Genuine Food & Travel Review

Food FAQ

What is a Takoyaki? Takoyaki is a Japanese flour ball with the main filling of minced octopus chunks. Takoyaki is grilled on a cast iron griddle and served with dried bonito. The Takoyaki is also served along with a sweet and salty sauce.

Where was takoyaki originated? Takoyaki originated in Osaka and was a popular street snack. The credit for the origination dated back to 1935 by a street vendor named Tomekichi Endo.

What is in Takoyaki sauce? There are a few recipes that I have seen. But the main ingredients include oyster sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato sauce/ketchup

Value & Vibe

Value: Average price for ramen in Toronto. Decent portion. Very much in line with the typical ramen restaurant/chain that I have seen in Toronto.

Vibe: I like the midtown location. It is quite spacious. Very open and alot of space. Huge counter/bar area. Plenty of seating. Nice, clean and quick restaurant to grab ramen in the area.

Taste

I ordered Takoyaki for the appetizer. For the main course, I tried something new which was the “karaage original” in which it is a tonkotsu broth with chicken karaage.

Tha Takoyaki is fairly average but was a good addition to the meal. I personally like Takoyaki so I typically get it when I get a chance to. Nice mouthful comforting food with octopus chunk inside along with the sweet sauce and garnishes.

Now on to the main course for today. Lets seperate between the two. I would say that the tonkotsu broth was decent. I like that they give you a big spoon with the ramen. I thought that giving it slightly different utensil was fairly unique to this place. The broth was rich but not too oily or salty. I typically prefer a lighter style broth ramen so this tonkotsu broth is not too heavy and was easy to eat!

However, the chicken karaage was not best… I found the flour batter to be oily and somewhat soggy. The chicken also doesn’t seem too fresh or at least might need a bit of improvement on the aroma. Overall, the batter and chicken could definitely be improved. I personally would recommend to skip the karaage and stick with the ramen.

BONUS: I found a picture of the last time that I was also here. I got the Ajisen spicy broth with BBQ pork, spicy ground pork and kikurage. I personally like spicier food so I also thought that it was quite good.

Overall I would say that while I enjoy the ramen here, I am personally not a ramen enthusiast so I often times find myself to be a bit harsh on ramen as there is only two scale which is “good” and “not good”. I would say the ramen here both times were “good” but I would recommend you to reconsider ordering something else rather than the chicken karaage.

Score

Atmosphere: 8/10. Midtown location was nice. Quite and spacious. Nice servers.
Price: 8/10 (Great price. On par with the average ramen place and might be lower than some menu.)
Taste: 6/10 (Decent. Ramen scores higher but the chicken karaage is lower so averaged out to be decent)

Scale:
Would not recommend: Below 2
Need some improvement: 3-5
Average: 5
Decent: 6
Great: 7
Excellent: 8
Outstanding 9+