ramen – Elsie Hui

January 27, 2019

Tokyo Noodle Shop – Edmonton, Alberta

We take random trips out to Edmonton and this particular afternoon we were there and found ourselves at Old Stratcona area fueling up. We decided to eat something before the drive home for the evening, so this was an early dinner when we went downstairs to Tokyo Noodle Shop. It was a busy Saturday night as the place was half full, not sure if everyone else is doing what we’re doing or what’s going on but it was a lively place!

I ordered their Chicken Ramen which the waitress said it comes the way it looks in the picture when I asked if there was corn in the ramen. I know it sounds strange, but I do like corn! The chicken ramen wasn’t bad, a nicely grilled piece of chicken that sits on top of the soup with a generous portion of noodles and toppings!

The other noodle we ordered, they called it Deluxe Udon, which was a bowl of udon with chicken and crabsticks and it also came with shrimp tempura.

The Shrimp Tempera that came with the Deluxe Udon was pretty decent! The shrimp was clean with a good texture and it was perfectly fried to a nice light crisp.

Overall, we enjoyed our dinner here. It was fun to see the beautiful presentation that they have for the customers that order sushi. They really take pride in the work they do, and it does show!

Tokyo Noodle Shop

10736 82 Ave NW,
Edmonton, AB
780-430-0838

December 26, 2018December 29, 2018

Jinya Ramen Bar – Calgary, Alberta

I often have lazy afternoons on weekends, and this one day I was not only lazy, I was starving! So, we decided to venture to 4th Street and see what kind of food we could find for lunch. We parked the car and we knew of Jinya Ramen Bar and figured if it’s too busy, we’ll go try elsewhere.

To my delight, we got seated within 10 minutes and I was really excited as I love ramen! I decided right away that I was going to have a bowl of Tonkotsu Ramen which is one that I order a lot. I like to think of it as a “signature ramen” for any ramen place. When the bowl of ramen came out, it was large portion sizes, sizzling hot and there was a sign that says to enjoy by stirring up the bottom to the top. I did! It was great!

The other bowl of ramen we ordrerd was their Unami Miso Ramen and the bowl of ramen was amazing and if you ate all the noodles, you can ask for more noodles and they’ll add it to your broth for a small charge! What a fantastic idea!

We really enjoyed our Ramen here and it’s a great place to go for it, especially for it being in Calgary! The food was tasty, the service was prompt and amazing and the prices were extremely fair!

Jinya Ramen Bar

1800 4 Street SW, Unit 180,
Calgary, Alberta
(587) 356-0721

September 30, 2018September 30, 2018

Goro + Gun Japanese Noodle Bar – Calgary, Alberta

I go to Stephen Avenue maybe a few times a year and I’ve been going there when Goro + Gun is closed, but this one time I finally made it there! Just as I was done and leaving the mall, I saw it was opened and had to go in.

This was just a light lunch or snack as I wasn’t intending to eat at this hour, but we started with their Gyoza’s mainly because the people next to us had some and they looked amazing. When ours came to the table, I was right!! The skin was thin, the filling was tasty, and I didn’t really use their sauce at all. Their blend of pork filling and spices was perfect and the sesame vinaigrette was delicious as well even though I thought it wasn’t necessary.

We ordered 2 noodle dishes that were quite different. We ordered their Tonkotsu Ramen that was filled with a generous portion of ramen, topped with some BBQ Pork Belly and my favourite, red ginger! All this amazing bowl of ramen was warmed by a perfect blend of their pork broth.

The other noodle dish we ordered was their Yakisoba which was their brothless noodles with BBQ pork belly, sunny side egg, green cabbage, bean sprouts, red ginger, bonito flakes! This is definitely different from any yakisoba from a food court as this was amazingly delicious!

At the end of the day, I’m really glad we decided to spontaneously stop in here and have some noodles! We already paid for parking, so why not!

Goro + Gun Japanese Noodle Bar

#245 – 225 7th ave SW
(inside Scotia Centre)
403-237-5596

August 26, 2015

G-men Nan Chu – Richmond, British Columbia

I’m actually very confused about the name of this restaurant, but the name on the recipet says the restaurant is called Ramen Bar at NanChuu Japanese Izakaya, however it seems to be called G-men and you don’t see that name as the “dominate” name.

We were brought here by my sister-in-law and her husband, and this place was pretty decent! We started with some Gyozas which as usual, is my dish to order when I’m in the mood for appetizers at a Japanese restaurant. The skin here was really thin, and the filling was amazing! They pan-fried it to perfection!

The other appetizer we ordered was something I’ve never had before, and they call it Okonomiyaki which is Japanese Cabbage Pancake, which is shredded cabbage mixed into a batter and made into a “pancake”. The toppings here was pretty basic as I believe it was just bonito flakes! The dish was pretty amazing and it’s going to be something I’ll order more often!

For ramen, I ordered their Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen and this bowl of ramen is massive! It’s got lots of everything, so make sure you come with an empty belly!

We also ordered their Dan Dan Men which didn’t cross my mind as a japanese dish, as I’ve always associated as Chinese or Sichuan. But, regardless, we ordered a bowl, and it was full of flavour and spice! It was different from what I associate Dan Dan Mein to be, but it was a nice change from typical Ramen – although we were at a ramen place!

Overall, an amazing place! The place is pretty busy and pretty small, so be prepared to wait! But, it really helps build up your appetite as you wait so you can finish everything! Food is quite good, and the prices are very good too!

G-men @ Nan Chu

1160-8391 Alexandra Road
Richmond, BC
(604) 276-8391

November 16, 2014November 16, 2014

Suzu Japanese Noodle House – San Francisco, California

This one evening, we didn’t know where to go for dinner. We were on the San Francisco side as we were doing some sigh seeing, so we decided we would go for Japantown for some ramen for dinner and we ended up finding Suzu Japanese Noodle House inside a little mall. The place was little and packed so make sure you have some patience if you want to try them – it’s worth it!

We started with an order of Gyoza as well all know, I love dumplings. They pan fried the dumplings here really nicely and the pork inside was really well seasoned. It was a thin skin and delicious!

I ordered their Cha Shu Ramen with Shoyu flavour soup and it was actually really delicious! The broth was excellent and the cha shu was tender, juicy and flavourful! The texture of the ramen was really nice and the noodles were really fresh!

We saw a news article outside the window of this restaurant where someone was showcasing their Suzu Ramen so my husband got that! It was quite different as it had karaage, fried gyoza and corn in his soup. His soup was miso flavoured and that was super tasty as well. We didn’t like the fried gyozas nearly as much as the pan fried ones that we got as an appetizer but the noodles are as tasty as it looks!

We also ordered a bowl of Kakuni Ramen with shoya flavour – which was their braised pork belly. It looked and smelled delicious and it was eaten completely withouth a word! So, it was awesome!

Overall, we loved our experience here. We all thought it was worth the wait and we know we could be back! The prices were reasonable, the service was quick and friendly and most importantly, the food was so good!

Suzu Japanese Noodle House

1825 Post St
San Francisco, CA
(415) 346-5083