Ginza Ramen

Went here last night for dinner with family. It was an alright bowl of ramen but I like my broth to be much richer. We were there towards the end of the night so it’s possible we got the bottom of the bowl. Pork belly was ok but bland. Goyza was fine.

I wanted to check this place out despite the mixed reviews (also being inundated recently with photos of Japanese ramen on Instagram).
As soon as I saw chicken karaage was on the menu, I had to have it, and it was pretty good but not the best I’ve had. The side of wasabi mayo was a nice touch, though. My friend ordered the gyoza and those were excellent.
It was hard for me to choose a bowl of ramen because they were all very similar, give or take one ingredient. But they do offer most of their ingredients as add-​ons (but um, $ 2 for an egg? Are they serious?). I settled on the Spicy Tonkotsu, knowing that the Japanese ramen I’ve had is quite mild. It was quite spicy, actually! I almost didn’t get through the bowl. The pork belly in the ramen was great. The presentation of the food was also good.
Service was good, but we weren’t offered a drink menu or dessert. My friend and I had met here on a Friday at 5pm, and I am very glad we met at that time because the restaurant filled up slowly but surely, with a line forming for tables. The dining room is quite small so avoid coming with a group.
I will return for the atmosphere and convenient distance from work, and if I have cash on me (they don’t take debit! Curses!)

This is my first experience with Ramen in Ottawa and it was just average. It definitely does not compare to the ramen in Toronto.
The menu at this location is extremely small and does not offer much variation in comparison to the Elgin location to my knowledge.
I got the Hakata Tonkotsu (replacing the bean sprouts for corn instead)
The broth was okay, a little bland. The pork belly was kind of dry, not tender which was a disappointment. The egg was soft and not overcooked which was a plus, however it did lack flavour. The corn was good, it had some sweetness to it.
Overall, it was decent. Not really worth the higher price tag when I can get a bigger portion of phở down the street for cheaper with better quality.

The soups came and 15 minutes. We ordered the ramen chicken ramen and the spicy pork belly ramen. The soup so damn expensive here for what you get so make sure you have your wallet open. The staff is very friendly and we got a personal thank you from the chefs in the kitchen. The ramen is handmade and fresh daily. Overall it’s a good place to go to eat to check out Japanese ramen but it is a little expensive for the portion size.

The ramen is good, but simply does not hold a candle to ramen places in Toronto. The depth of the broth, the garnishes, they are good, but lacking. Was also disappointed at the Elgin location when miso black cod was on the menu but not in the kitchen. Update your menus, it is a small thing that keeps customers from having a negative experience.

This is my first experience with ramen (I am assuming that the stuff in dry 50-​cent packets doesn’t count) and it was a good one! I got the shoyu and my companion got the shio.
The wait for take-​out soup was a bit long at 25 minutes, but the service was warm and friendly.
The décor is adorable. It’s warm and cozy and everything is wood. It’s like a classy shack I don’t know how else to describe it.
The food was very good! I am not sure what constitutes good ramen, but I enjoyed it. I thought mine was excessively salty, and I was glad I got corn as an add-​on to cut the salt, although I think the corn was raw as it was kind of starchy, but it was sweet and I needed that among the salt. But yeah, very flavourful and satisfying! The egg was like butter, so soft. The shio was much less salty and a very different flavour which surprised me.
My only complaint is the pork belly. It’s the only meat they offer, and it didn’t seem that good to me. It was very fatty (which is appropriate for pork belly I guess) but the meat part of it was kind of chewy and not tender, which made it awkward to eat as part of a soup and I ended up not eating much of it. I wish they would offer some leaner cuts of meat or cut the pork belly differently so it’s easier to manage.

Love this place!!! The soup is so tasty! Nice little place. Service is a little slow but it’s all worth it just to see what you’re getting. I highly suggest the fried chicken apetizer.

Ein sehr kleines Lokal. Das Lokal ist nicht nur klein, sondern auch etwas in schieflage. Statt Stühle sind Holz Hocker zum sitzen da. Buchstäblich Holz Hocker. Eckig, aber nicht zu ungemütlich! Passen höchstens 20 Personen in dem Lokal.
Service: eine Servicekraft übernimmt alles. Getränke, Bestellungen, Leitung, etc. für so einen kleinen Laden reicht es wohl auch. Ist schnell und sehr freundlich.
Essen: bisher in Ottawa ein gemütliches japanisches Lokal, wobei ich denke dass der gut läuft. Die Schüssel Ramen in Miso Suppe war gut. Nach der Bestellung höchstens 5−10min warten und schon bekommt man das essen. Die Ramen haben biss. Nicht zu weich, aber auch nicht zu hart. Die Suppe war köstlich. Mit Mais, Lauch, beef. Man kann nicht sagen, dass alles aus einer Tüte stammt. Jedenfalls ist es heiß und köstlich gewesen.
Als Nachtisch kann man die Mochi Ice probieren. Bisher sind 6 Sorten zum probieren da. Weitere sollen noch folgen. Da wäre ich mal gespannt. Man kann zwar seine Sorte aussuchen, aber als Empfehlung sollte man wirklich alle Sorten ausprobieren. Kann ich echt nur empfehlen! Wer etwas schnelles sucht und satt werden möchte, dem kann ich das kleine Lokal nur empfehlen.
Geschmacklich ist es echt gut!

