Menjiro Ramen — Restaurant in Edmonton

This has been my food obsession for three years now. First on my own, then when I met my husband, and now with our baby. Before our baby we would come two / three times a week. I’ve spent well over $15,000 here over the last three years, so I definitely think I can speak to my experiences here. To start, I’d like to say that this place has one of the BEST quality of employees I’ve ever experienced. I always have a great time chatting with our regular waitresses.

When I first started coming, it was soooo amazing. 9/10 times it was consistent in flavour, quality and amounts. Then unfortunately they got really popular and started cutting corners for cost I’m assuming. They put half the amount of black garlic oil they used to, lowered the quality of the oil, so now you have to buy extra on the side for $1.25 on top of the cost of the ramen that has also kept crawling up in price. They’ve started filling the bowls less, I take lots of photos and you can slowly watch them become less full over time.

They’ve added soooo many new cooks that the broth is never consistent anymore. Half the time it’s really bland or “thin” instead of creamy and full of the flavour that made me fall in love with the place. It used to cost me $27 for the Chicken and my ramen 🍜 on my own, now it’s well over $30 for all the same items, while the quality I loved and the consistency has slowly failed. Every time I go in and I have that one bowl that reminds me of how amazing their broth can be, I know exactly which cook is in, we call him the OG because his bowls and chicken are always amazing.

Also, about six or so months ago they changed something with the pork belly and I’ve now gotten food poisoning three times. And a few friends have as well, they don’t love it the same we do so unfortunately they refuse to go back after getting so sick. We just ask for them to sear it as much as possible and cook it way longer and that seems to get rid of the raw pork taste. Again, they unfortunately only do that half the time so we have to pick it out and throw it again and still pay for it.

I really absolutely love the place. We drive 45/50 minutes a few times a week to go, I’m just really sad how the popularity has really lowered the quality and quantity. But it is still the absolutely best flavoured ramen in this province that I’ve found so far. And that’s why I still go back despite all the issues and quality lately. For those few and far in between amazing bowls that just make your...

Always game to try new ramen places so as soon as the hype died down on the newly opened Menjiro, we were prompt and early to make it to their doors at 4pm. After a couple attempts before with their wonky hours in the beginning we were surprised to see that there were already diners in there and finishing up their meal as we were just walking in at 4pm. Wait... what?

With only 3 tables to cater to, including us, the server was friendly enough to let us choose our seats, there's a lot more space and seating than I was expecting. The painted mural was super cute with the theme rolling towards their menus as well. Specializing in chicken broth instead of the norm of pork base. I didn't know what to expect flavor wise. Jumped on my comfort base and ordered the Black Garlic - ($14.5) - First glance looked like my normal ramen bowl. First con might be the fact that they opted for pork shoulder instead of pork belly, which maybe made me not like how "untender" my meat slices were. Typically when chashu is served, it's super soft to the touch and you're able to slurp it all down with noodles. This had a bit of bite to it which is fine. Just not what I would have chosen. The black garlic favor didn't fully come through so I added a ton of the chili spices that was on the table. which in the end made my bowl super tasty. But the aftermath of all that msg and salt made me super dehydrated and in need of a dozen cups of water. (learn from my mistakes ya'll) Nostalgic Japanese Shoyu - ($14) - noticed the price difference as I'm writing this review that the only topping missing from this was maybe the extra half of the egg, is half an egg .50cents? I really liked the broth more on this, creamier and actually came off more rich in flavor. Deep Fried Gyoza - ($6) - served with a side of spicy mayo, this was little bits of deep fried goodness, filling was super juicy.

Overall, my experience at Menjiro was decent. Does Not beat Tokiwa in my opinion but they've got alright bowls, maybe just need to try out a few more to see which would be a favorite. Welcome to the ramen...

A new ramen place has opened in Edmonton, and it's mediocre at best. Understandably, they're going through a soft opening, but there's not a lot to separate it from its competitors within the same price range. It's a little better than Nomiyas, in some ways, but it's no where near Tokiwa ramen.

We ordered the black garlic ramen and takoyaki. The takoyaki was an average street style appetizer with lots of batter, Japanese mayo, and cheese. It wasn't bad, but if you're looking for bigger pieces of octopus, or Katsuobushi, you won't find it here.

The ramen was lacking in some ways, but surprisingly ok in others. The soup was a chicken broth, not a typical pork broth. It made it sweeter, but you miss out on the rich flavor profile of the pork broth. This was probably the biggest deal-breaker for me. At first glance, the noodles looked underwhelming as they were thinner than your traditional ramen, but after a couple bites, there was a pretty good al-dente chew. It would've been nice to have it thicker, but this was a decent substitute. The black garlic lacked further umami profile. It was very grainy, and there was a burnt or bitter aftertaste that isn't present in other black garlic dishes that I've had. The ramen also had some spring mix, an egg, bamboo shoots, a small piece of chicken breast, and two slices of pork belly.

Overall, it was mediocre. But given the soft opening, I hope to see a turn around in order for this ramen place to compete with other...