I have gotten food from oishii bowl twice so far and I will definitely come again. There isn't much seating inside but there are plenty of people who do take out. I have eaten in once and have done take out once. I have ordered the shoyu ramen and the miso ramen and they tasted great both times. The price is hard to beat for the taste and the convenience. My friends have gotten rice bowls and they really give you a lot of food. read more

Too many customers in such a small restaurant. Hygiene is suspicious at best. Little amount of food.

There is nothing better I can say about Oishii than the fact that the food is, well, oishii. Never had a bad experience there. The price is right for the amount of food you get, and unlike many of the cheap Asian places I've eaten at, I've never had a bad experience. Best is the number 1, number 2, and the sakana don. The ramen is good two, but the dons are definitely the most filling and savory. Also, the karaage is always on point, and is one of the most filling snacks in C-town. read more

I was thrilled to hear that this restaurant delivers, and took advantage of it as quickly as I could. The servings were substantial, and for someone with a typically large appetite, one full bowl and some pork dumplings made for a sizable, satisfying meal. Everything seemed very fresh and well prepared, and quite authentic. Some portions of my meal were not to my liking, but I am willing to honor the idea that my palette might just be picky, and I do not blame the restaurant. read more

Coming from SoCal I guess my standard of ramen noodle is high. So this place definitely gets a F from me. The most important element of ramen - soup base was so bland and lukewarm. Even so, this place is still busy! Go figure. I guess when there is not that many ramen places around, there is no competition. read more

I would say it's the worst Japanese restaurant i've ever been to. First, ramen here was nasty, even raw and sticky together, and the fish cakes were pretty expensive and not worth it. Also, the price was quite high compared to other Japanese restaurants, and they forced you to give at least 15% tips. However, they didn't provide worthy service. We had to serve ourselves and they were very rude to us when we asked about the dishes. read more

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Excellent little shop. We had Ramen and Udon soups and a noodle bowl. All tasty. Quick. Cheap. read more

Oishii Bowl - Pork ramen bowl. Yum. - Japanese Near Me - Ithaca, New York

We had udon and fried chicken bowl. Udon soup was too sweet for us, not sure if they used msg in their soup. For my fried chicken bowl, it was okay. Overall, nothing to rave about. It's just average for your value, portion and taste read more

In terms of the ramen I've had the shoyu, miso, tonkontsu and tan tan men (not really a ramen dish but it has the ramen noodles). I definitely prefer the flavor profile of the tan tan men the most-- the broth is really rich! However there aren't a lot of toppings (since it isn't actually a ramen dish) so if you like lots of toppings in your ramen, this one is probably not for you. However, I mainly eat ramen for the noodles and broth and too many toppings actually detract from the experience for me, so I love the tan tan men. The second for me is the tonkotsu ramen. The shoyu and miso broth both feel a bit one note. The ramen here doesn't fill me up that much so if you're looking for a heavier meal, the katsudon is a classic. read more

The food is delicious and filling. I normally get the dried tofu bowl or the fried chicken bowl and they are both fantastic. The staff is super friendly and they make your food pretty quickly. It's a great place to eat. read more

Hit or miss. Sometimes it tastes like they microwave the pork cutlet in the katsu don instead of frying it. A collegetown classic but not always good quality. read more

Oishii bowl was my go-to spot during the long Ithaca winters. Katsu Don with warm tea on the way to or from a long day of class always hit the spot, and the broth in the ramen is far from the worst I've had. Portion sizes more than make up for the price, and while they could clean up in the next few years, the atmosphere inside was consistently warm and comforting and the staff nearly always efficient and friendly. I'll miss this place. read more

Had lunch here today and was very disappointed with the quality of the food. Most of my group had one of the two tofu veggie bowls. The fried tofu was this weird, soggy chewy gum mess and the vegetables in the bowl were obviously from frozen "veggie mix" (califlower, broccoli, and carrots). Flavorless or worse and not worth the money (there's much higher quality food around for the same cost). Bummer that there's no veggie noodle dishes. read more

Avoid at all cost. They gave me food poisoning. I threw up after eating their fried chicken kaarage and Katsu don. Disappointing experience.

Love Oishi bowl especially when they have Burmese special on the weekend. The price is good! They make the broths for the soup. Staff is great! They always have free water and hot tea to drink. read more

Meh. Miso ramen is so so. The best thing about this place is their prices. It makes you full but not satisfied.

Unless they stay open until 2AM on weekends and start catering to drunk and desperate students, I doubt that they will make it to Spring Break. Why open a place with a Japanese name and then serve sub-par Thai food? They'll need $200/day profit just to make rent and I just don't think that's going to happen. It seems the only people doing start-ups in C-Town are NYC out of towners who don't know the demographic and can afford the rents-- for a while. The only decent new start up in the last five years is Crazy Yogurt and they're a franchise read more

How did this place ever get a review over 1 star? Honestly I'd give it 0 stars if I could. Worst ramen I have ever eaten... Mine and my wife's noodles where so over cooked. Know when you overlook ramen in the microwave and they get all pastey and get that slime on them? Exactly that is what their noodles where like. I got the spicy one and let me tell you... Spicy is not the right word, bland would be the correct word. Idk if they forgot to add spice or flavor but it was not even close to spicy. The ground pork in my ramen tasted like it had been boiled to cook it.. And had absolutely no flavor. My broth tasted like leftover milk from cereal, and not in a good way. My wife got the ramen with the soy sauce broth and the broth was better but with the gross noodles and the egg tasted like it was pickled it wasn't much better than mine. Save yourself the money and time and grab a cup o soup from Walmart, 0/10 would never go back. read more

Oishii Bowl - Japanese Near Me - Ithaca, New York

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If you're single on Valentine's day, I'd highly recommend this place. No lovey-dovey couples and the food is pretty good.

