Vending Machine / Self Serve Ramen


Recently I went to this ramen place in Tsim Sha Tsui’s Chung King Mall. The underground mall. It’s call 倉吉拉麵 Kurayoshi Ramen. It’s the first restaurant I came across in Hong Kong where you have to order your food from a vending machine. It’s a total self serve experience.

First you have to line up at the vending machine, order your food and collect your ticket. 



Then you can look for an empty seat from the seating plan next to the vending machine.


Once you have sat down, there is a note pad for you to choose how you want your noodle to be done. When you are ready, just press the bell in front of you and someone will open up the little window/hole in front of you and collect the papers. After a few minute, your order will be served through the same hole. This reminds me of the jails in movies where prisoners get their food from the hole on their door.



We ordered a wagyu beef ramen and a squid ink ramen. They look great! The portion wasn’t that big compared to other ramen places I tried. The taste was pretty good. I can’t say they are great, but they aren’t bad.




For the time I went, when I liked their facebook page, I would get a complimentary seaweed salad….not very appetizing. I had no interest in it and it didn’t have much taste to it.


They gave you a little glass of fresh lemon juice, to freshen you up after eating the ramen. It came with a note so note talking/explaining would be needed.


After you finish eating, you can just leave. Through out the whole dining process, you don’t have to talk to anyone! It’s kind of weird… The ramen was about $90/bowl. That’s a little bit pricier compared to other places as you don’t really get any service here. It’s an interesting idea and fun experience as it’s a pretty new concept in Hong Kong.

Kurayoshi Ramen is at point H in "Places Part 1" on the map.  However, it's now closed.

Chi
Vending Machine / Self Serve Ramen Vending Machine / Self Serve Ramen Reviewed by chichicho on October 08, 2012 Rating: 5

2 comments

  1. Hi Chi, I've been hanging around your blog looking at you and your sister's nail art designs (they're great by the way!)
    This self serve place looks crazy, as I started reading I no way expected you to say then someone opened a little window next to the table! I thought it would come out of the vending machine. You say it's new to Hong Kong, but have you ever seen this type of restaurant anywhere else in the world? Do they clean the tables by popping out the window too?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hihi! Thanks for dropping by~

      I have been to this type of restaurants in Japan. They have a lot of restaurants like this in Japan. I saw somewhere on youtube where they have the soup noodle actually coming out of the vending machine~ That is super cool~

      As for table cleaning in this restaurant...I am not so sure, as i just left after finish eating....There are dividers between the seats. So, I don't know what happened after other people finish eating.

      I never saw any waiter/waitress in the place...maybe someone from the little window would reach out and take everything away? It's kind of awkward as the hands move quickly and the window just open and close and no one tells you anything...

      Delete

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