[Review] Toronto, ON - Ryu Ramen

33 Baldwin St, Toronto, ON M5T 1L3

Tucked away amongst other little restaurants was a ramen house on Baldwin street. On my trip to Toronto, I met up with a friend who introduced me to a delicious little ramen house close to the university! He got really excited about the place as he spoke about it, so I was hyped to go! It's about 3 blocks away from the University of Toronto St. George Campus, but it never seems I knew of its existence. Something cheap and delicious? They sure knew how to attract the student population! The ramen shop was not very large, I think it sat around 20-30 people. It gave off a really typical ramen restaurant vibe, similar to the ones in Japan. Luckily it wasn't very busy so we got a table immediately!

As a side note, I love going to Japanese restaurants because they have exceptional service and this place was no different! They are always so happy, polite and try their best to help answer all your questions! Our server did not fall short of these expectations.

Their menu was not very extensive but with the addition of a couple feature Ramens, it made the decision process seem a lot longer. By suggestion of the ramen expert, my friend helped narrow my suggestion to the chicken broth ramen or the spicy broth ramen! When I say ramen expert, I mean that he eats ramen a lot and now he dabbles in the art of making food suggestions - especially in Asian food. That aspect is always a bonus for me because I feel that my Asian food cravings is so small that I never actually get to try much of it.

RYU'S ORIGINAL SPICY TAN TAN MEN:

• Rating: 3.5/5 starfishes

• Price: $12.25

• Contains chili oil, ground chicken, dried shrimp powder, and sesame seed

• For a person who cannot eat spicy food, this one really hit me hard on the tongue and would not recommend this to anyone who can't even handle mild spiciness (no matter how delicious it is).

• A popular dish for anyone who loves spicy food.

ULTIMATE RICH CHICKEN RAMEN:

• Rating: 4.5/5 starfishes

• Pricing: $12.25

• Matches shio base when you are comparing ramen broths

• Contains bamboo, chicken cha shu, half boiled egg and lemon zest

• I added extra pork pieces into mine because I needed more protein and corn because I feel that no ramen bowl is complete without it.

• I loved the creamy taste of my ramen and almost drank the whole bowl!

• The pork I ordered was also not too fatty and they cooked both the chicken and pork very well. They were both very flavourful!

IKEZO PEACH SPARKLING JELLY LIQUER:

• Rating: 5/5 starfishes

• Pricing: $9.50

• A delicious Japanese fruit sake with actual jelly pieces inside.

• It requires thorough amount of shaking before you open the can because the jelly is stuck together as one big piece when inside the can.

• Bubbly and fruity - does not taste much like alcohol other than the after taste.

• You could probably finish this very quickly and not realize that you are consuming alcohol.

• I first encountered this drink at a ramen bar in New York and am so glad that it started to pop up at some ramen places in Toronto!

• There was another flavour available, but I am not sure what it was. However, I loved this flavour so much that I could not possibly contemplate on ordering anything else!

After trying this ramen place in Toronto, it set my ramen standard a lot higher.... I am actually a little sad that we don't have anything like this in Alberta. I am also sad that not many people make chicken broth or carry this sparkling sake!!! However, now I know I have something to look forward to when I go back. U of T student's I would highly recommend this as a cheap and filling meal for lunch so that it can tie you over as you study!! Let me know what ramen dishes you've tried from here and what you would recommend. Thanks for reading!