RAMEN YUTAKA — Restaurant in Aurora

Some constructive feedback for the owners during SOFT OPENING:

Service: Staff definitely need more practice and need to pay more attention. The standard procedure should be applied to all customers when seated and that is A) put the order form ready on the table, B) Ask if they want something to drink to start.

When it comes time to clearing table, you need to ask before taking a dish away even if it is just side condiments or one piece left on the plate. I had to stop the staff from taking it.

When it comes to paying the bill, you cannot ignore customers request for separate bill or come back with the bill "simply divided in half". You either say you can't do it, or you do it. You cannot say you will do it and then come back not do it correctly and create awkward situation for customers.

In addition, as I understand it is isn't a fine dining establishment, there has to be some degree of courtesy with regards to asking customers to pay the bill. You cannot ask the table if they are ready for the bill when visibly there is still someone eating their noodles. This is rude. Don't do this.

Food: The chicken karage portion size is good for the price. The spicy mayo dipping on the side needs to more to reflect the amount of sauce required for the chicken portion. On a side note, when a customer asks for more dipping sauce, you should not take the empty plate and refill it with a squirt of the mayo on the dirty plate (but no red pepper flakes). What you should do is go to the kitchen to get a NEW sauce plate and put mayo AND the red pepper flakes to recreate another portion of the dipping sauce.

The soup portion is insufficient. Needs about a second scoop of soup. Although when I asked about why there is so little soup, the waitress explained to me that "the chef has perfectly prepared the appropriate quantity of soup to noodle". Who am I do kid right? I'm just the customer, what do I know about eating ramen? This was a bit on the rude side to brush off a customers comment during your SOFT OPENING. Your staff need an attitude adjustment.

Regarding the pairings inside the ramen, they need to be warmed up a bit more. Nothing ruins your palate faster than hot ramen noodles, and cold piece of chicken breast or cold bamboo shoots. Everything needs to be up to minimum room temperature before serving. Find a way to fix it.

Price: A bit on the expensive side. For that price, the meat portion need to be increased in size/thickness or at least add an egg to every ramen to make your pricing competitive with other ramen restaurants. There isn't enough meat in each bowl. At $13 for the cheapest ramen with very small portion of meat and no egg...

SOFT OPENING: Obviously there are bugs to work out with a new store but upon entering this restaurant, we stood for awhile before being acknowledged by the staff. We were then presented with a "temporary menu" which had 4 of their ramen bowls displayed on it in which 2 off them were sold out. We were seated after a short wait and our orders taken. There were a few things that we noticed while waiting for our food. 1) If you do not order a drink off of the menu, you are not even brought a glass of water. I for one, was not brought a glass of water and the table beside us had to ask for water to be brought to them. This should be a standard when serving your guests at a restaurant. 2) The kitchen and service staff appeared quite unorganized being confused as to what dishes went to which tables and what orders were filled at each table, we watched a plate of Chicken Karage being taken to 2 different tables before reaching the right one. Once we received our food, it was decent. The noodles were good (made from scratch) but the portions VERY small. The Shoyu Ramen I ordered was about $14, it came in a small bowl with a small handful of noodles and 2 thin slices of pork, some green onion and seaweed. I ordered the side of Chicken Breast and side of Pork which cost $3.99 each and each plate came with 3 thinly sliced pieces of each meat. We also ordered the the 2 snack dishes they had available, the Gyoza and Chicken Karage which were $6.99 each. The Gyoza was decent and the Chicken Karage tasty, however, the plate only had about 7-8 bite sized pieces of chicken on it. Due to this being one of the only Ramen restaurants in Aurora, it is nice to try and I will probably revisit after their grand opening... but travelling into Markham/Richmond Hill will get you more selection, similar flavors and larger portions for...

Tl;dr: you gotta eat here!

I cannot give enough praise for Ramen Yutaka. This is my second time dining at this new establishment in Aurora and all I can say is this ramen is phenomenal. Diners should be advised that it is different from the tonkotsu variants you get in Toronto. The chicken based broth here is lighter, but does not leave you with a heavy sensation after eating. The noodles are made in house and vary depending on the broth chosen (the buckwheat variant has a slightly chewier texture and slightly nutty flavour).

I tried a different type of ramen at each visit, a spicy miso and their limited special mussel infused broth, and was blown away each time. The broth has so much depth and umami (without MSG) and can be attributed to their careful selection of quality ingredients. Other reviews are quick to point out that Yutaka’s price is higher than it competitors downtown, but the reason is clear once you taste the broth.

The toppings while extra are well worth it and well thought out. The marinated soft boiled egg has a beautifully runny center and is served on the side to prevent it from interfering with the flavour of the broth. The chicken breast and pork belly were both juicy and tender adding an appreciated meatiness to the dish. The bamboo is crisp with a beautiful sweetness that helps to cleanse the palate refreshing it for the next mouthful.

Thank you Ramen Yutaka for bringing ramen to Aurora and I will see you again soon!

A few notes for those eyeing this restaurant. Many reviews report the portion size to be small, but I found it to be perfect. Those with larger appetites need not worry as they offer an additional portion of noodles (kaedama) at no extra charge. It is recommended you eat the noodles quickly as they are fresh noodles and can get soggy if left...