Japan – Page 4 – Michael Eats

Delicious and Unique Ramen at Afuri Ramen + Dumpling

Published on October 29, 2023October 29, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 411 Church Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.afuriramen.com/

There are many, many ramen shops in the GTA, but I can say with a good amount of certainty that what they’re serving at Afuri Ramen is delightfully unique.

Their specialty seems to be the yuzu shio, which the menu describes as “shio tare, chicken broth, bamboo shoot, frisee, chashu, egg, nori, yuzu, thin noodles.”

It’s the yuzu (a clementine-esque fruit from Asia) that sets this apart; the light, chicken-infused broth has a distinctive citrus-zest brightness that really makes it sing (there’s also a tasty browned garlic flavour that rounds things out). It’s leagues apart from the typically heavy tonkotsu ramen that’s so common in Toronto, but no less delicious.

The toppings are (mostly) quite tasty, with the perfectly cooked egg having a delightfully savoury kick, and with the light bitterness of the frisee contrasting nicely with the slightly sweet broth. That’s not to mention the thin, chewy noodles, which complement the bowl perfectly.

The chasu is the one weak point; it’s fine, but it’s a bit tough, and nothing about the flavour particularly stands out. Still, everything else is so good that this barely even matters.

Lots of Flavour at Crafty Ramen

Published on April 18, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 217 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://craftyramen.com/

I love ramen. If you browse through this blog a bit, that much should be apparent. I think it’s one of the world’s few perfect foods; I could live off the stuff (it would be a short but happy life).

Crafty Ramen — a lauded ramen joint from Guelph — recently opened their first location in Toronto, on the Ossington strip, and yeah, it’s good. It’s not the best bowl of ramen I’ve ever had, but there was a lot I appreciated about it.

I ordered the Northern Warmer with pork, which the menu describes like this: “A hearty miso ramen inspired by the Hokkaido region of Japan, featuring our very own Miso Robot! Pork chashu, chili miso butter, roasted corn, cabbage, carrot, and menma in our chicken broth.”

There are a lot of neat touches here — there’s the “miso robot,” which I guess is just miso-infused butter shaped like a robot, and the corn is nicely charred, giving it a bit of a smoky flavour.

The broth is very, very salty, however, which does somewhat drown out the would-be complexity from the miso. I certainly didn’t dislike eating it, but it’s a bit one-note and in-your-face.

I added on an egg, and it was perfectly cooked, with a great, jammy yolk. But like the soup, it’s a bit salty — it basically tastes like eating soy sauce with the texture of an egg.

Still! It’s ramen. It is inherently great, even if it’s not the best bowl I’ve ever had. The noodles were maybe a touch overdone, but were otherwise chewy and satisfying.

Tasty Noodle Soup at Ikkousha Chicken Ramen

Published on February 2, 2023February 2, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 249 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.ikkousha.ca/ikkousharamenchicken

Ikkousha Chicken Ramen shocked me. It’s a spin-off of Ikkousha Ramen, which specializes in porky tonkotsu ramen. I like that place a lot, but I find the flavour of the soup to be a bit one-note porky. It’s delicious, but not exactly my favourite ramen in the city.

Ikkousha Chicken Ramen, as you’d probably expect, serves a similar style of ramen, but made with chicken instead of pork.

I ordered the tori paitan ramen with an egg added on (a must). They have lighter choices on the menu, but the tori paitan is basically the chicken version of the signature tonkotsu at the original restaurant.

It’s very, very good. It has really delightful roast chicken flavour; it’s like a soup version of a great roast chicken, with such a rounded chicken flavour that it never feels one-note like the ramen at the original location.

The slices of ultra-tender chicken on top are great, and the egg was perfectly cooked, with a great flavour and a perfectly jammy yolk. The noodles were maybe a touch too soft, but that’s a minor complaint for what is otherwise one of the best bowls of ramen I’ve had in a while.

Tasty Japanese Noodles at Raku

Published on December 22, 2022 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 456 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://rakunyc.com/

If you’re looking for a Japanese noodle fix and you want something a bit different from the now-ubiquitous ramen shops throughout the GTA, Raku is worth a shot.

Raku specializes in udon noodles — which are thicker and chewier than ramen noodles — that they serve either hot or cold. I went with one of the cold choices, though I started with the yaki nasu: “deep fried eggplant, spicy miso pork, quail egg.”

The waitress explained that you should mix this one up so that the egg combines with the eggplant and the pork. The eggplant is soft, but still has some texture, and works very well with the meaty ground pork. The miso gives it an addictively savoury flavour, and the egg cranks up its silky richness. It’s a tasty dish.

As for the star of the show, I went with the zaru: “chilled noodles, dipping sauce.”

It’s a really simple dish; the dipping sauce basically tastes like a milder soy sauce. It really comes alive once you jazz it up with the accompanying green onions, mushrooms, wasabi, and the quail egg (not to mention the little dish of shichimi togarashi — a zippy Japanese spice blend — on the table).

The noodles are really the star of the show here, and they’re great, with a hearty chewiness that stands up nicely to the flavourful sauce.

Tasty Miso Ramen at Ramen Isshin

Published on October 7, 2019 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 421 College Street, Toronto
Website: https://www.ramenisshin.com/

Ramen Isshin is a beloved ramen joint on College near Bathurst — so beloved, in fact, that my phone popped up with a notification out of the blue to recommend it to me, and told me there’s a 97 percent chance that I’ll like it. 97 percent! It’s hard to argue with that level of certainty.

And yeah, I liked it. My phone was correct.

I went with the miso ramen: “Isshin Red Miso blend, wok fried pork, onions, bean sprouts, carrots, wood ear mushrooms, chives green onions, pork belly cha shu & thick twisty noodles.”

It’s quite tasty. The tonkotsu broth has a vibrant flavour that’s a bit one-note in its salty/savoury intensity, but still quite satisfying. It’s not the best bowl of ramen I’ve ever had, but even average ramen is better than most other dishes.

Aside from the broth, all of the add-ins are quite tasty: in particular, the bean sprouts add a nice fresh crunch that helps to balance the bowl’s richness, and the ground pork amps up its meaty flavour.

As for the noodles, they’re thick, chewy, and satisfying. It’s a tasty bowl of soup.