Japan – Page 3 – Michael Eats

Stellar Ramen at Ramen x Remix

Published on December 14, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 424 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://ramenxremix.com/

I feel like Ramen x Remix really deserves to be more popular. I’m going to assume (and hope) that they do better in the evenings, because I showed up for lunch on a Saturday, and the place was a complete ghost town. Based on the quality of ramen I was served, this is a crime. The place should be packed with a line out the door.

I ordered the Signature Yuzu Scallop Shio Consommé (“signature slow cooked clear chicken broth, pork and chicken chashu, clam meat, yuzu, lemon, sashimi grade torched scallop, pork shrimp wonton, menma, onions”) and it was absolutely fantastic.

It reminded me a lot of the ramen from Afuri. I liked that quite a lot, but I think this was even better.

The soup itself had such a clean chicken/seafoody flavour, with a subtle bright sweetness from the yuzu. A lot of ramen can be a real face-punch of flavour — and I love that, don’t get me wrong — but I really enjoyed how subtle this was. But it’s still complex enough that I wasn’t even close to sick of it by the time I got to the bottom of the bowl.

And everything else was great, from the super-tender pork and chicken to the sweet, fresh scallop and the noodles, which were nice and chewy. It’s a very tasty bowl of ramen.

Solid Ramen at Midori Ramen

Published on August 26, 2024 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 412 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://midoriramen.com/

Ramen: it’s the best. I’ve said it on this blog before, and I have no doubt I’ll say it again. Even a mid-tier bowl of ramen is better than a great version of most other things.

Case in point: Midori Ramen. Is it the best bowl of ramen in the city? No, absolutely not. Is it tasty? It absolutely is.

Their specialty is tori paitan ramen, which is like the tonkotsu that’s so prevalent in the GTA, but made with chicken instead of pork. The best versions of this have an addictive roasted chicken flavour, and while this one was creamy and nice, it didn’t have much of a flavour outside of a pleasant, rich saltiness.

You can choose between thin, thick, and kale (??) noodles; they recommend thin. Like the broth, the noodles are pleasant, but they lack the toothsome chew that makes the best ramen noodles so special.

The toppings are all great, however. It comes with tasty pork chashu, a ridiculously tender slice of chicken, and a great ramen egg with a perfectly jammy yolk.

Great Taiyaki at Red Bean Waffle House

Published on August 9, 2024August 9, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 Steeles Avenue West, Thornhill
Website: https://www.instagram.com/redbeanwaffle/

Note: It looks like this place has closed down between me writing and posting this. Highly unfortunate!

The Red Bean Waffle House in Thornhill sells various cakes and savoury snacks, but they specialize in taiyaki — fish-shaped waffles that come stuffed with either red bean or custard.

I’m sure the custard is good, but come on — it’s right there in the name. You’ve gotta get the red bean.

The red bean filling here is actually slightly different than the usual. Its texture is creamier, and it tastes like maybe they’ve mixed in some custard with the red bean. I’m not sure if that’s actually the case, but whatever they’re doing, it’s quite tasty. It also has a satisfyingly restrained level of sweetness.

The waffle part, too, is a bit different from the usual: it’s slightly thinner and crispier, which works quite well with the creamy filling. It’s a very satisfying dessert.

Delightful Mochi Doughnuts at Marry Me Mochi

Published on June 19, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 City Centre Drive, Mississauga (inside Square One)
Website: https://www.marrymemochi.ca/

Mochi doughnuts are one of those things that were basically impossible to find in the city just a few years ago, and I wouldn’t say they’re everywhere now, but they’re certainly available. It may be basically impossible to live affordably in the GTA, but on the other hand… mochi doughnuts? You win some, you lose some.

Marry Me Mochi features an assortment of permanent flavours, as well as a rotating menu of specials; I went with one of the permanent varieties, creme brulee, which the menu says is their most popular.

The doughnut gets all its flavour from the frosting on top — there’s no custard filling here — but still manages to do a pretty impressive job of replicating the taste of creme brulee. It actually does have a custardy flavour, and while it’s not crispy on top, it is torched, which helps it to land that flavour.

It’s also delightfully restrained in its sweetness. A lot of doughnuts like this are both glazed and then frosted, which makes them a bit of a sugar bomb. The sweetness here is just in the frosting, which lets you taste the doughnut itself and doesn’t overwhelm.

And, of course, it’s a mochi doughnut, so it has that pleasant springiness (but without being overly chewy). It’s a great doughnut.

Tasty, Cheesy Pork Katsu at Katsuya

Published on May 26, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1224 Dundas Street West, Mississauga
Website: https://katsuya.ca/

There are very few dishes that wouldn’t be enhanced with the addition of gooey cheese. Think about a dish. Now think about that dish, but with gooey cheese. It’s better, right?

(And if you’re thinking that this isn’t true for dessert, let me tell you: you’re wrong.)

They have a cheese option for the katsu at Katsuya, which finds the traditional pork loin topped with mozzarella cheese before its breaded and fried, and yeah, it’s delightful. The pork is tender, the cheese is delightfully melty, and the exterior is nice and crispy. How could that not be great?

I ordered the Katsuya Original, which comes topped with “Katsuya’s house sauce.” I’d probably order one of their other options next time — the sauce was a bit sweet for me — but the katsu itself was so tasty that this was barely an issue.