Grayson and I stumbled upon Ramen Koika on our post dinner walk downtown a couple of weeks ago and upon seeing the menu we said that we would go try it the week after because I REALLY wanted to try the Matcha Men and well, Grayson is always up for ramen. So like we decided, we went the week after.
Now getting there was quite the adventure…because I sort of forgot where it was and I told Grayson that it was either on Denman OR Davie street. And because I said that…we spent 45 minutes walking up and down Denman street trying to find it before Grayson finally decided that he would look it up because he got too hungry. Well…it turns out that it was on Davie street…and NOT Denman. Heh…he wasn’t too impressed with me at that point but hey, in my defence I said it was on one street OR the other 😉 Plus, he knows I’m horrible with street names and directions…whoops!
Icy matcha men
I got the Icy Matcha Men ($9.50) of course, I mean this is what I came here for! Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed when I tried it. I honestly thought that there would be more of a matcha flavor in the noodles but they just tasted like regular ramen noodles to me.
They also started to stick to each other a lot half way through my meal so I had to be not so classy about it and put the noodles in the dipping sauce in piles. However, I did appreciate the chewy signature ramen texture of them and the fact that they were house made. The amount of ramen that was given to me was more than enough too! Not the mention the hefty pile of seaweed the put on top of it!
Shoyu ramen
Grayson decided to get a shoyu ramen with lean chasiu and a gyu don because it was only $4.50 more to add it on to his meal. He was really glad to have added the gyu don to it. Not only did it taste absolutely amazing but the ramen was definitely not filling enough for him. However, if you don’t want to add a don to your meal you can always +$2 for extra ramen noodles. 🙂
The gyu don was lightly seasoned and “sauced” so that it didn’t taste to heavy on the palette or meat. It was just enough to be flavorful and wasn’t too overwhelming in sweetness. The ramen broth was lighter than those that he has tried before. He appreciated it because he could really taste the depth and flavors that have been developed in it. Plus because it was a lighter soup he didn’t feel as “heavy” and “food coma-ish” after his meal. He’s never had a broth like this before so he quite liked that.
