Tiger Den

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE TERRIBLE HOSTESS THAT ANNOYED ME SO BADLY WE WALKED OUT OF THE RESTAURANT!!! (It’s the chick with the thick winged eyeliner)
Wednesday night. Empty tables. Party of two. Start Scene.
Hostess: We have the bar open for you. Can you sit at the bar?
**Me: No thanks, we don’t want to really sit at the bar. Can we have that table over there instead?
Hostess: No. You’re only a party of 2.
**Me: Well you have three other party of 2 right over there, there, and there so why can’t we have a table?
Hostess: Well, you came in later than them. We want to save it for a party of 3 or 4.
**Me: Okay but you already have party of twos in those tables so that’s not really fair. I’m not going to stand outside in the cold and I’m not sitting at the bar.
Hostess: You can share that table over there with those 4 people.
Good grief. We walked out. I could not stand her. Really put a bad taste in my mouth of this place and we ended up having delicious hot soup somewhere else!

Come for the mediocre ramen, stay for the awkward speed-​dating seating.
While I understand that tonkotsu broth should have an inherent richness, the broth here is overly salty and greasy, leaving an unpleasant film in your mouth and on your lips with every bite. It also seems to have a garlicky aftertaste for some reason. Grill options, such as the yakitori, came out dry and uninteresting.
The most memorable part of the experience was being seated at the designated «couples’ table», a long table with bench seating. I don’t know if this is standard, but every couple that came in was immediately ushered to this table. Despite requesting one of the open booths on a relatively slow night, we were asked to sit here instead. Either by coincidence or as a result of expert-​level training, the males were all seated on one side and the females all on the other. Absolutely bizarre.
Overall, Tiger Den gets props for being one of the first to bring a dedicated ramen shop to Houston, but these days there are much better options (Jinya comes to mind). For reference, my #1 for ramen in the U.S. is Santouka, followed closely by Ipuddo.

Now i want to explain why gave them «1 star».
The ouside wheather of that day was 42 °F.
We came this place for dinner, and 5 – 6 couples (about 10 – 12 customers) ahead in waiting list.
We spent 10 – 15 for wait outside under freezing temperature.
Then, i just open the door and look around inside store, let’s see how crowded.
I saw 6 – 7 of booth tables are emty. Nobody sitting on those booth table. But, the long table was full.
And my wife she asked the young waitress: «excuse me! Why don’t you set those customers who waiting outside in empty booth tables? We and them wait too long and to cold!»
–She responded: «No, you guys can’t seat there because those booth just for 3 – 4 people and up»
–My wife: «Why? Are those tables resevered?»
–Waitress: «No, we dont do reservation!»
–My wife: «So, why do you know many people or group people will coming to seat there before us done diner?»
Finally, she said: «No, we dont want couple seating on those booth. You have to seat at same long table with them»
–My wife she said: «ok, thank you!», then step back
And the waitress talked behind the customer: «Ok, Bye»
We have been here for many times before.
Absolutely, we will never come back.
Why we pay money to enjoy our life in that rule: «SEAT SAME TABLE WITH 12 – 14 people, wait outside under freezing temp when around us the other tables are empty»
Around China town or Houston we still can find many ramen stores. Many choices in here baby!

The atmosphere is very nice for a date or a meet up or anything really. The lighting is dim and makes the atmosphere.
The garlic black bean is my ultimate recommendation and their appetizers are pretty good, better than other places.
But if you order the Shoyu or any of the soups with a lime in it, make sure you take it out because the peel will make the soup bitter at the end. If you like the citrus in the soup (like I do), squeeze the juice out and take it out of the soup.

The broth is very heavy, salty, and greasy. After we finished, the broth sat on the table and when we poked at it, a thick gooey film formed on top… eek.
Service was okay. No vegetarian options unless you wanna eat a side dish of spicy cucumbers as a main dish. they were fresh and crispy. My husband ate a pork ramen and wasn’t too impressed. So, I guess it’s just not our preference and we won’t be going back.
If you want a heavy meaty broth, then eat here.

