WE COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YAMATO!!!
I’m Cariño Guinaban Jr., the founder and owner of ZUZUTO RAMEN in Greece, together with my wife Mary Ann dela Vega. I’ve always been fond of noodles especially Ramen, not only eating them but making them, and it became my passion. I’ve used some small noodle machines before and I’ve seen other big noodle machine companies, but Yamato made a distinction.
I have also attended Yamato’s seminar in Paris in 2017 and I’ve always wanted to open a Ramen shop here in Greece since then, but due to circumstances it wasn’t possible. Then the second lockdown due to Covid in 2020 came. We took DIY Ramen out in the market selling through Facebook, and an Asian market and we received great feedback even from people who have travelled and tasted ramen in many places and countries. We then decided that it’s something that we shouldn’t set aside. So, we used all our resources and decided to open a Ramen/Japanese restaurant. To be honest, our resources were not enough, but Yamato helped us in ways they could. We really couldn’t have done it without Yamato.
Aside from that big help, they also sent us different floor plans for a restaurant and noodle production setup, and different recipes to improve our products. Very big help especially for us who are new in opening a Japanese/Ramen restaurant. Even with the pandemic, they, especially and mostly Mr. Akira, were very attentive on whatever queries and help we needed. Even with the pandemic, they managed to deliver the machine on time! to Greece! And again they’re always there to train and help us with anything we needed. You don’t feel like Japan is miles away from Greece with their support.
I also want to talk about how amazed we were with the packaging of the machine. The machine came in two boxes of heavy good quality woods. The machine was protected with styrofoam and bubble plastics inside. You can really tell that the machine was safe on its way.
You need tools of course to unbox it, but that was also fun and exciting! We didn’t inform Yamato that the noodle making room would be in the basement. And the staircase down there is narrow. The machine was delivered assembled and ready to start making noodles. But now we have to disassemble the machine into the roller unit and mixer unit. So, each unit would be small and light enough for us to bring it downstairs. To explain how the machine can be disassembled, they made a video, explaining how to do it and reassemble the machine. And all the tools and equipment needed for the job were also provided in the package! They were not just simple tools but of high quality.
And to tell you how easy it was to disassemble and reassemble the machine, my wife, a woman and by herself, did almost all the work on that part. Well, aside from me being busy, she mostly wanted to make sure the machine won’t get any scratches. She only needed help in attaching two parts of the machine as they’re heavy. The package also came with all the spare parts you might need in the future!
When the machine was ready, we only had one full session of training with Akira on how to use the machine and after that I’ve been using it without any further help on how to operate it! That’s how easy and user-friendly the machine is!! And it saved me a lot of time and energy in making noodles!
Now our restaurant is operating. And we are one of the only few restaurants here in Greece serving fresh homemade noodles. People really saw the difference and showed their satisfaction. We are now 2 months in the market and with no marketing activities, people are coming. It’s still early to say whether the business is going to be successful or not, but we hope that the next time that we’re going to write a testimonial for Yamato, we will be telling you how big we have become.
It is not an exaggeration to say that WE COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YAMATO; we really couldn’t have done it without their help. They have gone above and beyond our expectations!!! A never-ending THANK YOU to YAMATO for your wonderful noodle machine and for all the help and support that you are providing us! YAMATO RULES! It’s not a coincident that YAMATO sounds like Gamato, an expression in Greek which means Great, Cool, EXCELLENT, because they really are!
