The Sharing Table

Pican? Slanded Door? yeah right… it’s a failure. It’s a joke! Just because she said, doesn’t mean it’s the truth! Waste of money and time.

Firstly, let me say that I really enjoyed the cooking classes I took with Cynthia Fung. I started with the dumpling making class, which was awesome and then took another class, ramen noodles, which was great as well.
So, at the end of the first class, she told us, we could book the ramen class for less if we paid right away. So I booked the specific class on a specific date for me and my brother, who would be visiting at exactly this time and I knew he would enjoy the class. Unfortunately she changed the date of the class later, so my brother could not come with me.
I was able to come though, so I asked her to refund the fee for one person, since it was not my fault that she changed the dates. She said, she would not refund, but I could come to another class instead. Since I had already taken dumplings and ramen classes and she didn’t offer any other at that time, I was a bit skeptical. But she told me she had other classes planned and I should check the website regularly.
I did. And one day the website was gone. I sent her several emails explaining the situation and asked for my money back. Never got an answer.
As I said, I really enjoyed the classes and the location in Hayward was great as well. I would also have loved to take another class. But not refunding my money and not even replying to my emails is not very professional.

Bought a living social deal w a group of friends thinking that it’d be a fun event. We love cooking classes and have taken a few w other establishments. Tried to schedule a class with them for weeks, but did not receive any reply neither to my emails nor my phone mssgs. Ended up contacting Livingsocial to find out that they had cancelled the class altogether. Instead of ignoring my messages and making us waste our time, I wish they had informed us directly. Irresponsible management, we’ll definitely avoid this business in the future.

awful business. I bought a living social deal and sharing table stopped scheduling classes. total scam, stay away from this place.

I found an online deal for Cynthia’s ramen-​making class and thought it would be perfect for my fiancé since he loves ramen so much! Our class was actually held at another location in Hayward (instead of Emeryville) so it was even better since it was closer to us.
Cynthia was very friendly and very entertaining throughout the entire class. The sad part is we only got to make the ramen noodles — I always thought it would require a lot of special things but it was really simple and partially prepped for us. All we needed to do was roll the dough, flatten it, and run it through a couple of pasta-​cutting machines! Cynthia had already prepped the miso broth and pre-​made all the ingredients (soft-​boiled eggs, chasu, veggies, etc.). All we had to do was watch her and her assistant (and a few of us students) put together 30 bowls of ramen before we started eating!
As we ate our lunch, Cynthia verbally shared the recipes for the tonkotsu broth (it makes sense that we didn’t actually get to make it since it takes hours to brew) and a few other related things.
One thing to note was we were very concerned to find that our chasu was not cooked through (some was even raw) so we didn’t eat most of our meat! The broth was good but I thought it could be a lot hotter… by the time I got my bowl, it was already close to being cold/​lukewarm. The martini that they served also tasted like cough medicine so we didn’t have any at all…
Overall, this was an interesting experience… but I’m glad that we didn’t pay the full price of the class for what you really get out of it!

Fun, but a little pricey considering it’s more of a demo than an actual cooking class. Cynthia Fung is personable and keeps things entertaining, but the fact that it’s not very hands on is a bummer. We rolled pre-​made ramen dough and ran them through pasta blades, but that’s it for actual participation. The rest was more of a talk. She gave us recipes for ramen ingredients and broth, and served us ramen she had already made. Although interesting, it doesn’t seem worth the Living Social price of $ 55 for a bowl of ramen and a cocktail (mango sake), and certainly not the full price of $ 110.

