Classic Meat Lovers Ramen
How it started
Vashti was craving ramen. To be honest, that’s how most things get started with us. It's one of the things that she misses most about not working on location downtown Toronto - no easy access to ramen. Then we discovered that Crafty Ramen was doing ramen kits and take-out. Needless to say, she was excited. Actually, not to put too fine a point on it but it used to be that she would only get that excited about me. That sort of stuff might dent the ego of a less self-assured man but I’m pretty awesome so I survived. Honestly, Craft Ramen is actually the kind of place that would warrant that kind of enthusiasm.
What is Crafty Ramen
Crafty Ramen is currently a duo of Japanese inspired ramen restaurants in Ontario. It was founded by a Japanese and a Canadian who cooked in a number of restaurants in various cities in Japan for a number of years. They pride themselves on using locally sourced ingredients whenever possible. Their noodles are made inhouse and they even serve vegetarian and vegan options. Wait, there’s more! They also have options for kids too!
What we ordered
We ordered three dishes:
- Classic Meat Lovers - pork chashu, pork belly kakuni, pulled pork, chicken breast, pickled shiitake, and noodles in a rich pork and duck broth.
- Kaizen Warrior - pork chashu, with bean sprouts, roasted corn, menma, and noodles in pork and duck broth with miso tare and sesame oil.
- Spicy Negi - chicken breast, with dried tomatoes, pickled shiitake, chili green onion, and noodles in chicken broth with shio tare and sesame chili oil.
- Kaizen Warrior - pork chashu, with bean sprouts, roasted corn, menma, and noodles in pork and duck broth with miso tare and sesame oil.
- Spicy Negi - chicken breast, with dried tomatoes, pickled shiitake, chili green onion, and noodles in chicken broth with shio tare and sesame chili oil.
Upon the recommendation of a friend, when we ordered we also specified that we would like to boil our own noodles. For each dish, the various ingredients were packaged separately and neatly labeled so that we knew what went where. At home, we just needed to boil the noodles, heat the broth, assemble the dishes and enjoy. It lacks the convenience of having someone do all of that for you at a restaurant for sure, but we were just happy to be able to enjoy good ramen.
Kaizen Warrior Ramen Components
Classic Meat Lovers Ramen Components
Uncooked Ramen Noodels
Classic Meat Lovers Ramen Prepared
How it turned out
We enjoyed:
- The noodles: We really liked the taste, texture and bite of the noodles. In particular it had just the right amount of give and stretch.
- The broths: The broths were very flavourful - rich, savoury and full of umami. They were craving-satisfying for sure.
- The pickled shiitake: This might be a weird thing to highlight, but we really liked the pickled mushrooms. I generally don’t like mushrooms but these really worked for me so kudos to Crafty Ramen.
- The broths: The broths were very flavourful - rich, savoury and full of umami. They were craving-satisfying for sure.
- The pickled shiitake: This might be a weird thing to highlight, but we really liked the pickled mushrooms. I generally don’t like mushrooms but these really worked for me so kudos to Crafty Ramen.
The one thing that could have probably improved the experience was more toppings. Vashti found that she would have preferred a few more veggies. Oh, and of course, larger portion sizes for me - or maybe that’s just my gluttonous nature?
These ramen bowls were delicious and we highly recommend this place. Aside from how tasty everything was, we also really liked that it’s unique, it’s their take on what ramen would be like in Ontario. The fact that they used locally sourced produce is also a huge plus for us. Vashti really liked that they had vegetarian, non-pork and kid friendly options - basically it has something for everyone - so long as they like ramen.