Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 33 Baldwin Street
Type of Meal: Dinner
The edamame potage noodle arrived next, another summer addition. In this cold version
the noodles are sitting in a thick tofu milk with blended edamame giving it some
texture and a beautiful light green colour. One for the vegetarians it simply contains
sweet corn and white fungus. For me, the natural sweetness of the corn and
edamame almost made it seem like dessert (yet still having a bit of a savoury element).
Although light and refreshing at first, as I ate more of it the taste became a
bit flat. I’d suggest offering it in small portions as an ending or marketing
it as a “healthy” choice for those who’d rather watch calories than indulge in
taste.
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Gastro World's Grading System
Address: 33 Baldwin Street
Type of Meal: Dinner
Baldwin
Village just keeps getting more diverse with every visit making me want to go back
for more. For this occasion, my friends and I checked out another Toronto
Common event - the Tokyo cafe style ramen tasting at Ryus Noodle Bar for $20.
There’s not
much to say about Ryu’s interior – it’s small and sparse, has a fair amount of
seating and decent enough conditions. Before the ramen came out we each got a
platter containing various meats with sauces, gyozas and a chicken sunomono
salad. Essentially, a condensed portion of items normally offered on their regular
menu – the meat platter and gyozas priced at $15.75 and $4.95, respectively.
We were
treated to sous-vide beef & chicken and slow simmered pork belly. Indeed
the beef had a beautiful pink centre while not a speck of blood thanks to the tempered
water bath it was cooked in. Yet, the meat itself was a tad tough and not as
tender as you’d expect. The chicken was nicely cooked but the star was the pork
belly (or cha shu) which had a decent flavour even without any sauces.
Otherwise, on the side were XO sauce, sweet & spicy ginger paste, yuzu pepper
paste and truffle oil allowing us to personalize what we wanted with each meat.
For me all were a delight with the exception of the truffle oil; although it
smells very aromatic it really didn’t add much to any of the meats.
The middle
bowl contained a pork and a vegetable gyoza, both had thin wrappers and a fair
amount of filling. Juicy on the inside and a nice developed crust on the
outside, they were what you’d hope for with pan fried dumplings.
Lastly, the
chicken sunomono salad was filled with chunks of sous-vide chicken and thick
seaweed. Conceivably it was due to having so much of the sauces accompanying
the meat but I found the salad itself quite bland, especially the chicken.
However, with the condiments on the side I was able to flavour it myself and possibly
Ryu’s didn’t care to highlight this dish given it’s not a part of their regular
menu.
Onto the main
event. In succession a miniature bowl of each noodle (typically $10 a bowl) was
brought out and to begin the traditional shio ramen. Immediately what stuck out
was Ryu’s soup, it is thick and intensely flavoured! Ryu boasts that dried various
seafood (scallop, shrimp, clam, cuttlefish and bonito) are boiled for 50 hours
to develop this umami filled broth. You can definitely taste the essence and
thankfully wasn’t salty at all - just enough to balance against the thick
springy noodles, white fungus, bamboo shoots and meat accompanying the ramen.
Although the
shio was good, my favourite was their new cold noodle salad that will be
offered in the summer months. Although not the most beautiful looking, the
taste is delicious. Cold al dante noodles are tossed within a sweet & spicy
sesame sauce, topped with more pork, chicken and crunchy black fungus. The
sauce hits you in succession – first the sweetness, then the nuttiness and
finally ending with a hit of heat. I can see this being a hit during the hot
months when hot steaming broth isn’t appealing.
Lastly, a hot
spicy miso ramen which flooded our mouths with a mix of chili and spices. Using
a spicy bean paste the broth had a real depth to it – although personally too
spicy for me to really drink on its own. Yet, when combined with the chewy
noodles, diced tofu and minced pork it was delicious. If you like the Chinese
dan dan noodles or the Korean ja jang myeon, you’ll likely also like this
offering.
To end, a miniature
mason jar containing Rieko's Japanese style creme brulee. There’s a thin layer
of brulee made from large crystals of raw sugar, some still intact adding a
crunchiness to the dessert. The custard is cool and creamy with a nice vanilla
flavour to it. All in all, not a bad way to end the meal.
Overall, the
ramen tasting was quite enjoyable and I love trying different types of noodles
so you never actually get sick of having too much of the same thing. Perhaps
Ryu should offer it as an ongoing menu item (or even just a cold and hot
offering) as I’m sure it’s something other customers would love to try.
Overall mark - 8 out of 10
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Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
