| rev:text
| - It was a rainy day in Montreal and I had a craving for some hot ramen. Coming from Vancouver, which is spoiled with good Asian food, and having been to Japan a few times, where my taste for ramen originates, I thought I'd give this place a shot. I didn't expect to find authentic Asian food in Montreal to begin with and let me start by saying this place definitely doesn't impress.
In terms of its decor, if you're looking for a tacky, run-down 50's theme then this place will shake your milk. I was seated in the "singles" section, at a bar facing the wall - nothing like an appetizing view of peeling paint. Not sure why they didn't make a bar by the bar. I was also disappointed that they didn't have a place to put my umbrella like a real Japanese place would have. They missed that practical feature but put some effort into setting up a display area full of cheap Japanese-looking stationery supplies and an Astroboy figurine by the restrooms. All part of keeping up appearances I guess.
As for the food, I ordered the pork "miso ramen." It came in a dirty- and oily-looking brown broth that did not even come close to real miso ramen in taste intensity. It came with a standard soft-boiled egg that was cold on the inside - made me question how long ago it was prepared. The pork had fake grill lines on it - I think it was another move to appease the local Macdo palate. There was a bit of corn thrown in there as well, and some bean sprouts, pho-style! The ramen itself was too soft and could have been instant noodles. To go with the Vietnamese theme, the spoon they provided was a tiny dumpling scooper. Another little detail they missed was that Japanese spice mix that all ramen places have - I guess nobody in Montreal ever asks or even knows what that is. I also saw on the menu that 500 ml bottles of Asahi are $9... Are you kidding me?! The ramen was $12, twice the price you would pay in Japan for the real thing.
I paid my bill to whom I thought was the manager, a Chinese-looking man with heavily pomaded hair and 50s looking fake glasses possibly procured from urban outfitters - although most likely from a dollar store.
Overall, my meal was nothing special and nothing close to real ramen. This place is tacky, fake, overpriced, and doesn't have good ramen. I don't appreciate the irony of the name either. If I have one good thing to say it's that the menu was simple. Don't let this place ruin your impression of Japan - it has absolutely no resemblance to Japan or to Japanese food.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)