Raijin Ramen

Another new ramen place, Raijin Ramen. I guess eating ramen is really the 'trend' now. Knowing me, of course I paid a visit here for some taste testing.

As usual, we ordered the fried chicken to try. ($4)

Looks pretty huge eh? It is pretty good - crispy but I thought it was a bit too salty.

I requested to order the gyoza since it looked pretty good. ($2.50)

No disappointment, tasted pretty good. Fried nicely - crispy but not burnt.

I ordered the Noutkou Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen ($9.50)

First thing that came in mind when I saw this bowl of ramen was "Wow, a lot of green onions" lol. Nothing special with the texture of the noodles. I personally didn't really like the pork shoulder, the meat was a bit tough. The soup base was good, rich and milky.

My brother ordered the Noukou Tonkotsu Shio Ramen. ($9.50)

The only difference was there was black oil added to the soup.

I think they changed their menu and added a few things.
I saw this Poutine du Japon, so I thought I'd give it a try. ($4.5)

Looks nice, but I'm afraid I would have to say nothing special. It's basically fries with mayo and terriyaki sauce with bits of cheese and seaweed. I thought it was a bit funny how there were 3 random thin slices of green and red peppers. I didn't like how the cheese wasn't really melted. The fries were crispy and good. But it just didn't give me the "ooo so tastey" feel; I guess I expected it to be something more different.

They have 2 special ramens. I tried one of them, called "charcoal" or something? I don't remember the name ($11)

First time I've seen a ramen soup this black, lol. If you ask me how it tasted..I thought it tasted kinda strange.  It has a different taste to it that I don't really know how to describe. But after a few spoons it feels kinda plain and nothing special. It was supposed to have come chili pepper spice added, but I couldn't even taste it; Wasn't spicy at all.

Food: Pretty good
Service: Good. Not sure if its because I kept taking pictures, but the waitress kept walking over asking how their food is.
Price: Average
Atmosphere: I felt like there was a strong kitchen air smell. After leaving the restaurant I was a bit disgusted since I smelled like a walking ramen.
Overall: In my opinion, their ramen is nothing special. Not that it's not good, but it taste-wise it is equivalent to Momofuku (I would prefer coming here instead of Momofuku though, cheaper choice too.) When you first walk into the restaurant they have a sign in Japanese meaning "best ramen in Japan" (something along the lines). Maybe after seeing that sign I had high expectations but after my meal, I really felt their slogan was exaggerated. After my second visit and trying the updated menu, I recommend just sticking to the basics.

Raijin Ramen
3 Gerrard Street E, Toronto