Wasabi Ramen and Izakaya — Restaurant in Kelowna

It was very good for a reasonable price. (I will have to go again to give you more info) *In short, it is a great place to grab a cheap meal, and it has some appealing ramen options, still probably my favourite ramen place in Canada (that I have been to).

I would recommend you try them all.

*I have finally made it back. The Building looks like it was an old garage and despite the solid door, if google says it's open, It is probably open.

The menu has changed somewhat, so you don't really pick a style and a soup base. Still, they do have miso and chicken base, as well as the standard pork. So it is a good option even if you have a vegetarian in your party. I have tried a couple options and they were all nice and flavourful. Those accompanying me chose different options and were also quite pleased. The one downside is the servings are a bit smaller than I would normally eat (for the stock and noodles). But it is probably more than sufficient for the average person. They have a decent amount of toppings, some more than others but aside from the fried chicken option (which is substantial), they are similar.

Unfortunately it is more expensive than it was (Formerly ~$10) but compared to most ramen places these days it is a much more reasonable price, so it is worthwhile to keep coming back.

The staff were very friendly, and the atmospherics were ok. I wouldn't call it fancy or intricate but with the soft/warm lighting, it was...

I was quite disappointed with the overall flavour of the ramen, given all the raving reviews that they received. I understand ramen comes in different styles and this one is the cleaner brothy type (rather than creamy type). The soup base was salty, but lacks the thick, complex umami flavour that you normally get from chicken and chicken bones. I ordered the yuzu spicy ramen. I think they made the wrong choice in using alfalfa sprouts at least for the yuzu flavour soup base. Given that the yuzu flavour was faint to begin with, the vegetal fragrance of the alfalfa sprouts ended up competing against the featured flavour. I enjoyed the al dente noodles, but that was it. The noodles barely took on the flavour of the broth. As other reviewers have indicated, they charge additional for condiments. I didn't know this until the bill came. However, I asked for condiments as I wanted to try improving the flavour...but the condiment didn't do anything as it was just the same one that they used in the ramen. It wasn't any special home-made type. I won't be returning and with strong competition around, I hope this place realizes the importance of up-ping their game!

P.S. if you are from Vancouver or have had ramen in Japan, I agree with other reviewers you will surely be disappointed. This place is not ...

Objectively speaking as someone who is Asian and has had my fair share of ramen in California, Toronto and Japan, I’m very sad to say that this ramen was arguably the worst ramen I’ve ever had in terms of authenticity and flavour. I had the Spicy Yuzu bowl. The chashu or pork is just a piece of light pink pork slice that lacks the color (the usual brown charred appearance), texture, and flavour of what is usually in ramen. The noodles are almost instant noodle-esque, the onion and green onion as the sole toppings are a huge disappointment compared to what’s usually in ramen and made the dish seem like pho instead of ramen. Lastly the soup was spicy but bland at the same time. I believe most ramen come with the same noodles, pork (if you pick that option) and toppings since my family got the tonkatsu and original. I can’t speak for the soup of theirs but if you’re looking for an authentic bowl of ramen, this isn’t the place for you.

Oh and the karaage was not crispy at all, seems to be lying around waiting to be heated up instead of made fresh. And when we were waiting to pick up the order, the restaurant didn’t seem to have adequate AC so it was quite...