For those craving ramen in Ottawa, you can’t go wrong with Ginza Ramen. It’s nowhere near as good as even the average ramen shops in NYC, but among the limited choices in O-​Town, it’s not bad at all. Décor shoots for the Japanese ramen shop look and it’s fairly small, but service is good and really you’re here for the food which delivers.
The noodles are chewy, the portion of pork belly is good and the broth is not too salty, but it doesn’t have that richness of a really good ramen broth.

What a discovery ! We were looking for a restaurant in Chinatown, confused by the numerous Phở Bo Ga and other Vietnamese specialities. And then, we saw the simple, clean outside decoration. The restaurant is small, lovely, and the waitress is very nice. There was a lot of customers so we have to wait a few moment to get the ramen but it was fine. The meal was hot, freshly done and tasty. There is a lot to eat /​drink ! Everything was very fine, even the price: we paid 30 $ for two people, with 2 ramens and 2 iced mochis !

Ginza gets 5 stars for what it is. Ignore the reviews that compare it to things it’s not.
Service was fast, courteous, and accurate.
The ambience was simple and clean.
The food was delicious and ample.
The price was good.
Wishing I knew how they kitchen makes those incredibly flavorful perfect softboiled eggs. The broth had depth; the porkbelly was simple but well excuted.
The spicy pork broth! Not for the weak of tongue.
If I lived in that neighborhood; I’d easily be in there once a month.

Went to this location thinking it would be the exact same quality and taste as their sister Ginza restaurant on Elgin, but I was wrong. I ordered the vegetarian ramen in miso broth, but it wasn’t nearly as flavourful as the one I had at the Elgin street location a few days earlier.
The waitress got my order wrong despite the simple substitution I asked for (swap the corn for more sprouts). I ended up with a ton of sprouts, less noodles, still got the corn and they left out the mushrooms. Also, they missed the eggs on both my soup and my dining partner’s soup. When I pointed out the error, the server was nice and brought me the mushrooms, but I still had to deal with the corn and way too many bean spouts (maybe that’s why the overall flavour of the soup was diminished).
The spoons used weren’t the authentic ones that the other location used.
The seating isn’t the most comfortable experience either, especially close to the window where the floor is crooked and the tables tilt at a large angle and wobble (not ideal for a place serving hot soup). I brought this up with the waitress (the tables could be easily levelled with minimal effort), but her suggestion was to move down a seat which wasn’t very helpful and then we were too close to the other table full of loud people. The best seat in the house seemed to be the booth nook right in front of the window.
My dining partner didn’t enjoy his soup either (pork belly and miso) and had to drown it in hot sauce and pickled ginger to give it some flavour.
Overall, I would prefer the Elgin street location and wouldn’t come back to this one.

I was attracted to this cute little shop by two separate articles in the Ottawa Citizen extolling its virtues, but after experiencing it myself I have to agree with the overall sentiment of previous reviewers. While by no means bad, Ginza’s offerings just aren’t that great.
On the bright side, this place has their aesthetics down. The storefront is impossible to miss and it is obvious a lot of effort went into making the interior inviting and hip in a non-​threatening sort of way.
When my spicy tonkotsu order arrived, it looked delightful. The soft-​boiled egg was perfectly cooked, which is the first place I expect most ramen shops to fall short. Alas the taste did not live up to the presentation.
First, and frankly this could also be last, the broth was significantly underseasoned. Underseasoned broth is more disappointing than erectile failure after a few too many whiskeys. It’s an insult to the critters that died to make that food. It’s a failure in basic technique. Just… No. A thousand hours of simmering would be utterly for naught if you don’t add enough salt to the damn bowl. If there was any of the depth and unctuousness I would expect from tonkotsu I couldn’t find it in there anywhere.
The pork was fine, the mushrooms damn fine, and they probably would have both been better had the broth not let me down. Same story for the noodles. At least they cooked the egg properly.
3 stars for the good service and very good gyoza, as well as the overall pleasant atmosphere. I just find it hard to believe that the owner’s years cooking ramen in Japan never taught him how to season a broth.

