Tandou Ramen - 4/5

For those of you who know me even a bit, you will know that I love ramen. For those of you who know me a bit more than a bit, you will know that my prime way of dealing with the stresses and frustrations of life is to stress eat. Cravings often come in the form of pho, korean tofu stew, rice cakes, fried chicken, ramen (of course).

Something that not a lot of people know about me though, is that I used to hate soup in noodles as a kid. When I first moved back to Canada when I was 10, my dad was still in Taiwan so it was just my brothers and I. My brothers, being the early 20-something year olds they were at the time, did not know how to cook. So we ended up at pho places a lot. Like, a lot a lot. Multiple times a week. I hated pho as a result, and anything soup noodle. It was also too hard to eat - it’s not a beginner’s skill to cut a long chain of noodles with two flimsy wooden sticks called chopsticks. So it’s a curious thing how I came to love ramen this much, a decade and a half later.

We had ended up at Tondou Ramen because I had a fairly shitty day at work today. Long story short, I am working with someone who is very stubborn (and so am I) and anxious (and so am I) about very specific things. When he gives me feedback on my designs, they are so prescriptive and micro-manage-y that I feel like my opinions and expertise as a designer are not respected or seen. I’ve been dealing with this for almost two weeks now, and today it kind of came to a head.

When I walked into Tondou, I was not expecting much because in Toronto the mark of a good ramen restaurant is the lineup that wraps around the block. Tondou had a few people sitting inside peacefully enjoying their noodles. I immediately appreciated the understated vibe, the unpretentiousness, and the homeiness that only comes from a certain clutteredness that minimalist hipster joints don’t tend to favour. A Japanese news channel was playing in the background. I admired the host’s seemingly impeccable ability to not emote.

When the Tonkatsu ramen I ordered came, I dug into it and found it surprisingly delicious. The broth was so creamy but not heavy creamy, but creamy enough to provide the feeling of comfort. The noodles were thin, unlike the typical ramen noodles - they reminded me of the thin Chinese egg noodles my parents used to cook for me. The cha siu pork was absolutely delectable. It was soft, melt in your mouth, and has the sweetness of the barbeque without being overbearing. It accented the slightly more savoury flavours of the broth, without overpowering it. The soft boiled egg was absolutely perfect, and the word that came to mind when I was eating it was “pure”. It had a slight foamy texture near the end of it, the same foamy texture I get when I make a fried egg with runny yolk at home. Subtly salted, not overbearing, giving way to the natural umami of the egg. Overall, I think what jumped out to me most about this bowl of ramen was the ability for all of the ingredients to work together in harmony, without competing or overpowering each other.

(Perhaps a metaphor for my work situation)

If in the future I walk to Isshin Ramen (my fave joint down the street) and the lineup is insane, I would go to Tondou instead without hesitation.

Tondou Tonkatsu Ramen - 4/5
Broth - 4/5
Noodles - 3/5
Egg - 5/5
Char siu pork - 5/5
Did it hit the spot? Yes.