Location: 10430 61 Ave NW

Website: http://ramenhouse.ca/

I miss Tokyo. I wasn’t writing Katstro at the time, but when I finally got to go on my lifelong dream trip in March 2019 I was over the moon with excitement. The time I spent there was magical – and every single thing I ate even more so.

Ramen is up there with sushi as the two most iconic foods that most people recognize as quintessentially Japanese – instant varieties being a staple food of busy moms and broke college students everywhere. Real sit down ramen though is such a vastly different experience from its instant cousin, and several locations in Edmonton have popped up serving variations of the noodle soup.

Ramen House is one of Edmonton’s newest locations offering up hot bowls of ramen – and while perhaps the weather hasn’t been the most soup-condusive, being in an area that I don’t usually get to be in lead me here. With a promise of a soup base that simmered for 20 hours and house-made noodles using the finest noodle making machine Japan has to offer. At the time of writing, they are actually offering all ramen for 9.95 for dine-in orders. So how was it?

Gyoza: Ramen house does not list the ingredients they use in the gyoza – they’re pork and vegetable stuffed and are served with a spicy chili soy dip. Unfortunately, the bulk of the flavour will come from the dip. The gyoza were rather bland and sad – the wrappers were quite soft and oily. I probably wouldn’t order the gyoza again.

Yuzu Chicken Ramen: Yuzu is this summer’s hottest ingredient it seems – even Superstore has an entire line of Yuzu products at the moment. I decided to go with the Yuzu Chicken ramen because I wanted that bright citrus burst- and it truly paid off. This ramen was packed with flavours that all played in harmony with each other. The Chicken Chashu was also a highlight – I’ve had pork Chashu frequently in ramen, but this was my first experience with a chicken version. I added the bean sprouts for an extra $1 – and for the extra crunch. I think the uniqueness of the Yuzu flavour really helped this ramen stand out.

Overall, Ramen House was a good stop between work and the errands I was running this night, but ultimately I don’t think it’s a place I will think about as much as other ramen options in the city. While I certainly wouldn’t say no if someone wanted to stop in, I also won’t be going out of the way to return. I do think it’s worth a visit, but it doesnt quite stand up to the other titans of ramen already established in the city.

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