Alright. First, let me address all these pussie-​ass single star reviews: if you want «date night» seating, this is not your place. You want your own booth with three feet on either side of you, go to Kaneama. Tiger Den is a ramen noodle house, not a cozy little, private booth where you can cuddle, goobie, goobie, goobie. GTFO. In Japan (I have been twice), EVERY INCH OF SPACE MATTERS. This is how the seating is at Tiger Den. Booths are shared with total strangers sometimes. No couple gets a private booth. In Japan, you wait in line, outside for a spot at the bar practically sitting right on top of complete strangers. This place is ALWAYS packed. If you don’t like sitting super close to people, go somewhere else. And take your 1* review with you.
Now, for the food. We ordered appetizers rib eye yakitori and takoyaki. Both were amazing. The takoyaki wasn’t like the takoyaki street food in Osaka, but I’ll take what I can get. EVERYONE in Osaka eats takoyaki, so try it.
We ordered two ramen soups: Tonkontsu and the vegetarian one. Both were really good. The service was fast and friendly. The average wait to be seated (you wait outside) is 20 minutes. I think we waited 12 minutes. If you are in a group, they will not seat you until your group are all together. It doesn’t matter if your friend is parking the car. Also, there is a sign up sheet outside. If you don’t write your name on it, you don’t get seated. I had to watch some FOB almost start crying because she couldn’t read the Engrish, and was waiting there for a bit for her friends. Hey, life is rough. If you want some good, fast, and cheap ramen in China town, this is a good place to try. They have a bunch more stuff on the menu too, but ramen is their specialty. We will for sure be back.

I think this place is totally overrated. I’ve been here a few times, noticed that their soups are kind of salty. First I thought it was just one soup, then i tried others and they are all salty. My friends also said the same thing. Soups are flavorful but you can barely sip it coz it’s like salt water.
Service is horrible. They really don’t care about you since they have a lot of customers. No refill water, you have to ask several times for some thing such as spoons, check, etc. And if you have 2 people, you can only sit at the long table to share with others or the bar. There was a time when we walked in, there were several individual table available, and the long table only have 2 seats left, but we really had to squeeze in to fit in the middle. We asked for the table, they refused it. They said either we waited for the bar or thats it.
I would recommend Jinya for similar food. It’s nicer and the food is better

Tiger Den deserves every award and 5 star review they have received. It is a great den to hangout and have a meal.
I have had several culinary experiences with Japanese ramen, but not enough to judge fairly. However, my brother-​in-​law who lived in Japan for 2 years said it was phenomenal.
Everything from the wall decals to the menu options were refreshing and satisfying (I did not know that a wall could satisfy, but it did here).
Ramen is highly recommended, also I add the hot oil and chili powder from table for extra H E A T.
This was our last mean of 2015, at 23:00 on Dec 31^st 2015. It was the perfect place to do so, and a perfect place for lunch or dinner anytime in 2016 and beyond.

I’ve been wanting to come here for a long time, but was worried that it wouldn’t be as good as ramen in Austin. Also, the surrounding competitors for cheap Asian food in Chinatown made it hard for me to go until a friend invited me. I was surprised to find that the ramen here is a class of its own, namely the spicy miso ramen! The combination of creaminess, heat, and whatever else they put in is done perfectly! The squid balls are similar to Michi squid balls, and just as good. I would definitely come back for another bowl! If you’re with 1 – 3 other people, don’t be afraid of the line of people waiting outside. I found that the wait list checks off pretty quickly.

Noodles not authentic for ramen. It tastes and looks like noodles you eat in Chinese soup. The Chinese decorations on the soup bowls made it feel even less authentic. The wall decorations of Harajuku Street was the only Japanese thing about this place. I will say the broth was tasty though.

Bad customer experience~let customer wait when they still have table available!
We got there at 9:40 Sunday night and that time they still had two booth available, nobody was waiting at that time but the hostess still gave us an attitude and put us wait because we only had two people!
And we waited around 40 minutes, but one of the booth was available all the time, when we seated we only spent 30minutes to eat!
I just don’t get it, y’all close at 11pm, why y’all just let us waste that 40 minutes instead of seat us att he beginning! That’s not make any sense to me!

The food here is not bad. I gave them 3 stars because I did not like the idea of sitting at the community table with two other couples. If you’re going on a date or something, don’t go here because you’ll end up at the community table. The other booths are reserved for 3 people
Or more. It felt awkward and we were crammed.

