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| - New ramen joint in the Yonge and Finch area. Saw some decent reviews and photos of this place so decided to check it out. Went on a Saturday afternoon with my food in crime partner and ordered the Original Karaage, Spicy Miso Ramen and the Mazesoba.
Original Karaage $4.90 for four decent sized pieces of dark meat chicken. Juicy, flavourful, can't really mess up deep fried dark chicken meat.
Spicy Miso Ramen $12.95. Thick soup broth, flavourful with a hint of smokiness. Their spicy version is nothing special, it's basically Miso base soup with a tablespoon of the chilli oils you find at fast food joints. It comes with these standard toppings free of charge, half boiled egg, bamboo shoots, corn and bean sprouts (which I opted out) and two pieces of chashu. Nothing special about the chashu, tastes like how chashu is supposed to taste like. The noodles are a little thicker than the traditional ramen places I've been. Has good chew and it doesn't feel like it will get soggy if you don't eat the noodles within 10 minutes. My problem with this bowl of ramen? It's kid size portion. Four slurps of the noodles and you're done. Before you can actually savour this dish it's already gone.
Mazesoba $11.95. It's a dry version of pork ramen, think Chinese Lo Mein. The pork pieces are not sliced but cut into bite sized pieces and comes standard with toppings listed above. The noodles for this ramen is different, it's a little thicker with the same chewy texture. Reminds me of thick wavy egg wonton noodles. There's a smoky soy base like sauce with oil (maybe pork fat?) drizzled ontop of the noodles.
I give this Ramen joint two stars based on the following. This place is mediocre compared to the other ramen restaurants just in that area. There's nothing spectacular about their ramen. Also for the price they charge for the portion they serve it's really not worth it. You won't be full if you're expecting a meal out of one bowl... even after drinking the soup. Not a place I would go again as there are better tasting ramen options in that area. Also if you're looking for traditional Japanese Ramen this is not the place to go. The owner is Chinese and you can taste the Chinese influenced flavours in the ramen. From the chilli oil, the soup base which is heavy in seasoning instead of pork broth and thicker Asian style noodles.
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