Location: 367 King Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.megumimazesoba.com/
Soupless ramen is one of those things that seems like it shouldn’t work — a lot of the joy of a bowl of ramen comes from the flavour-packed soup. But between this place and Kajiken, another soupless ramen joint in Toronto, I’m on board.
Kajiken serves aburasoba, and Megumi serves mazesoba; though these are technically different dishes, my bowls at each restaurant were actually quite similar.
I went with the Zenbu Mazesoba: “Our signature bowl features perfectly cooked noodles, savory minced pork, tender diced pork chashu, and a silky onsen egg. Topped with fresh green onions, shredded nori, crispy wonton bits, fragrant minced garlic, umami-rich fish powder, and roasted sesame seeds.”
You can choose your noodle type: thin, udon, buckwheat, gluten-free, or thick. They recommend thin, which is what I went with. You can also choose your spice level, from “no spice” to “no mercy (double insane).” I’ll admit I was kind of curious about a double insane level of spiciness, but I went with “signature spicy,” which is right in the middle, and which adds a nice kick without overwhelming.
And the bowl is really tasty, with a satisfying silky richness and a nice savoury punch from the ground/chopped pork combo. The noodles are perfectly chewy, and the crispy wonton bits do a great job of adding some textural contrast (and there’s more on the table if you really want to crunch it up).
They also give you a tiny little bowl of rice when you’re almost done, which is a nice touch. You mix it in with the remaining sauce and meat at the bottom of the bowl, and it makes for a really satisfying last couple of mouthfuls.