I’ve worked different stations before at a steakhouse so I usually know crowd times and understand that it’s better for the business to be able to accommodate more people in the restaurant, that’s why they make you sit in the «community tables». But that is something I expect during rush hour or when you know a crowd is coming.
The hostess was just too unaccommodating. Keep in mind, it wasn’t busy nor did it get busy enough to even fill up the restaurant. We didn’t demand a 4 seater booth or even said no when she placed us at a community table despite many spots being empty somewhere more comfortable-​agreeing that it’s okay if we share the space with other people. What turned me off is that, though I’m okay at a community table I prefer to sit next to whoever I’m with so we can have a conversation. She literally stood there for 10 minutes saying to me that I can’t do that because the «other people may not like it». These «other people» never even came. She could easily have asked them if they are okay sitting next to each other or if not, then make them wait and give the spot to someone else. It’s not like we took up more seats by sitting by each other.
Anyway, I’m fine with going in, getting my order taken, and not having the wait staff fuss over me. I never expect that, especially in a ramen shop. It’s just that the interaction I had with the hostess just really took away from my whole experience. Note: They weren’t busy!
The food was good. I’m not used to how big the ramen serving sizes are. I would say it’s about two and half «house bowls» of food when it came to the table. We had the black bean garlic & dipping type. Both were full of yummy fat and grease which, though tasty, makes me feel full faster. Maybe order one with extra veggies in it to instill some freshness. Noodles were cooked well and it was the perfect combination with their draft asahi. I was going to try the skewers too but found myself too full to even order anything else but dessert. The pandan donuts are airy and fluffy pastries that you dip in pandan flavored sauce. I think it was perfectly light but I wish the sauce had more dimension to it, maybe add some egg? It just tastes like pandan flavoring and sugar, but I guess at least it wasn’t heavy.
I’d recommend this place for the day you’re craving some beer and noodles. The place is nice despite being small. I wish they did offer some combination plates, like a junior or baby ramen bowl with some of their skewers because eating that much ramen in one seating was too much. Oh, and stop being so paranoid about seating that you ruin an otherwise good experience.

Finally got a chance to come here! What’s prevented me from checking out Tiger Den earlier was definitely the crazy long lines — whenever finishing up dinner elsewhere in Dun Huang Plaza I always saw hoards of people lined up outside. Plus, all members of your party have to be present before they seat you. Anyways, get here at 5:30 and you won’t have that issue! Yay!
FOOD
Now, I was in one of those «I am willing to eat anything» type of moods when I sat down and ordered. All of their ramen is under $ 10, which I thought was pretty nice compared to other ramen hotshots around H-​Town. Depending on your appetite you could go for extra noodles, which is +$ 2.50.
I went for the garlic black bean ramen. There were fried bits of crunchy crisp garlic floating around in the broth, which added some nice texture. Chashu wasn’t mind-​blowing but at an acceptable softness, and the egg was almost too soft! Usually the issue I encounter is overcooked ajitama egg, but Tiger Den did a good job at keeping their eggs soft and gooey.
The broth itself was not overly salty, but my major complaint was that there wasn’t a lot of liquid in my bowl. Because I was starving I had ordered a serving of extra noodles and by the time I dumped those into my bowl it looked more like noodles with sauce rather than noodles in soup. That being said the broth was still flavorful enough to coat all of my noodles in goodness.
Now, I’m a sucker for thick noodles but Tiger Den still does a good job with keeping their noodles chewy while using the thin Hakata kind. A couple of my friends got their Dipping Noodles (on the chalkboard, not on the menu) which, after stealing a bite, I would also recommend.
AMBIENCE
Whoa, what? I’m writing an ambience section for a restaurant in Chinatown? Why yes, yes I am. Tiger Den put some effort into décor, so in return I will write a shoutout of appreciation. J-​rock blasts out of the speakers spontaneously, and the walls are covered in graphic designs of what I presume to be Japanese alleyways where you can find ramen street food. The lighting is dimmer, and the chopsticks are wrapped in paper with ‘Tiger Den’ printed on them. There’s an open kitchen near the back of the restaurant so you can see the cooks churn out your noodles, and the wooden seats are dark and polished.
Overall, if you can avoid the lines, I’d recommend this place. Would come again!

I came here on a Thursday night close to 7 pm for dinner and was disappointed. Thankfully there wasn’t a crazy line or a wait for us. However, the quality of the ramen (spicy miso) has gone down. It didn’t taste as good as I remembered. The noodles are different? Extra thin? The broth wasn’t flavorful. The appetizers (Brussels, fried dumplings, and mushroom medley) out-​shined the ramen. The service was rocky in the beginning. It literally took over 10 minutes for our server to greet us or notice he had a table, while another server saw us sitting there for awhile but didn’t even ask if we had been helped. The drive to bellaire is not worth the less than average ramen and customer service.

