Taishoken Ramen 大勝軒

After grabbing a snack at Pourhouse, we headed to Tinseltown to pick up sunglasses. On the way there, we noticed an extremely long line up outside of a ramen restaurant, Teishoken. As it turns out, people were lining up to try a newly opened ramen joint while taking advantage of a great promotional value, $5.00 for a bowl. This is a great marketing strategy; lose a little, gain a lot.

As two hours passed, yes, two, it was finally our turn. In general, I would never line up for any restaurant but because my schedule is extremely busy with business, working out and making sure my dogs get enough exercise, I considered the two hours as a time for me to "relax". Sad, but true. Taishoken was offering three types of ramen, shoyu (soy sauce), shio (salt) as well as miso, and we went for the miso along with the shio.

On every table, chilli pepper, pepper, chilli oil, vinegar and soy sauce is provided on the side. As for the interior, the table as well as chairs are all wooden and like most ramen joints, diners can peak into the kitchen. The kitchen has an organized assembly line with a cook cooking the noodles, another dealing with the chashu and one adding the broth. As for the seating arrangements, there are window seats to shared tables, and half booth seats.

MISO RAMEN, UNIQUE PORK AND CHICKEN BROTH SEASONED WITH MISO, FERMENTED SOY BEAN PASTE, ($5.00).

The broth has a nice slight saltiness and a medium rich miso taste, which is neither too heavy or light. As for the noodles, unfortunately they are slightly undercooked and taste hard in the centre as well as doughy, rather than having a nice bouncy snap.

For the choice of chashu, BF went for the pork belly which tastes tender and perfectly executed. The pork belly is not a fatty cut either and still tastes pretty good. Moreover, the meat is seared which provides that nice extra caramelization (which is more than what I can say for Marutama).

SHIO RAMEN, UNIQUE PORK AND CHICKEN BROTH SEASONED WITH SALT ($5.00).

The soup base has a light chicken and pork broth flavour along with a hint of shio miso. The taste of miso is noticeably lighter than BFs and the flavour of the broth stands out more. Although unfortunately, the noodles are also undercooked.

My choice of chashu is the pork loin which has a flavourful peppery seasoning, but unfortunately the meat tastes very rubbery. The slices of meat taste dry and chewy due to the lean cut, which may have been prevented if the pork was grilled longer to break down the meat.

TOTAL: $10.00 + TIP $2.00 = $12.00.

After finishing our ramen and still hungry because the bowls were only half a portion, we wanted to try the shoyu. However, we could not because the limit was one bowl per person :(. But overall despite the line up, the staff were friendly and we did not feel rushed. Although in general, we subconsciously felt rushed because of the long line up of people waiting outside! I also like how one of the cooks came out to ask everyone how the ramen was and if the broth tasted too salty. If anything, we were disappointed because we did not line up for a tasting menu. The both of us would have rather waited an extra day with no one ups, to pay the full price for a full bowl, instead of paying half the price for half portion (which is not very a good deal). The promotion was a good opportunity however, for those who wanted a sample to see if they would consider revisiting.

POSITIVES

- Broth tastes rich

- Friendly staff that cares

NEGATIVES

- Chewy pork loin

- Undercooked noodles

- Seating is tight (like most ramen joints)

LITTLE THINGS

- Customer satisfaction surveys are provided with the bill

- I will revisit to see how the ramen really is

Food: 3/5

Service: 2.5/5