My usual Ajisen Ramen location is at Warden and Steeles. Every time I visit CoCo at this plaza, I have looked longingly at Ajisen Ramen, saying quietly to myself that I need to eat here.
I have ordered takeout twice from this location, both times through Skip the Dishes. My first experience was excellent. The second time was bumpy, but all okay in the end.
Ajisen Ramen has promotions going on. If you get ramen or rice, you get an appetizer for free. You can choose an item from the following:
- Spring roll
- Edamame
- Deep-fried potato cake
- BBQ pork rice ball
The first time, I got miso BBQ ramen. I added corn and an egg as extras. For my free appetizer, I got edamame. It is my favourite starter at any Japanese eatery.
My pickup the first time was great. I waited behind a couple of folks who were looking at the menu and deciding what they wanted. The female staff member saw me and had my order ready at the table. I fetched it, thanked her, and left.
I got home and chowed down. Everything was packed carefully. I had miso broth and it didn't leak out.
I loved the edamame. It was done perfectly. I love a bit of salt with the perfectly steamed, protein-packed edamame.
The miso BBQ ramen was delicious. I poured the miso broth into the deep recyclable noodle bowl and gingerly mixed everything.
There were four small slices of BBQ ramen. If I just had the ramen as a meal, I would have been disappointed with the number of BBQ slices and would have needed to order more. However, I had edamame, so I was happy protein-wise.
The ramen was perfect. It was chewy and yummy. The miso broth wasn't overly salty and was flavourful. I loved the green onions, corn, and bean sprouts. They worked so well with one another. The egg was so good. It wasn't runny. It wasn't hard-boiled. It had the right softness and delicateness for ramen.
My second order was for dinner last night. I ordered Japanese fried rice with chicken. I have been craving fried rice for a while. I got edamame again as my free appetizer. I also ordered a side of gyoza.
After placing my order, I received a phone call practically immediately on my cell phone. I was on the road driving when I picked up hands-free. The woman said that she didn't have any gyoza and asked if I wanted something else, like spring rolls or takoyaki. I said that I wasn't in the mood for either. I asked what else she had. She didn't bother listing them.
She then went into this weird conditional questioning path. She asked whether she should go ahead with my order minus the gyoza or if I could cancel my order. I had to explain to her that she caught me while driving. I literally pulled over on Kipling Avenue into a residential apartment parking lot to look at my Skip the Dishes app.
I could not cancel the order. She had confirmed it. I let her know. I asked whether it was a best practice for her to confirm the order before checking that she actually had gyoza. She gave me an answer that I wasn't pleased with. I said that she needed to sort that out.
I then said that I'd have to keep the order because I had paid and couldn't back out of it. I looked at the other apps and asked if she had the corn salad. She did. Yay!
She felt bad for inconveniencing me and said that she'd throw in another app for free. She had listed edamame again. Although I love it, I wanted something different. I went with the fried potato cake. She apologized. I thanked her for her generosity and carefully pulled out of the apartment parking lot after spending a good five minutes getting this order fixed.
I made it to the restaurant at 3:40 pm. I had specified my order to be ready at 3:30 pm and gave a bit of time just to be on the safe side. In total, the place had 45 minutes to get everything ready.
I walked in and the woman that I had spoke to was cheerful. I said thanks, picked up my goodies, and headed home.
Again, everything was carefully packed. I got a handwritten apology on my receipt. This place is good about making things right and I like that a ton.
I got miso soup with my Japanese fried rice with chicken. I didn't take a photo of it. It was so good that I consumed it immediately.
You get a LOT of Japanese fried rice. The chicken was tender. The green onions, onions, garlic, pork, and fried egg were so good. The fried rice hit the spot and was so flavourful. I highly recommend it.
I got the deep-fried potato cake for the first time. It's small, but delicious. It came with mayo. The outside of the potato cake was crispy. The inside part was creamy mashed potatoes seasoned with green onions. It was surprisingly good.
The corn salad blew me away. It's such a simple concept to have corn kernels, imitation crab, masago, and a generous amount of mayo as a starter. There were a couple of iceberg lettuce leaves at the bottom. I ate them, but the salad is better without them. It's not worth $8, but it was yummy.
The food is great. Staff are hard-working and nice. I'm a fan.
(152) read more