HAKATA RAMEN - JAPANESE FOOD

HAKATA RAMEN:

FANTASTIC NOODLES, 

 FANTASTIC-IER EEL

 

Their website:  http://www.hakataramen.ca/

1216 Stanley St, Montreal, QC H3B  Telephone:(514) 759-6688 
Price Range:  ~$15-$30 per person including one drink, meal, tax, and tip 

*This restaurant is a Mouthwatering Favorite!

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I have to admit:  I wasn't always sold on the notion of eel as food. I mean, I wasn't grossed out by it at all; I just didn't see any extra appeal of eel that regular workaday fish would not have. And then, I discovered Japanese grilled eel. That first time, it was like an atom bomb of goodness had gone off in my mouth.  So now, years later, Japanese grilled eel is among my favorite dishes. Done right, it's mildly sweet and loaded with flavor, and the texture of the eel is a near-perfect mix of fatty and meaty. In effect, it has the just-right type of eating sensation that I'm looking for in cooked fish. And one place that I think really grills its eel well is Hakata Ramen. That's why I get the following dish often:

Bowl of goodness, oh yessss...

That there is grilled eel on rice in a sizzling stone bowl. Be VERY careful with the bowl - Lordy, it's hot and you will singe your fingers by touching it if you're not paying attention (like I do) (sadly, with great frequency) (yeah, I suffer for my food. It's my Achilles' heel) (sigh). It's soooooooooo worth the trouble though. The eel is tasty as all get out, and the rice is actually crispy, especially where it's come into contact with the inner surface of the stone bowl. DO GET THIS. 

Of course, that's not the only good thing here. One would hope that a restaurant with the word "Ramen" in its name would also do a good job with its ramen. And oh yes it does! As far as I know, they don't make their own noodles the way my favorite noodle shops do, but they do make what they have sing. Their ramen noodles are typically in flavorful, well-seasoned broths that aren't overly salty (I LOVE that) (seriously, too many places put WAY too much salt in their food - it's always a happy, pleasant surprise to discover a place that doesn't go overboard with salt). Beyond the obvious favorite (i.e., grilled eel on ramen), I love the crispy chicken ramen (where the crispy, fried chicken is served on the side), the fried pork chop ramen (again, fried meat is served on the side), and chicken with Japanese curry ramen. 

This is part of the same order; it was hard to get it all in the same shot. Oh gods, do I ever love the crispy chicken!

Fried pork chop:  Yes please!

Chicken ramen in curry broth. Fun fact:  Because curry was introduced to the Japanese by the English, the Japanese consider curry to be originally-English fare!

Beyond main dish items, there are good appetizers at Hakata ramen for which I keep forgetting to take pictures. I'm normally crazy hungry by the time I get to the restaurant, and I typically inhale the appetizers before I remember to whip out the camera. Do try the gyoza and vegetables in tempura; you won't be sorry. At the other end of the meal, there's also the fun little desserts. It was at this restaurant that I first discovered red bean ice cream. Holy HELL that was a revelation. After first having it, I asked the owner where I could get this stuff. Sadly, he only knows how to get red bean ice cream in 14-litre buckets. Even for me, that is a LOT. I would basically need a freezer dedicated to that ice cream alone. And possibly, a trip to the hospital to get me out of my diabetic coma :p. Maybe I can get together with 6 other friends and divide the 14-litre bucket amongst ourselves...? Well, until I that, I just keep on getting the freshly-made waffle with red bean ice cream at Hakata (although the sesame and green tea ice creams are also solid options to accompany the waffle):

Alternately, I get the ice-cream filled mochi (it's either strawberry ice cream or green tea ice cream):

All in all, a very worthwhile place to have lunch or supper! 

Mouthwatering Montreal - Hakata Ramen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.