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| - On this fine, wet and windy weekend - I had a chance to check this ramen joint that I've had my eyes on ever since they were under construction. The Yonge/Finch area are full of eateries and Hakata is one of the latest ramen joints in the area.
The menu is simple, basic and features all of the popular ramen choices that were similar to the other ramen joints nearby. For the evening, I had the red hot tonkatsu ramen. The broth was thick and somewhat creamy, but despite the description of it being a spicy ramen, the miso hot sauce actually came in a spoonful with the ramen so you can decide how hot you want your ramen to be. Such a simple thing, yet so ingenius! Nursing a canker sore in my mouth, I could only tolerate a bit of spicyness at this time and it was a welcome feature to be able to control the level of spicyness.
The soup was flavorful, and aromatic. It was not overly salty in the beginning until you got to the bottom of the broth, just like other ramen joints. The noodles were thin however, and unlike at some other ramen joints, you do not have a choice of what kind of noodles you can order. My ramen came with 2 very thinly sliced pieces of pork belly, very thin that I thought they were like paper thin! I was hoping for more without having to pay extra. I've had ramen with thicker pieces of pork belly before at other ramen restaurants!
We had also ordered a side of pan fried gyoza, which were very under cooked. They tasted more like steamed than fried as they were very soft and mushy to bite into. This could have been better, but at $3.50 for 5 pieces it is quite the value, if they could only fry it a little longer.
Despite it's flaws, I would come back at least to try the other items on the menu. They have weekday specials such as $4.50 Sapporo on tap on Tuesdays to Thursdays with your order of ramen!
Service was quick and attentive, given the very small size of the restaurant, making it hard for the friendly staff to miss you wanting to get their attention. Hakata is a fresh, welcoming addition to the Willowdale area!
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