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| - I vaguely remember the first time I came here early 2014 with a friend to check this place out. The shop was modestly occupied with decent wait times. They were still serving this appetizer called the Japatine, their rendition of poutine with Japanese curry substituting the gravy; it was quite good. Fast forward to last weekend, I walk in during my lunch break to a bustling jampacked shop. Through the clamour of the open kitchen with the handling of the woks and timers going off, patrons conversing in between slurping their noodles, and the staff enthusiastically greeting customers, I was told by the front that minimum wait time would be half an hour or more---for a single seat! I switched to takeout and got myself their tsukemen and a red miso for my co-worker. This place is a well-oiled machine, with the crew pumping out 4 bowls of noodles at the pass within minutes of each other.
Waiting for my order, I encountered none other than Yamaguchi Shinji (Mr. Gushi) in the crowd. I jokingly complained to him, "Why isn't your stall open?! I had to walk all the way up here to get my fix of Japanese food!", "I know---we're working on it. But this place is really good!". There you have it. You know this place is legit when it has the endorsement of the man behind Toronto's best karaage.
Back to the food itself, my takeout order was packaged with care, with noodles packaged separately and saran wrap over the broth containers to minimize spillage/oiliness. The tsukemen was delicious, with perfect noodle texture and a delicious broth that clung on to the noodle on dipping. It really hit the spot for me, as someone running a 12-hour shift. But it didn't end there.
At the end of my shift, I returned for more. I thought at 9pm perhaps the crowd may have diminished---nope, just as busy. I was seated within 20 min and got myself the Red Dragon. A beautiful bowl of noodles with a crimson broth, a mound of scallions hiding a mound of chili paste, with a chili pepper sheathed in it as if it were the Sword in the Stone. I ravenously devoured it. The fragrance, the heat, the flavours---a deeply satisfying meal to end the day. The number of ramen shops in downtown Toronto that I haven't visited could probably be counted on one hand---I would say Isshin is easily one of my favourites.
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