Kaminari Ramen Bar — Restaurant in Toronto

I want to start off by saying the service and vibe of the restaurant were amazing. Perfect for a nice date night with some ambiance but also if you just want to stop by for a quick solo meal. The staff were so attentive and very friendly. Unfortunately the food fell a bit short of expectations given the price. Nothing was bad but just missed in terms of flavours. I get that this isn’t your typical Japanese style ramen so maybe that’s where the disconnect was but I felt it lacked cohesion and focus.

To start, why was there parsley garnish on everything? It lacked purpose on the pork sando and the flavour didn’t work with the ramen. I’m a firm believer in that garnish should serve a purpose and can be eaten with the food without detracting from dish. The sando was good but could have used a touch more acidity and cabbage. Pork was tender, seasoned and cooked well. Bread was milk bread so you can’t go wrong.

We had the creamy shio ramen and the duck ramen. The creamy shio ramen had pork which was cooked perfectly, chicken that was tender though lacking in flavour and the clams were honestly a bit lost. Had there been more clam flavour in the broth I would better understand their addition. The creamy foam topping was visually appealing but not sure it added to the overall taste though the noodles were nice and firm to my liking. Broth just tasted like fortified chicken broth, nothing spectacular but nothing offensive (Except for the parsley). The duck ramen was overly soy forward. Too much tare and not enough fat maybe? Duck and noodles were cooked well. We added the soy marinated egg which was very nice and jammy but maybe an agitama style egg is preferable.

For the premium price of the ramen compared to other veteran ramen places in the city, there’s opportunity to fine tune the execution a bit. Individual elements shone through but when put together, the end product was a...

I normally don’t care that much about service because I’m Chinese and good food is good food. But tonight the service was so surprisingly bad I have to leave a review.

So we had three people in our party, everyone ordered a ramen with an extra egg. Our order comes, my friends all got their eggs but mine was missing. I tried to grab the waitress’s attention but for some reason she just doesn’t wanna come to me. To the point that another guest at a different table saw me (even though he had his back to me), and told the waitress I’m trying to get her attention. She then walks towards us, and promptly ignores me to talk to the table next to us… I was like okay, she’s gonna talk to me after she deals with that table, that’s fine. To my surprise, she started to walk away after her interaction with the other table. I had to try again to get her attention.

Finally I do, and I said “excuse me, I think my ramen is missing the egg I ordered”. She looks at me, and all she said was “oh it’s missing the egg?” Then walks away. No apologies, nothing.

After a while, she comes towards our table with my extra egg. She puts it down on the table, then walks away. Not a single word was said… ugh? What? Seriously?

Unfortunately the ramen isn’t that good for me to bear with this kind of service. I won’t come back again and would not recommend this place to...

I am Japanese who was born and raised in Japan. This is hands down my favorite ramen shop in Toronto!! 🍜

Even in Japan, I saw places that just ended up kind of copying what’s trendy. But what they do here, I think, is on another level! They preserve the quality and spirit of authentic Japanese cuisine, and then build something completely their own on top of it.

Every bowl reflects that balance, which is respect for tradition and creativity that adds a new layer of umami. The flavors have the richness and finesse you’d expect from top ramen in Japan, but there’s also uniqueness that I don’t think I could even find easily in Japan.

The owner, a humble Japanese chef who prefers to stay out of the spotlight, pours his heart into every detail from naming “Tokyo Shio” after ingredients that actually trace back to Tokyo to using soft water to create not only the soup but also in the noodle-making process to create that delicate texture.

And please, don’t miss the sweet potato dessert. It’s unforgettable🍠

They’ve gone through hard times because of the area, but this is one place I truly don’t ever want to lose. It deserves to stay. It deserves to be known.

So please go visit, tell your friends, and let’s help keep this kind of real, soulful...