I, too, attended the ramen-​making class, but it definitely wasn’t a five-​star experience. Or a four. Or a three. Actually, I was going to give it three stars until I saw that the Sharing Table is identified as a cooking school so, for that, it gets two stars. As the first reviewer Hello O. stated, this is more of a demo class, and I can’t think of any cooking school worth its salt that would be more demo than hands-​on. The identifier here as a cooking school is very loosely applied. Paying $ 55 to learn how to make ramen noodles by using a standard pasta attachment is way too much (and, really, the class was originally being offered for $ 110).
Just like Patricia M., I purchased the Living Social special, but first I scoured the Internet for reviews and came across Hello O.‘s. The review made me wary when I read that the class is more demo, but I thought that it would be worth the $ 55 to, at least, learn how to make the ramen noodles because I thought we were going to learn the traditional method of hand-​pulling the noodles, which we didn’t. I own the spaghetti attachment we used and am perfectly capable of following a recipe and have, in fact, made pasta from scratch before. Had I any idea that the ramen-​making lesson would simply entail using various pasta attachments, I would’ve saved myself the $ 55 and just continued watching YouTube videos for instruction.
Now, on a positive note, Cynthia Fung did seem engaging, and the class did move along quickly. For the other students, they did seem to enjoy themselves. If you’re looking for something like this just for fun and don’t really care about the strength of the class content, then $ 55 isn’t a bad way to spend part of the day watching a ramen-​making demo and having a bowl of fresh ramen and a cocktail if you take the class with friends. For someone like me whose sole reason for being there was to learn how to make ramen, it was really a waste of money (and time since I traveled multiple hrs round trip to attend this class). Also, if Cynthia Fung had been better equipped to answer the simple questions thrown her way (normal questions for seasoned professionals), then the class also would’ve rated better in my opinion. Being asked questions like what size eggs were used, what type of soy sauce used, what sake did you use, what type of miso to use, etc. ARE important questions and warrant more of an answer than, «It doesn’t matter. My taste is not your taste so use whatever you want.» BZZZZZZ. Wrong answer. We ask these questions because, whether or not we want to replicate the recipe with the identical ingredients or make our own changes, it helps to know what was used as a «kick-​off» point from the original recipe. I’ve taken several professional culinary classes (in a professional program) and, also, one-​day «just for fun» type classes. This is the first time I ever encountered an instructor who was so reluctant to answer these normal questions. Even in the case where the instructor hasn’t known the answer, the instructors were never afraid or ashamed to say, «I don’t know the answer to that question; I’ll have to check and get back to you.»
It would’ve been helpful for the other students to be told things that they might not likely know about some of the things in class (I know I wouldn’t have if I didn’t spend so much time learning these things on my own). It would’ve helped to explain that over-​working the pasta dough could over-​develop the gluten and, if nothing else, was going to make it increasingly difficult to roll out the dough if the students kept rolling the dough back into a ball then trying to roll it out again (which I watched several do). It would’ve helped to state that when putting the raw pork belly in the fridge overnight that, for the sake of food safety, it should be put below all shelves of cooked food and produce. It also would’ve helped to tell students that it isn’t the overnight part that is important so much as the length of time the pork belly sits in the fridge uncovered (also not stressed as important) helping the skin to dry sufficiently so when it’s roasted, it will develop that nice crackling texture.
Most importantly, half the class didn’t even get to observe the ending portion of the demo because Ms. Fung moved on to a different room showing how to assemble the final product (the bowl of ramen) while the first half of the class was still waiting in line to make their noodles. I had no idea where everyone else had gone and would’ve, at least, had the option of dropping out of line to observe the rest then returned to make my noodles rather than continued waiting to make my noodles and having no idea I’d just missed most of the rest of the demo. Just bumped my rating down one star.
I had high hopes for this class because I saw Ms. Fung’s previous offerings that looked interesting. However, after this class, I know not to invest anything more since I could get as much response watching a video.

I really enjoyed attending Cynthia Fung’s ramen-​making class!!! I bought the Social Living deal on a whim and wasn’t sure how it would turn out but I liked it a lot more than I expected. Fung has her degree in engineering and then went into the restaurant business. She headed up Firenzu but sold it before the 2008 crash. She serves as a consultant to the likes of Bay Area restaurant gems like Slanted Door and Pican, so she really does know her stuff. She also travels around Asia and Europe garnering more culinary skills. Not only that, but she’s really funny, down-​to-​earth, her lessons are accessibly compelling, and her cooking is inspiring. The two-​hour class took place in an industrialized section of Hayward on Barrington Court (off of West Winton). The class size was about 32— we learned how to make homemade ramen noodles, the hard boiled egg with the middle softened, tonkatsu broth and we even got a roasted pork belly recipe. The class really exceeded my expectations. A word to the wise— bring a notebook or even record the session on your smart phone. Fung gives step-​by-​step directions, but if you blink or even stop to use the bathroom or come late, you miss so much. I’m not sure I’ll spend much time making my own broth or making my own noodles… what I left the class with, however, was a deep appreciation for the art of ramen making… especially the homemade-​from-​scratch kind. I don’t think I’d ever break open a pack of Top Ramen again. Tip: in the Hayward site, wear layers and rubber shoes… it’s chilly in the industrialized kitchen! This was a great way to spend a weekend morning. I saw lots of couples and parents with their children, and a lot of serious foodies. You even get a bowl of fresh ramen and a mango saketini. Fun times :)
Check out the website for upcoming events:

This is for the Ramen-​Making Demonstration Class
I took Chef Cynthia Fung’s aka The Sharing Table’s Ramen making course last November and enjoyed it very much. Chef Fung is super personable and knowledgeable. This course is more of an in person live demonstration with some participation via volunteer assistant basis versus a traditional hands on «cooking class» in which I originally thought it was. The entire event is about 2 hours long and is about $ 60.00 a person located at Chef’s Fung loft in Emeryville. You get a complimentary cocktail (Lychee Martini) to sip on during the course and of course a bowl of the finished product in the end (they also cater to vegetarians). The course goes by very fast so make sure you bring your notebook (there is a print out given but it’s pretty minimal information on recipes).you probably won’t come out of the course with an actual recipe to make a bowl of Ramen but you will definitely gain basic knowledge on broth prep (what makes a good soup stock etc.), types of meats (the Chef has a thing for Uni which she talked about incorporating it in a Ramen broth), garnishes and of course noodle making basics (ingredients and the types of machinery used etc.).
I thought overall the experience was entertaining and Chef’s Fung’s adorable Yorkie dressed in a tuxedo is super cute prancing around the loft during class.
You should definitely check out the website as the courses are seasonal and limited on space. There are also classes on dumpling making, Turnip Cake, Won Ton and other various Chinese specialties.
Chef Fung also mentioned she does private parties at her space as well. I had other friends that participated in this event on separate occasions and they gave positive feedback as well.