My original post was, maybe, too harsh: “For novices only. Better than Top Ramen, but not by much.”

Let’s go a little deeper here. Samurai Noodle deserves credit for being ahead of the ramen trend, and nearly alone in that domain for Seattle. When I moved to Seattle in 2012, they were the only game in town. They also deserve credit for making their own noodles in house, resulting in a satisfyingly yellow and toothsome noodle. (I bought raw noodles from Samurai when making my own ramen in 2014 and they were pretty damn good.)

That’s where my praise ends. On my last visit to Samurai’s location on Broadway in Capitol Hill, the restaurant was dirty to the point of houseflies landing in my soup. The staff were uninformed and inattentive. The noodles were maybe better than fine, the broth was just fine, but the chicken in my soup was woody and dry. (This was consistent with another visit to the International District location.)

Whatever first-mover advantage Samurai had in the ramen race, they have it no longer. Sorry Samurai.