Soft-Food Diet, Week 6 of 12: Shiawase Ramen

I am halfway through my doctor-prescribed soft-food diet, and I thought that maybe it was getting to me. Maybe my judgment was impaired.

I had found out that there was a new spot for ramen in Cameron Heights. Well, “found out,” is pretty broad – at the magazine, we get told about a lot of new restaurants by our readers, and we’re always searching for new spots

But put the words “new ramen spot” together, and it’s like a siren’s call to me.

So I put the address in my phone, and the robotic voice led me to a Cameron Heights strip mall, just off the Henday. Triumphantly, the phone cried out, “arrived!” But, I had parked in front of a pizza and wings spot named Monty’s. What was up with that? But, then I saw a sign in front of Monty’s with the Shiawase Ramen logo, and a picture of a large bowl of soup.

So, this is the story: a Monty’s location has been at the mall for a while. But the decision was made to share the kitchen with the new Shiawase Ramen. So, the restaurant itself is now serving ramen, but, you can still order Monty’s pizza to go. If you sit down, you get the ramen menu. If you order ahead or want to grab something to go, you can order from the pizza and wings menu, or the separate ramen menu.

I ordered the spicy miso. And, to be fair, I was still wrapping my head around the idea of a pizza place and a ramen spot sharing the same location. So, maybe, my expectations dropped just that little bit.

They didn’t need to. When the large bowl of ramen arrived, it didn’t disappoint. The broth was creamy and rich, but with the addition of spice and green onions, had enough of a kick to keep things interesting. Like all good ramen, the flavour combinations were complex; so much goes on with each slurp. There’s the meatiness of the pork, but also that great creamy texture and some umami flavour that comes in on the back end. The spice increased nicely with each bite. And yes, the egg was perfect; the yolk was golden and thick. Little bits of broth found their way into the cavities I’d made into the egg as I hacked it to bits with my spoon.