Eating Edmonton: Tokyo Noodle Shop

For those looking for ramen alternatives, Tokyo Noodle Shop is a great spot offering a variety of options!

Seeking refuge from the – 40 degrees Celsius hell Edmonton was last year, my friend and I sought a quick fix: a nice hot bowl of ramen. We decided to check out Tokyo Noodle Shop, a restaurant I always pass by on Whyte Ave but never seem to enter. 

The restaurant is slightly below ground level, making looking out the window an interesting sight of winter boots scurrying to their destinations. Overall, it gave me local, family-owned vibes. The only downside to the restaurant was a persistent cool breeze that we assumed came from the windows. 

There is quite a selection of ramen bowls and a long list of add-ins, such as spicy miso or a soft-boiled egg. What I loved most about their menu however was the ability to swap the broth. Ramen tends to be a pork-based broth, which can be a problem for Muslims like my friend.

However, when my friend asked if her dish had pork, our server was quick to suggest switching her broth to a vegetarian one, allowing my friend to get her desired ramen pork-free. 

I ordered the chicken ramen which came with chicken breast, half a soft-boiled egg, green onion, and corn. My friend ordered the kimchi ramen with the vegetarian broth and an addition of spicy miso. We also shared the “house special” Mexican rolls.

The staples of the ramen were pretty good: the broth, noodles, and, of course, the soft-boiled egg. The chicken breast wasn’t super flavorful and didn’t compliment the tasty broth. It tasted like plain chicken breast that was simply added into the broth. The rest of the ramen, however, was pretty good.

The kimchi ramen was exactly as the name suggests: ramen and kimchi. With the addition of the spicy miso, the dish had quite the kick. The vegetarian broth, at least in this ramen type, was quite good. Not as creamy as the pork-based broth, but it was the most flavourful vegetarian broth I’ve had so far. 

The Mexican maki rolls consisted of avocado, cucumber, salmon, tempura, and spicy mayo. They were pretty good and for an order of eight pieces (we ate one before we remembered to snap a photo), it was definitely worth nine dollars. If anything, I think they could have gone a little harder with the spicy mayo. 

With my meal coming in under $20, Tokyo Noodle Shop was an affordable and tasty night out. Personally, I think the highlight of this ramen shop is its vegetarian options and ability to switch broths, allowing those who don’t eat pork to still have other meats in their ramen. If you’re looking for me the next time we dip below -30 degrees Celsius, there’s a high probability I’ll be at Tokyo Noodle Shop stuffing my face with fairly priced ramen.