noodle soup – 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.

Delicious Wonton Noodle Soup at Jim Chai Kee

Published on July 28, 2024 by Michael Nusair1 Comment

Location: 270 West Beaver Creek Road, Richmond Hill
Website: https://www.jimchaikee.ca/

It’s been several years since I’ve been to Jim Chai Kee, but my recollection is that they serve some of the best wonton noodle soup in the GTA.

And hey, what do you know — other than the prices (which have, naturally, gone up a bit), they’ve remained remarkably consistent over the years. It’s still a superb bowl of wonton noodle soup and, yeah, probably the best in the city.

Every element is right where it should be. The noodles are at just the right level of chewiness; the chicken-infused broth is light, but also bursting with flavour; and the wontons are really tasty, with perfectly cooked shrimp.

That’s not to mention the chili oil, which is smoky, flavourful, and extremely spicy. They sell jars of this stuff for $20, which seems like a lot, but when it’s this much better than basically any chili oil you’ve had, it’s hard to quibble with the price. It’s also so spicy and packed with flavour that you’ll inevitably need less of it than you would otherwise, so I have to imagine that the small jar — which, yes, I absolutely bought — will last a while.

I ordered the assorted bowl that also comes with beef and fishballs, and while they’re both very tasty, those amazing wontons are where it’s at. I think I’ll just stick with the wontons next time.

Tasty Vegetarian Vietnamese Food at Dai Bi Chay

Published on May 18, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 2399 Cawthra Road, Mississauga
Website: https://daibichay.com/

I’ll admit that I was a bit skeptical of Dai Bi Chai going in. An entirely vegetarian Vietnamese place? With a bunch of mock meats on the menu? How good could that be?

Quite good, as it turns out.

I tried the bun bo hue chay, a zingy, spicy bowl of noodle soup that comes with an assortment of mock meats. The soup itself was quite tasty, with a zippy flavour (that’s nicely amped up by the smoky chili oil on the table) and a decent amount of depth that keeps things interesting.

As for the mock meats, I’m pretty sure they’re all tofu-based (they all have the taste and texture of very firm tofu); I don’t think anyone’s going to be fooled, but they’re tasty for what they are.

Quick Bites: Machino Donuts, Fuji Noodle House, Kunafa’s

Published on May 14, 2024May 17, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Various doughnuts from Machino Donuts

Machino Donuts specializes in vegan doughnuts, and I’ll admit that I’ve dragged my feet on trying it because of that fact. I assumed that the vegan-ness of the place would result in compromised, subpar doughnuts, and I was 100% wrong. I tried three doughnuts here: the apple fritter, the banana bread fritter, and the sour cream orange, and all three were quite tasty. In particular, the apple fritter was right on par with the better fritters I’ve had in the GTA, with a lightly crispy exterior, a nice and tender interior, and a great apple flavour.

Fuju signature noodle soup from Fuji Noodle House

Fuji Noodle House specializes in tasty Chinese noodle soups, and yeah, it’s good. I tried the Fuji signature noodle soup (“signature hand-pulled noodle soup with beef, crispy pork fillet, Fuji meatballs, beef brisket, cilantro, and scallions”), and while nothing about it jumped out at me as mind-blowing, the noodles were nice and chewy, the broth was tasty, and all the meaty add-ons were satisfying.

Kunafa from Kunafa’s

Kunafa, for the uninitiated, is a delicious Middle Eastern dessert in which a gooey, neutral-tasting cheese is topped with syrup-soaked pastry. It’s great, though I have yet to find a truly exceptional version in the GTA. Kunafa’s, which I wrote a few years ago, specializes in the stuff. As you’d hope, it’s very good — probably the best in the GTA. I visited the original Scarborough location last time, and the one in Mississauga this time, and it’s clear that they haven’t missed a step in the expansion (they also have a location in Ajax). It’s a really tasty dessert.