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| - I love this place!
I went in with a couple friends just to try out their ramen, turns out to be a pleasant surprise.
First, the reason why I took off a star: it's not the food, nor the service. It's the physical limitation of space in the restaurant, and for what I've seen, the store owner has already tried to maximize the usage of the space without making it uncomfortably tight. It is, however, predictable that if they receive too many customers the place would be clamped. Not their fault though.
The interior design is very appropriate. Instantly you will see all the small touches that will remind you a family style Japanese joint.
And the service reflects that. The lady that served us lunch was funny, welcoming and engaging. We instantly felt like we walked into my family room. Whatever we asked for, even for free items like glasses of water, they didn't hesitate.
But then all these are nothing, unless the food holds up the quality.
And they did. With 4 people in the groupno, we ordered 2 appetizers, the Japanese curry poutine and deep fried chicken wings, and 4 bowls of 3 types of ramen. For the love of god I can't recall the proper Japanese names, but I'm just gonna say we all agree that these are some of the best ramens we've had for a while.
We all tasted each others' soup base, and we loved all of them. A friend of mine had the red miso base: slightly spicy but nothing unbearable, and the flavor was really well balanced. The other 2 ordered the garlic pork bone soup base... OMG they are DELICIOUS.
For me I took on the challenge on the "hell" ramen, but only at level 1 spiciness - yes I'm a wimp. Spicy soup base is very challenging to make, because if it's out of balance, you will only be able to feel the pain. I'm happy to report that, despite I was sweating my a** off from the spices, I could actually taste the flavors under the spiciness. And that doesn't happen a lot.
I was really focus on my bowl, so I didn't have a chance to try others' meat and eggs. My bowl of ramen, however, was excellent. The poached egg was cooked just right: not too runny, yet not like a piece of rubber.
But the real gem of the meal was actually the appetizers. The curry poutine was new to me: imagine regular poutine, but instead of gravy you get the mild Japanese curry. They go together very well. The chicken wings... Oh man, the chicken wings. I'm not gonna spoil the experience, but it's something you JUST have to try. I'm just gonna say, it's not the regular Japanese wings... Hell, even with hundreds of choices at those franchised wings specialty restaurants, I guarantee you won't find this style.
The waitress was very nice, and offered us deep fried fish skins at no extra charge. They are slightly seasoned and crispy like no tomorrow. With the mayo dipping sauce it's an unbelievable combo. I'd pay up to 8 bucks for an appetizer like this.
We also wanted to try the grapefruit sake, even just for lunch. Unfortunately they were all sold out.
I'll definitely come back when I have the chance. If lunch is this good, imagine the dinner...! Too bad after we stuffed ourselves with their homemade green tea pudding dessert, we don't really have the room for their sushi and rolls anymore. Definitely something to look forward to for the next visit.
Sorry for the lack of pictures. Didn't think of writing a Yelp review until after the satisfying meal. We were too busy at each others company and devouring the food to take pictures anyway...
We ended up paying $72 + tips for 4. Unlike what I've read afterwards, this is reasonable for Japanese cuisine, and we were STUFFED. Worth a revisit.
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