11978 104 Ave NW, Edmonton

Last week I went to Tokiwa Ramen for the first time. I know, I know… really late to the game. But honestly, I had a hard time finding time. I saw that the lineups were crazy, and you had to get there by noon to ensure you got a bowl because they often sold out by 1-2PM. Excuses, but I finally made my way there last weekend!

It’s located in Brewery District, so in for parking, there is an ample amount. I do find that the surface lot can get quite busy and full, but there is always room in the underground parking at Brewery.

They actually offer quite a bit of different kinds of ramen, but they all either use their 10 hour pork broth, or a chicken based broth. On this occasion, I went with a few other people and got to try a variety.

All of their ramen bowls come with Boiled Egg, Wood Ear Mushroom, Micro Greens, Bean Sprouts, Lotus Root and Shanghai Bok Choi. For other fare, they also offer Bou Gyoza, namasu salad, and rice bowls.

The Tokyo Tonkotsu is Tokyo style shoyu broth. This is the most standard for their pork broth, with nothing extra to it so you can really taste it. The Charshu is really tender, and the noodles had a really good chew. I like the noodles at Nudoru slightly more, but overall, a very good bowl.

I got the Goma goma. This is the only bowl that doesn’t come with charshu, but I got it added for an extra $3 (worth it). It comes with sesame, chopped pork with miso and chilli. I really like the extra kick of flavour from the miso and chilli! The minced pork was also seasoned well, but a little bit challenging to eat. Overall, a very good bowl.

The Black Garlic comes with black garlic oil, and was probably my favourite in terms of broth. You can really taste the garlic come through and it gives the broth a very nice aroma. It goes really well with the charshu, and I’d probably opt to get this, or try a new bowl the next time I come!

Lastly, we got the Chuka Soba, their most basic for the chicken broth. My least favourite out of the 4 bowls. The toppings are the same as the rest of the ramen bowls. The broth is very clear and you can tell a lot of care went into the making of it. They do have lots of different kinds of ramen with this soup base which sound interesting to me which I might try next time! (Yuzu Shio, japanese citrus broth).

On top of the ramen we got the bou gyoza (flattened dumplings). These were crispy and filled with pork. Crunchy, savoury, and delicious! These are one of the better dumplings that I’ve had in Edmonton! A good side to get with your ramen.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience at Tokiwa. It was pretty busy when I went, with a 10-20 minute wait, but it was definitely worth it! I got there around 11:30, (only 30 minutes after being open), and by noon, the line up was out the door! There’s a lot of variety of broth to try here, so I’ll have to come back and check out the rest! Give this place a try! Next top for me will have to be Yuzen (where I hear is the best Ramen in YEG area). Let me know what you guys think!