I came here when it first opened, especially since it was one of the first. I liked it but didn’t like waiting in long line for a table. Hadn’t been back there in over a year and had made my rounds to all the other new ramen places that opened up so it seemed like a good time to retry and be able to compare it against the others.
Likes:
— Pork belly portion: the Tonkotsu comes with three sizable, delicious slices when other places might only give you one
— Dipping ramen: this is legit; it’s off menu but you can order it; heads up it’s SPICY — I’m a wimp and couldn’t eat it but husband loved it
— Broth/​noodle ratio: I love broth and at most places I’m out of broth before I finish my noodles leaving me helpless; they give a good amount of broth!
— Service: fairly quick and servers checked in often
Dislikes:
— Seating: because they’re so busy, they’re picky on where you sit; there was only 2 of us and made us sit at the bar… the only table open was reserved for groups 3+; plus side is that we actually ended up liking sitting at the bar and seeing how they made the food
— Wait: luckily we went in the middle of the week so not too bad, but weekends can be a pain; make sure to write your name on the board outside to hold your spot
We were so stuffed from our ramen, but having sat at the bar and watching make the food in the kitchen, I want to try some of their grilled items next time — the grilled squid looked awesome… wonder if it’s as good as it looks?

My boyfriend has been really suggesting this place and we finally visited it tonight.
Service: Awesome! Our server was very helpful and patient in explaining to us about the menu. Also, every server came by in the right time checking on us! It was just nice!
Food: we ordered Black bean garlic Ramen and Dipping noodles. The ramen broth was very good. Strong taste of garlic and black beans were crispy. It balanced so well. Also, there were perfect amount green onions and they just went so well with the pork bellies!
For the dipping noodle, goodness, the broth was so creamy and flavorful. It’s actually like the Dan Dan noodles but they put more Japanese mayonnaise to make it a little more creamy. I know it sounds strange but it’s sooooo good. The noodle was very spicy too so be aware! Also. There was some peanuts in the bottom of the bowl and it was such a great combination.
We also ordered the chicken skins and pork belly Yakitori as our appetizer…(I know! They added a little something to the reasons of us getting heart attack) the skins were so crispy and perfectly seasoned. The pork belly was okay though.
As usually, the five-​minute egg was amazing, although I like Ramen Jin’s better!
Still! With the service and the food, it deserves a five star!

Some of if not THE best ramen in the area. It’s difficult to quantify what makes it so good but it is. Very rich and flavorful broth with a high level of attention to detail from the way the 5 minute eggs are marinated to the herb placement. I belong to a local Ramen group and this is my go-​to place.
The thing that puts this place over the edge for me is that in addition to the wonderful ramen and appetizers, the atmosphere is great. It’s a bit dimly lit (which I like) and the restaurant is very updated. Highly recommend.

My brother took me to this ramen shop. I really liked it. We ordered the dipping ramen. Everything was perfect.
To start off, get there early for a good seat. There was no wait, we were sat at a communal bench/​table. The only bad thing is not a lot of elbow room.
Our dipping ramen came out in 10 – 15 mins. The whole thing was good, a little spicy, but good. My brother ordered an extra side of noodles and chashu. Not a bad idea if you’re hungry.:-) the dipping broth is rich and had a little creamy taste. It had chashu, an egg, scallions, and ground pork. Really yummy:-)
The staff was friendly and prompt. Checked out really fast too, thought it would take awhile since they were busy.
I will return, definitely. The other bowls beside us looked so good. Want to try the tonkatsu.

I’m so glad I can finally update my review to 5 stars for Tiger Den. The black bean ramen is my fave and the owners have listened to what their clientele wanted. Major kudos to them!
The black bean ramen is loaded with garlic and and has a richer creamier broth than Jinya’s version plus it’s only $ 8 versus Jinya’s at $ 12.95 for their somewhat comparable Black Tonkotsu. Plus the bowls are filled a lil bit more at Tiger Den.
Tiger Den also has quite a variety of fresh grilled apps and changes out some of their apps from time to time to keep their menu fresh and interesting. They also offer more nightly specials on their special outside black board.
I find at this time that Tiger Den has the overall best «Real» broth made with bones and best variety of apps for a ramen shop in the greater Houston area.
The service has always been very good to excellent with caring and friendly young people that all work harmoniously together. It’s also nice to be remembered when I go back each time.