I had the tofu vegetable bowl. I hadn't eaten anything today but it was so bad that I could barely eat it and I didn't finish it.

The other items might be lousy, but the ramen soups are pretty decent. The noodle quality pales in comparison to NYC ramen joints. The broth is ok and the portions are big enough to feed one hungry person or two less peckish people. Of the ramen options, I think the tan tan men (spicy with ground pork) is the tastiest. Everything is about 8 bucks, which isn't terrible for lunch in collegetown. They are quite slow however, so you may want to call in your order ahead of time. read more

Followup: To be fair, I revisited Oishii recently to see if my first visit was just a product of an enterprise off to a rough start. Nope. Only this time, the experience was "enhanced" by an authentic barely English-speaking Asian clerk at the counter. I made the mistake of inquiring why there was an upcharge for brown rice in a dish, since brown rice costs a fraction of white rice and it should not increase the cost of an item. Silly me! Shut up and eat. Like I noted originally, maybe if the items were $4 a bowl, Oishii wouldn't continue to be such a mystery to me. As it is, I have no idea what niche Oishii is filling in C-town. But they are still there, so they must be doing something for somebody. read more

Definitely go for either the tan tan men or the default katsu don. Not sure about how "authentic Japanese" the flavor may or may not be but it definitely hits the spot when you want something warm and savory. read more

Great ramen and rice bowls. A place not to be missed!

I have been here over three times already since it's so close. Their japanese hand-pulled ramen soup is great but a little too salty. Still pretty good though. read more

Great food. Great price. Average condition. Came with girlfriend and had a great time!!!

They have stepped up their game and are now offering several new side and entree items. Noodles are still great, they've changed their bowls and utensils to non-disposable ones, and improved their pork seasoning or something... I was really impressed with it. There are now racks of spices and soy sauce at the tables, and they now have a VERY tasty pork bun as a side. All they need to do is touch up their ramen and they're golden. I would love those tea soaked eggs, sesame seeds, broth experimentation, and some other ramen topping options. There is so much potential!! C'mon Oishii, I believe in you! read more

Not being a seasoned Japanese soup eater, i really love tan tan men--I eat here at least twice a week, nothing has ever made me sick as some of the reviews state. I also like the Udon soup and the fish rice bowl, although the rice needs more sauce, too dry without it. I have had most everything 1-14, keep getting #12 every time. Going to eat there today in fact! Very friendly in there too. read more

nasty food and rude attitude. I ordered ramen. It was raw!!! Seriously?! Raw ramen?! I am allergic to bean sprouts. When I asked if they had bean sprouts in ramen, they were like 'I don't know, just check by yourself.' I was so angry so I didn't wanna give them tips, but they forced me to give 15% tips. I will never be there anymore. read more

After coming here twice, I realized that the food was making me sick. I tried the miso ramen as well as the "Oyako Don" and overall it was mediocre. I had a stomach ache for the remainder of the day after eating here for lunch, both times. For the soup: The pork on the "Miso Ramen" soup was 80% fat, 5% connective tissue, and 15% meat. The soup was very salty. The bamboo shoot slices were fairly good, but those are hard to mess up honestly. The texture of the noodles is similar to that of the ramen packs that you microwave with water. For the "Oyako Katsu": the chicken tasted and looked like something out of a crappy dining hall. The rice had a good texture and was nice and sticky. The eggs were fine. Overall, the food is almost sub-par. However, it is conveniently located in the center of collegetown, which is where most of the hustle and bustle of college students looking for a cheap meal is. Price-wise, it is pretty competitive. You're looking at paying between 8 and 10 dollars when you buy an item here. Honestly, for the quality of food being provided, I think it is a total rip-off. It's also important to add that even though the name of the restaurant is "oishii', which stands for delicious food in Japanese, a lot of the very few listed items are not actually Japanese. If you're looking for some actual Japanese food that is tasty, go somewhere else. read more

it's cheap and tasty... what more could u want? well i suppose the indoor seating could be spacier and cleaner.... but otherwise, top choice for student-budget friendly asian food in an otherwise limited options in ithaca . read more

Both the katsudon and tantanmen here are great. The ramen is better than anything else you can find in Collegetown. To the person complaining about the runny yolks in the eggs, it's called a soft-boiled egg and it was cooked that way on purpose. Possibly the best Japanese food experience in Collegetown, especially considering the prices. read more

My personal favorite is their Miso Ramen. The soup comforts you especially after a long and harsh day. Of course this is not a place for delicate, luxury food, but a place that could truly become part of your college life and memory. read more

The only ramen place in town, this little counter style place is awesome. If you can't make it up to college town, Ithaca To Go delivers it quick and easy, with the broth and the noodles separately. My favorite is the #12, savory, fresh and delicious. read more

Great noodle dishes and extremely quick service! One of my go-to places in Collegetown.