| rev:text
| - Location: About a 5 min walk east of Dundas station. You'll see the line-up! Due to the small lobby area (which is good for 4-5 people), people will be lined up outside.
Decor: The restaurant is small with seating for 8-10 people along the bar facing the kitchen and about 16 spots in small square tables packed tightly together. Be prepared to friendly with fellow diners :)
Food: On a cool fall day, we decided a bowl of hot ramen would be perfect. I've been to several of the other spots (Kinton, Raijin, Aisjen, Kenzo, Sensotei, Sonoyama, Ryu) so I have a pretty good comparison. First thing you noticed is that the speed - the waiters give you about 1-2 mins before asking if you are ready to order. Shortly after we ordered, we got our food in about 5 mins - I think it was record time (plus this was a Friday!). We also noticed that menu had these small rice bowls and combo meals (ramen plus a rice bowl) - this seemed like a nice touch if you were extra hungry. We ordered the Ikura combo with Shio Ramen and Tokusen Toroniku Ramen - this also new as it was pork jowl (from the jaw) which I never had before. For the Tokusen, I loved the broth - great flavour and richness to it while the noodles were chewy and had great texture. I was a bit hesitant first about the jowl meat - was it a marketing ploy but after I dipped it in the soup and took a bite - my worry was no more. It was super tender and tasty but it was also not very fatty. I know others like pork belly but I find it was too much fat (I usually order pork should if there is an option). The jowl seemed like a great mixture of tenderness and flavour without the fat Definite hit! My wife had the regular Shio ramen - same comment as well -wonderful soup and noodles. We actually loved the Ikura rice - it was a nice side dish that we split - briny salmon eggs with shredded egg on rice - yummy :)!!!!
Overall: As you can tell, the food was a hit! Now - it is a bit more pricey for their signature Tokusen but the others seem reasonably priced. For a treat, I think it is worth it to try. We definitely return to try the other types of ramen.
|