Services
It tries to develop an image of a local Japanese Ramen store by asking its customers to line up at the entrance and outside the store. However, there is only one lady at the entrance cashier and she doesn't have any capacity to make sure that the queue is in order. After all, it is not Japan and some customers may not have the self discipline that is required by this "self-queueing" system. Anyway.... one interesting observation is that the kitchen staffs (sort of an open kitchen) are serious in their works and looks dedicated, but some of the wait staffs are not that well trained as observed. A few examples: 1) When I ordered the ramen using the checklist provided, I chose "pork shoulder" instead of "pork belly". The wait staff was kind enough to suggest that pork belly tastes better and then I asked him to change it to pork belly and he said in a loud tone "absolutely no problem". At the end, it was pork shoulder in my ramen and when I told the wait staff who delivered the ramen to me that it should be pork belly, he offered no solution, remained silent and gave me a "leave me alone" look. 2) a young female wait staff seemed to be new to the store and did not entirely know what to do. Another female wait staff told her this and that and all of these conversations, as far as I obsersved in 15 the minutes timeframe, took place while they hold 2 bowls of ramen right in front of them. I suppose such slight exchange of body fluid would not lead to any health hazard but it is certianly a sign of poor training. 3) it is the courtesy and "rules" for the wait staffs to greet the customers who come in and leave the store (in Japanese style) and some of the female wait staffs greeted as if she was screaming. Seriously, it was disturbing. All in all, I wouldn't say the servcies are bad but they are raw and the management and the trainer should take primary responsibility.
Food
I have a pretty high expectation before I went and I (and my friend) were not impressed. We tried the "white" and the "black" ramen and the dumplings. The taste is ok but the soup is very thick, more like sauce than soup we feel. After the meal, both of us feel upset in the stomach and we guess it may be due to the oily soup base. Nothing wrong with this as it is a matter of preference.
Environment
Decoration is not bad, and it is clean. But it is a bit crowded and not entirely user friendly. For example, in the typical ramen shop in Japan (which Hide-Chan tries to resemble), there are hooks or hanger behind for the customers to hang their belongings. In Hide-Chan, only some seats have such but most do not. It is also understandable as we all know how high the rent is in Central......
Consider also the price it charges, I would say it is not that value for money. Many raman chains in Japan do better I think. At this price range, I would rather go to MIST in Hong Kong without a doubt. I hope it will improve over time.
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