Edmonton’s ramen race has begun. There’s been an influx of ramen lately, from pop ups to storefronts and I could not ask for anything else for my hometown – ramen is my absolute favourite thing to eat. Hands down. Ohana Ya Japanese Restaurant in St. Albert is the latest to serve up ramen, an addition to their sushi centric menu. Unlike its competitor across the road with Saturday lunch-only ramen, Ohana Ya offers ramen during the weekdays for the lunch rush. Who would have thought that St. Albert would have a small ramen culture of their own!
Tonkotsu Ramen
Five kinds of ramen are offered, $11 a bowl: shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), miso (soy bean paste), tonkotsu (pork bone broth), and tan tan (spicy sesame minced pork with peanuts, $12). All bowls, except for the tan tan, are served with char siu, bamboo shoots, beansprouts, sweet corn, fungus, and a boiled egg. For an additional $2, you get two extra pieces of char siu, and for an extra $1, you can have an extra side item. I assume that means another egg.
Ramen Noodles
Josh was my lunch date this time around, his (questionable) first time eating ramen! He ordered the tonkotsu ramen and paid extra for the char siu. The noodles aren’t made in house but were wavy, good consistency, and one of the better noodles I’ve had in Edmonton and area. Ohana Ya at least is sourcing delicious noodles! A sip of the broth gave me a taste of creamy, rich, and salty pork bone broth. I understand that an “under-seasoned broth is a crime” (high-five to you, fellow ramen lover, if you know where that quote is from), but whoa. It was a touch harder to finish and drink the broth near the end.
Miso Ramen
I ordered the miso ramen, the fermented soy bean paste a favourite style of mine. The char siu was moist and very nicely done. I hate it when I get lean char siu in ramen. The half egg was medium-hard boiled and very lightly marinated. The menu pictured different bowls, one with a perfectly cooked soft-medium boiled egg, whereas the next photo showed a hard-boiled one. I’m going to assume that the kind of egg you get is a surprise! I really enjoyed my bowl, a good portion and loaded with toppings. I appreciated the two different kinds of seaweed.
I would have preferred for a slightly less salty broth to enjoy the bowl from start to finish, but otherwise it was a solid bowl of ramen for a good value. As they just started offering their ramen menu, hopefully this was just a part of the kinks that need to be ironed out. Comparing it to Yuzen’s weekend ramen is a hard sell, seeing that you’ll never have to choose between the two on a given day. Ramen is a labour intensive dish to make and I appreciate Ohana Ya Japanese Restaurant for serving it up daily, let alone offer five different kinds. Definitely a must visit when you’re in the area or if you have a free weekday lunch. Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments!
Click here to read my review on Ohana Ya Japanese Restaurant (Sushi).
[button url=’https://www.facebook.com/Ohanaya.Japanese.Restaurant?fref=ts’ target=’_blank’ icon=’social-facebook’]Ohana-Ya[/button]
Ohana Ya Japanese Restaurantwww.ohana-ya.com
#224 Hebert Road (St. Albert)
(780) 459-8355 For ramen – 11:30A – 2:30P, M-F
let's om nom 
Very encouragingly, it looks like they rolled the pork for even cooking! Good job, Ohana-Ya! NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR BOILED EGGS >:C
Half. Egg. đ
High five Cindy – I have the same cook book you got the quote from… đ