soup – Page 3 – Michael Eats

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.

Solid Noodle Soup at Kenzo Ramen

Published on December 10, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 3337 Bloor Street West, Etobicoke
Website: http://www.kenzoramen.ca/

It’s hard to remember this now, but there was a time (not that long ago!) when ramen was actually pretty difficult to find in the GTA. And Kenzo is Toronto’s ramen OG; they opened their first location in 2002, and for quite a while, they were pretty much the only game in town if you wanted to sample ramen in the city.

Of course, these days it’s hard to go more than a few blocks without coming across a ramen joint, but Kenzo’s still around despite all the competition. So they must be doing something right.

And indeed, the bowl I had might not have been up there with the city’s best, but there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.

They have a whole bunch of options, but the waiter mentioned that the King of Kings is their most popular, which is a spicy shio broth with an “assortment of stir-fried vegetables with ground pork, topped with charsu, egg, naruto maki, menma, wakame, green onion, nori.”

You can choose your spice level; I went with the spiciest, and it was indeed quite fiery.

The stir-fried vegetables are actually the most unique part; they give the whole bowl that distinctive stir-fried wok hay flavour, which makes it feel quite distinct. It actually kind of reminded me of a style of ramen called burnt miso ramen that I don’t believe you can find in the GTA.

The noodles were a bit on the soft side, and the broth lacked the complexity you’ll find in the best bowls of ramen, but overall it’s a tasty bowl of noodle soup.

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.

Decent Noodles at Lion City

Published on April 23, 2023April 23, 2023 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1177 Central Parkway West, Mississauga
Website: https://www.lioncityrestaurant.ca/

It’s odd — Singapore’s cuisine is incredibly delicious, and yet there’s maybe like half a dozen Singaporean restaurants in the entire GTA? If that? I feel like there should be one in every neighbourhood, but at least we’ve got a few of them.

One of those few restaurants is Lion City in Mississauga, which serves a diverse menu of Singaporean classics that, alas, were mostly unavailable when I visited. I guess they were having kitchen issues?

The laksa was one of the few dishes that was available, and hey, I’m never going to be mad about having to order laksa.

The style of laksa they serve here features a really tasty, curry-and-seafood-infused broth that’s made luxuriously creamy thanks to coconut milk, and that comes with a generous amount of thick rice noodles.

It was far from the best laksa I’ve ever had, with a flavour that was a bit too muted, and with slightly overcooked noodles, but it was still tasty. The various toppings — shrimp, fish cakes, chicken, tofu — were all well prepared and complemented the soup quite well.

This is going to make me sound like a maniac, but there’s a type of instant laksa you can find at Asian supermarkets from a Singaporean company called Prima Taste, and… I honestly think it’s a little bit better than the version they’re serving here, with a more vibrant flavour and a better texture on the noodles.

I know that recommending instant noodles, of all things, over a restaurant dish sounds like a food crime, but trust me: try those noodles. They’re so much better than any other instant noodles you’ve ever had.

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.