I haven't been to Toronto in 10 years - what made me go? Well, the Dalai Lama doesn't stop by every day, so we went to visit him (along with over 17,000 other of his close friends) at the Rogers Centre - a wonderful afternoon chat.
Yes, the CN Tower is still there, but we found some other interesting places to visit.
But what I was really in search of was a real bowl of Japanese ramen - those lovely chewy noodles so poorly represented by Cup-Noodle and the plethora of fried/dried/compressed instant noodles you can find in any grocery store now...
Chowhounds led us to
Kenzo Ramen, on Dundas Street West, tucked away along a nondescript streetscape, but with a red ramen sign (in Japanese of course!) luring us in...
Great menu - drool inducing photos - I was ready...
We ordered the King of the Kings ramen, which was spicier than I thought - with 5 toppings (wakame (seaweed), soft boiled egg, fish roll, green onions, and pork).
As it was getting really chilly, and we were coming down from our Dalai Lama high, AND I was starving - the warm spicy broth and chewy noodles filled me with joy - slurp slurp!
Donald ordered yakisoba - stir fried noodles and veggies in a sweet/savoury sauce - House-of Parliament-ish. I think they use tonkatsu sauce...
He also insisted we try the Tako yaki - or octopus balls! A chunk of octopus cooked into a pancake globe, topped with more tonkatsu sauce and bonito flakes... I've never been much of a fan, and this is always better eaten from a street stall in Japan on a chilly day - but it did bring back memories! Note the nice disposable wooden boat it is served in.
Great atmosphere - always a good sign when an Asian restaurant actually has asian clientele!
Overall, we really enjoyed our meal, with a beer - warmed us to the core, and brought us to a more contented state - enlightenment NOW!
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