Hokkaido Ramen Express

I was really not expecting much here. All the signs were pointing to a not-​so-​good meal:
— Unilocal had one review and it was a 1-​star
— Chinese-​owned Japanese food joint
— In a 2-​vendor food court (i.e. 2 restaurants sharing 1 restaurant space with common dining area)
— Mainly takeout
— Openly not Japanese (dude asked me in Mandarin, «do you want Chinese wide noodles or normal Japanese ramen noodles with your ramen order?»…this is not necessarily a bad thing however.)
BUT.
It was pretty good! It wasn’t Japan– or Vancouver-​standard ramen, but the broth and eggs were yummy and I don’t mean in the MSG-​instayummy-​guilt-​after way either. I liked it because the tonkotsu broth was light and not super heavy in flavour (aka salty) like in authentic Japanese ramen where I have to drink 2L of water afterwards just to dilute all the sodium in my body. This was quite pleasant. Chashu was pretty good but not mind-​blowing.
We also ordered the cold noodles, which was basically a Korean Naengmyun but with ramen noodles and Chinese-​style marinated boiled beef. This was also not bad! The sweet-​sour sauce was balanced and nice.
In both cases, the portion are quite large. I couldn’t finish the cold noodles.
I think this is another unfortunate case of «pretty good restaurant with wrong marketing strategy» — like that Ramen House in Vancouver that actually serves 95% Shanghainese food and not actually a ramen joint and confuses all the first-​timers…
Anyway, FREE WIFI, plugs for laptops, good prices. 7.5÷10 would come again.
Plus they invest in microwave-​safe to-​go boxes and a nice water cooler (vs tap water, for free water).

I came by with a friend as I thought this was taking over the Bar Burrito space but that’s not the case. The restaurant name also sounds like the same group that owns the sushi place on Dalhousie. Hokkaido Ramen Express shares the same space as Bar Burrito on Rideau St so it has the same furniture as every other fast food place around.
I ended up getting the pork ramen for $ 11 and they were having a special at 10% off. I’m not sure how long this special will last though.
The ramen wasn’t terrible but wasn’t good either. Everything came cold or luke warm except the noodles. I’d compare the ramen to BK charging $ 10 for a hamburger. I also got pretty sick afterwards :@