Location: 154 Cumberland Street, Toronto
Website: https://ramen-tabetai.ca/

Ramen Tabetai is the brainchild of chef Masaki Saito, best known for Sushi Masaki Saito, which is noteworthy for having been awarded two Michelin stars (and it’s the only two star restaurant in Toronto, which makes it Michelin’s highest rated restaurant in the city).

I mean, you had me at ramen, but ramen from a Michelin-starred chef??  Yes please.

Tabetai serves a very specific type of ramen known as Jiro-style ramen, which they describe as “garlic heavy, pork fat loaded – no apologies.”  It features a very flavourful pork broth topped with thick ramen noodles, a fat slice of chashu (which was oddly lean, given this place’s whole M.O., but still tasty), chunks of unctuous back fat, a whole bunch of raw garlic, and a crunchy veggie mix (cabbage and bean sprouts, I believe).

I’ll admit that while I enjoy this style of ramen, it isn’t my favourite.  I think the best bowls of ramen have an amazing complexity, and Jiro-style ramen is kinda just a porky, fatty, garlicky, salty assault.

Don’t get me wrong — I love being assaulted by porkiness, fattiness, garlickiness, and saltiness.  Those are all great things!  But it’s a lot of in-your-face big flavours, not to mention the intense richness.  I probably don’t need to have it more than once every several months, if that.

(I also think that this style of ramen is probably an odd fit for a Michelin-starred chef, as it’s more about blowing out your tastebuds than the type of gastronomical finesse you typically associate with Michelin-caliber chefs.)

To be fair, the restaurant does allow you to adjust your level of back fat, garlic, and salt — I went with the default 100%, though the waitress did suggest that 50% might be advisable for first-timers.  So that might feel like less of an assault.  But hey, go big or go home, right?