Ramen zuzutto by Ikemen — Restaurant in Calgary

We came across Ikemen Ramen Bar in the Kensington area of Calgary on a Wednesday afternoon. The parking situation is grim, but if driving, you can search for paid street parking nearby. When we arrived, we were greeted and led to our table. The restaurant itself isn't very large and can hold about 9 parties. It was busy when we arrived, so we felt lucky we were able to snag a table.

Overlooking their main menu, they have appetizers, ramen, sushi, sashimi, and dessert. We started with an order of edamame (steamed soy beans with sea salt) for $4. When it arrived, they didn't bring an extra bowl to store the empty bean pods. We used an empty plate we had available instead. This was a typical edamame appetizer, nothing special.

We also ordered the Unagi Poutine, an Ikemen Ramen Bar original. This was made with house-made chicken gravy, hand-cut potato fries, BBQ fresh water eel, bonito flakes, garlic mayo, and seaweed powder for $13. This appetizer was pretty gross. The entire plate was cold including the gravy, fries, unagi, and cheese curds. I wish it was at least warm. This would have made it much better.

Lastly, we also ordered a Shio Ramen bowl which was composed of sea salt, local farm pork/chicken chashu, onsen egg, green kale, garlic chips, sesame seed, and green onion for $13 + $1 for yuzu-kosho spice added. It came in a giant bowl, and the broth itself filled up less than half of the bowl. They use chicken paitan (white broth) boiled for 8+ hours as their ramen soup bases. The ramen was okay. I didn't enjoy it that much. The yuzu-kosho spice didn't add anything to the broth. The quality of the noodles was weak.

Edamame - $4 - 3/5 Unagi Poutine - $13 - 2/5 Shio Ramen - $14 - 2/5

Overall, this place is very average. Although they have good service, the edamame needs to be served with an extra empty bowl for eaten pods, the unagi poutine needs to be warm, and the ramen bowls need more attention to their noodle quality and spices used. I wouldn’t go out of my way to...

Dined in at this restaurant upon the highly regarded recommendation of a friend. A chilly evening always can use some ramen!

As we walked in, all staff was friendly and let us pick a table (it was not busy around 545pm on a Friday). They scanned our vaccination cards. The tables were clean and spaced out. Water was automatically brought to the table. There were big tables (for groups) and smaller tables available.

We asked our server what item was the most popular and recommended the miso ramen. Ordered the miso ramen along with one chicken karaage.

The karaage was okay. It was dry on the outside with some type of white powder (flakes), the chicken itself was moist but the outside flavouring was not my favourite. The house-made garlic mayo that came with it was flavorful and overall made the dish better.

The miso ramen was okay. The broth was not super flavorful and personally was lacking in salt as well. The noodles were thin and curly and cooked perfectly. The chicken and pork in the ramen were also cooked well and had more flavour than the broth. The bowls they came in were beautiful and aesthetically pleasing!

Servers were nice, quick, and checked in on us.

The seats along the walls are uncomfortable as they are just a plank of wood with no cushioning. Little design or artwork on walls gave a bland look, making the atmosphere lacklustre.

Price with tip came to under $50 for two miso ramens and one chicken appetizer.

Overall – I would try this restaurant again. They have good reviews, do a different take on traditional ramen, are local, and are easily accessible/locatable in Kensington. The food this first time was not super amazing in my opinion, but they have lots of different options of ramen to choose from! The staff was great, and the price...

Harrowing.

An uneasy presence hangs over the establishment. The employees bring to mind the mythic japanese Yōkai, I refuse to elaborate on this point further. I wish I could say there was a particular reason, some tangible pyschic moment wherein I could define why I felt so much discomfort, why my soul couldn't be at piece within the confines of these four walls. Yet here I am bringing you this somewhat empty hearted review. So bear with me and see this as a warning, not a telltale.

the empty patio, an omen, the ever so slightly ajar door that is almost too hard to push open. It's like the shop front istelf wants to ward you away. A talisman I wish I had taken seriously.

There are few fleeting memories in my life where I have asked "have we truly killed our gods" the moment I was served my Roasted Tomato Veggie Ramen was one. Catastrophic and alienating, the cuisine brought to mind Sartre's novel Nausea.

Brief recollections of humanities lowest within our blood stained histories make me a feel sense of injustice. For example when Klaus Barbie was brought to trail for crimes against humanity during the nurmberg trails, he was a feeble old man, still in uniform... he stood infront of the court seig heiled and called to the hand of justice "When I stand before the throne of God, I shall be judged innocent."

It's in meditation of moments like this wherein I wonder about whoever designed that wretched bowl of noodles suspended in flavorless broth and vegetarive failure, will they face their repentance? I...