Rodney C.
Yelp
I was downtown for a parade, and always had this ramen place on my bookmark list, but everytime I went there would be a line up outside and I ended up going elsewhere. Well today, I toughed it out and finally got to try it. Surprisingly though, I would have to give this place a quite firm 3.5 out of 5 stars.
When my partner and I arrived it was about 2:30 PM on a Monday afternoon, and there was still a small line up before getting in. Once entering the front door, it clearly states that your entire party must be there to be seated or they cant let you in. Hence I think we were able to by pass a few people since we were able to walk right past them.
Upon entering, there are a number of small tables, and a bar area to sit. We decided to sit at the bar area since we just wanted to sit down and eat.
The stools were overly high (my legs were more straight then bent) which caused my legs to barely squeeze under the bar area, and forced me to have to lean awkwardly down to slurp my noodles. A tad uncomfortable but manageable. They really should have made the bar area higher, as I cant see anyone eating noodles bent over so much being enjoyable. They also provide a nice little basket beside you so you can put your purse/backpack into it without touching the ground - Quite reminiscent of Japan.
Once seated, we quickly noticed that they were mostly if not all Japanese. Not the "fake" Asian looking Japanese, that just say the basic stuff, but they were doing full orders and talking in Japanese. So this got my hopes up, as well as all the splendid reviews.
Perusing the menu, I was also pleasantly surprised to find they had two kinds of tsukemen (dipping noodles) available, on top of just regular noodles. We ended up getting the shio tsukemen ($16.50 or so), and I got a large for +1$ (extra noodles). I also got a ginger ale float. They also have a float in melon, coke or orange juice flavor.
When our noodles came out, it was on a large plate with a small bowl of broth.
The broth was much more watery then I was accustomed to compared to the tsukemen that I have tried in Japan, which I was quite dissapointed with. All the tsukemen I have had before always came with a thick, rich broth. That when you dip your noodles, it fully coats it. As this broth was more watery, the noodles were not as well coated. There was some small bits and pieces of pork inside, as well as one soy egg. The soy egg was hard boiled, which was another dissapointment as the egg should always have a nice soft bright orange centre. I have seen other ramen places do it in Toronto, and honestly I can do the same at home so again this was a bit dissapointing.
The noodles themselves were also a bit chewier then al dente and were luke warm. Tsukemen noodles should be well rinsed under cool water, and eaten basically cold or room temperature. Then the broth that they are dipped in should be piping hot to heat up the noodles. The broth in this case was just barely warmer then room temperature.
Though the service was fast and friendly, I left this place unfortunately dissapointed given all the good reviews. Though this was defintely a good ramen place, by Toronto standards - This is no where close to being as good as in Tokyo. There were just too many missed cues for me to really enjoy my meal. Overall I left feeling just A-OK.