A restaurant ready for the future with a robot as your server. Hiro Ramen & Tea is a casual Japanese restaurant with a welcoming environment. The pair of robots working there are named TARS and CASE, after the robots in the movie Interstellar. Having a robot serve you your food gives this restaurant a unique and fun experience.

Hiro Ramen & Tea is located on Sawmill Road in Columbus, about a twenty-minute drive from the high school. The restaurant experience is completely self service, which makes it special. The menu has a wide variety of appetizers, ramen, Mazemen, rice bowls, stir-fry udon, drinks, and desserts.

The smell of soy sauce and sesame oil fills the air as you walk through the doors. The choice of where you sit at this restaurant is up to you. The lights give off a warm and inviting glow, which makes the restaurant feel like you are at your own dinner table at home. Time passes quickly, especially with good company; it is easy to arrive when the sun is high and not leave until it has exchanged  spots with the moon. Once you pick your table and sit down, there is a QR code on the table that you scan with your phone’s camera. It takes you directly to the menu where you can order your food and pay then. You get your own drinks and condiments, and bus your own table.

I ordered Pork Belly Cheesy Fries $10, Chicken Gyoza $7, and Edamame $6 for appetizers. The Pork Belly Cheesy Fries were layered with a heavy amount of bright yellow cheese, followed by crispy pork belly pieces, the house made spicy mayo, and okonomiyaki sauce. Lastly, the dish was topped with scallions and pickled jalapeños. My first bite burnt the roof of my mouth, but it was completely worth it. The sweet and smoky caramel flavor from the pork belly and the creamy tang of the cheese were a perfect pair. The okonomiyak, a sweet and savory sauce, and the spicy mayo helped cut through the rich and dense dish.

The Chicken Gyoza were homemade Japanese pan-fried dumplings filled with chicken, cabbage, carrots, ginger, garlic, and onions. The moist chicken perfectly complemented the garlic, scallions, carrots, and cabbage. Arguably the make or break part of a dumpling is the wrapper that encases the fillings. The pan fried bottom was golden brown and added a needed
crunch, while the top of the wrapper was still slightly chewy. With ginger and garlic still
lingering in my mouth, I was excited for the fresh green edamame. It was almost addicting; the
steamed soybeans had flaky salt on them that melted in your mouth.

The appetizers came out impressively fast, and accompanied with them was the strawberry smoothie I ordered. The smoothie came in a tall boba cup, with the straw to puncture the sealed lid. The moment my straw broke through the lid, I could smell the sweetness escaping the cup. The refreshing smoothie cooled down my mouth from all the hot appetizers. The smoothie had an intense strawberry flavor, but was overly sweet, making it difficult to finish. Shortly after, the robot delivered the Grilled Chicken Ramen $12 to the table. The beautiful black ceramic bowl was deep, with steam rising from the top. The thick ramen broth was warm and comforting. The chicken was full of flavor, and the texture of the noodles had a really nice chew to them. The stunning presentation looked as if it came straight from a cookbook: garnished with fresh bamboo shoots and a soft boiled egg.

I ended my meal with an abundance of leftovers, learning that Hiro Ramen has generous portion sizes for the price. Overall, the restaurant was spotless and in pristine condition. The service was super fast, even when it got busy. The warm lighting, delicious food, and self service made it feel like I was in the comfort of my own cozy home.

What makes this restaurant different from most is that a robot brings your food out directly to your table. The robot knows exactly what table to go to. It stops directly in front of the table so you can take your dishes off its shelves. Then you tap the button on top of the screen saying you got your food, and it rolls back to the kitchen. I found this made it interesting when I got up for water, and had to dodge the robots moving about the restaurant. This is convenient and great so that your conversations are not interrupted by a waiter, like at other restaurants. The robot bringing your food to you adds a fun and unique experience that most restaurants can’t
offer. It’s also really convenient because you can decide to order something else halfway through your meal, and it’s not a big deal. The other feature that makes Hiro Ramen & Tea such a fantastic restaurant is how customizable every order is. You can add or take off any items you want. For example, adding extra noodles, or removing mushrooms, seaweed salad, egg, etc. The versatility allows any dish to please the palate preferences of others.

At Hiro Ramen & Tea, the quality and quantity of food are high, and the restaurant is clean, welcoming, and casual. The menu has great versatility due to the ability to add or take off anything to your order, making it easy to customize for anyone’s preferences. Above all, the robot delivering the food to your table provides a unique and fun experience that not many other
restaurants have to offer. I rate Hiro Ramen & Tea 4.8/5 stars. I recommend this restaurant to anyone who likes ramen, robots that serve ramen, any foodie, or a Japanese cuisine lover. With these robots delivering food, I wonder what the next thing AI could do? Could they possibly be the chef making the food next?