:
Decore — not bad and fairly clean
Staff — pretty nice, however when a waiter went outside and came back in, all of a sudden the air around our booth smelled suspiciously like an illegal plant, if you catch my drift.
Not the worst, but not good enough to pull me back through those doors.