This was my first time experiencing ramen that was not Mr. Noodle. I will begin by saying that the restaurant did a nice job of accommodating a large group of people. It’s very small (probably seats no more than 30), but our group of 12 was seated close together and had our food show up at roughly the same time. They do not take reservations, but I did call ahead to let them know that our group was coming and they did their best to meet our needs. Our server was great and did a good job of making sure people’s waters were full and that people were enjoying their food.
I shared a Chinese chicken dumpling appetizer with a friend. They were quite nice — crunchy and flavourful. For my main, I had a shio ramen hold the pork belly add egg. The presentation was beautiful! However, while I was able to eat most of the dish it would not rank as one of my favourite noodle soups. This is compounded due to the fact that I got an upset stomach shortly afterwards which followed me into the next day. I don’t think I will be having ramen again any time soon!
I will say though that in our group I seemed to be the exception rather than the rule. Most seemed to really enjoy their dishes and their experience was a good one. Even the pickiest eater ate most of his food and seemed to enjoy it.
The prices were fair, especially as my friend picked up the check :)

Overall a solid ramen offering for Ottawa. If your comparing it to Ramen you would get in NYC or Japan, you will be disappointed.
The broth, which is what makes ok ramen become an amazing, is decent but not great here. We both got the spicy ramen which we thought was good but a little greasy.
Overall, I would go back if I had a ramen craving but with lower expectations.

I was invited here as part of a group and I was really excited at first because I’m a huge fan of the Ginza Restaurant on Elgin. I will just say now, I’m no Ramen expert and after trying it a few times around the world, I don’t think I like Ramen, so I’m not going to review the restaurant on their ramen. I’m going to tell you instead that the service was great. We showed up with 12 people and this teeny tiny restaurant accommodated our gregarious and adventurous group. They explained the menu and the different beverages, a selection of which is quite cool. There was only one server working and she was quite effiicient in getting drinks served and bringing appetizers and meals. It was a cozy atmosphere and the portions were good. It was difficult to tell the difference between some of the dishes, but she was approachable and patient at explaining. I doubt that I’ll go back because I’m not a ramen fan, but I would encourage any one else to check this place out for its location, variety and service.

Somerset has several of tasty options which rank way above this place.
The service was the best part of this restaurant. The male Chef is very friendly and adorable, and the waitresses were very kind and helpful.
But, why go to a restaurant if you don’t enjoy the food? I asked for an appetizer of edamame, which wasn’t brought to us and was totally forgotten. The ramen was undercooked, the pork belly was really rubbery and full of fat. I loaded the soup up with the chili dust that was on the table, but still, the spicy ramen wasn’t as spicy as I would like it to be.
I didn’t want to seem rude to the lovely chef and waitresses, so I ate as much as I could of the ramen. My friend didn’t even finish ¼ of it. I felt bad because I had suggested the place.
We tried getting the taste of the bitter ramen broth out of our mouthes with a green tea mochi ice cream bite. It was literally a tiny ball of sticky rice dough, with a dab of icecream in it. Wasn’t bad tasting, but it certainly was tiny.
Although the spicy ramen wasn’t so good, the restaurant has a very beautifully design. The tables are small, and it is a bit crowded inside, but the presentation of the ramen and the décor was lovely.

I’d give Ginza Ramen a solid three stars.
It’s a unique concept which was sorely needed in Ottawa.
The food is decent and served quickly, but it just seemed a little bland.
There are options for spicy ramen if you’re into the Korean version of the dish… but that just added spice and not flavour.
I would be willing to try it again, but this will not be my first choice when heading out for food.

This is my first ramen experience so i don’t have anything to compare it with.
The restaurant is small but the wood tables and wall paneling makes it feel very inviting. The service wasn’t bad but it certainly wasn’t good. They didn’t ask us if we wanted drinks (which aren’t listed on the menu) and after the first quality check they never came by.
I will say that all four of us loved the soup, although there is basically one choice with some very minor variations. The dumplings were fairly bland however the katsu was pretty good and went nicely with the wasabi mayo.
Overall I liked it and wouldn’t hesitate to go back if someone wanted to go, but its not somewhere that I have a great need to visit again.

Came by a few months back based on some of the reviews and my friend wanting to check it out.
The space is pretty nice, much nicer than the previous location.
Ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen Shoyu as the selection was pretty small.
The broth was funky tasting and not in a good way. Actually it was a little skunky tasting. The broth wasn’t as rich as I’d expect from a Tonkotsu broth. The noodles were slightly better than store bought ones and not the Mr Noodle kind, as those things are glorious. I found the pork belly was rubbery which made me cry a little.
I had a super friendly waitress but service is a little slow.
For $ 12 you’re better off hitting up one of the awesome phở places on Somerset but I’m very happy that a couple of ramen places have popped up. Hopefully Ottawa gets a great one soon.

I am a huge fan of Authentic Ramen and was very excited to try this place out when it finally opened. I had the Porc Ramen and it was really delicious. It wasn’t busy when I went so there was a very short wait time on our food. They had a cool selection of popular Japanese drinks; I was really happy to have a Calpico soda with my meal. The service was great and the staff was super friendly, they all made sure to thank me for coming, even the kitchen staff. Can’t wait to go back!