Nikkei Ramen-ya 565…read moreEngland Ave Courtenay, BC V9N 2N2 (250) 897-4700 Open 7 days a week from 11.30am - 8pm except for Friday & Saturday (closes at 9pm) Street parking available around the restaurant It began on a sunny October day in 2016. Inspired by the shops of Vancouver, LA, and Tokyo, and driven by their love of noodles, Greg and Erin Masuda served the first bowl of authentic, scratch-made ramen that Vancouver Island had ever seen. Six years and 40 flavours later, Nikkei Ramen-ya still bustles; if you can't make it to our shop in Downtown Courtenay, you can now find our ramen at your local Vancouver Island grocer. From silky Tonkotsu to vegan-friendly options and crisp karaage chicken, we've got something for every craving. Gluten-free options are available Our review- We met a friend for dinner, we went early at about 4.30pm, it wasn't crowded yet. Ordered our ramen on an electronic kiosk menu board... By the electronic menu board, there are table # stand. Chose a number & put the number that you chose onto your order as identification. Then place the number stand on your table. The noodles were very good, nice soup broth... we enjoyed the noodles very much, we also added a side dish of green beans, dressing on the beans was like the Japanese spinach (Gomae). Beans was crunchy & with that dressing, it was yummy. Overall a very good experience, do check it out if you are in downtown Courtney. You will not be disappointed ! Place was clean with decent seats Come after lunch or before dinner, the place was crowded during dinner time.

Ramen is a great comfort food from Japan. It fixed my craving when I had a long work day on this…read morebusiness trip. The ramen was great, except that it's pricier than what it's worth. That's the reason for a 3-star. Food-wise it's a 3.5 star. When I first stepped inside the restaurant, there was a sign asking wait to be seated. I noticed someone was standing in front of the kiosk. The other one was not occupied. Before someone came to greet me, the person behind me went straight to the kiosk. I soon realized that people just order from the Kiosk and seat themselves. Kind of confusing right from the beginning. The ordering process on the kiosk was quite user friendly. It accepts credit card. I don't remember if they accept interac. It will ask for your first name for food delivery purpose. You need to provide your email if you want the receipt. At the end, you will see your order number and your name on the screen. After that, a staff (technically he was not a waiter or server) came to tell me that I can sit anywhere I want. Then he went back to the kitchen behind the bar. I ordered Hokkaido Miso ramen with Ajitama (seasoned soft boiled egg). The egg was an addition. It doesn't come with the ramen. The portion was normal which is quite standard from most ramen places in Metro Vancouver. I did not order any side dishes. After tax, it was close to $30. The kiosk didn't ask for tips. I supposed you could give tips by cash after the meal. During the whole dining session, you can ask for assistance as I saw what other customers did. Otherwise, you will not be approached by any server. The flavour of the ramen was ordinary. The texture of the ramen was great. I appreciated the egg and the chashu. The piece of butter was a bit too rich for my liking. The butter could be removed before it was completely melted in the soup. Overall, it's a nice comfy bowl of ramen. I sat by the bar. There were 3 young chefs cooking constantly. The place was not too busy on a Friday evening. Free parking on the street was easy.

Had pad thai today for takeout. 1 chicken and 1 beef. It was terrible. Very over cooked and the…read morebeef was so tough you could not chew it. The person at the till was was very nice but will not return until they improve their cooking skills. Very disappointed.

Had the spicy peanut noodle bowl. Good flavours but I would say over sauced. By the time I got to…read morethe bottom of the takeout container, it was just a mess of peanut sauce - almost like a peanut sauce soup. Tends to make everything soggy. Two chilies was not quite spicy enough. Recommend 3.

Excellent Japanese food. The sweet prawn nigiri is amazing!…read more Best Japanese in CR. Does get very busy for both dine in and take out. That's the only downside.

Best Chirashi ever, in my 35 years of sushi-savouring experience!…read more Quaint little place, can't wait to come back to try the rest of the fare. Mmmmm sushi!

Small little vietnamese restaurant that sits where many a restaurant was but never lasted. Decor…read moreis basically the same as whatever was there last. However I think this place will still be around for years to come if they keep up with good prices and great food and great service. I shared a vietnamese noodle bowl which they dont state on the menu it can be changed up with chicken and shrimp.... which we did and it was great. The spring roll was over cooked so not as tasty as other places. Also had the vietnamese sub which it too can be substituted for chicken which we did. It was one of the best subs I have had. Its spicy and the last bite I had was a mouth full of burning spice. Not sure what it was they put on it but it was a lot on that last bite and it burned. Next time I would ask what was is on it thats hot and ask for less and or even it out properly.

It was a cold and dry winter evening in Feb. Something warm and soupy would be nice. Vietnamese pho…read morewas a great choice. The restaurant was very cozy with approximately capacity of 20. The young server greeted me and seated me very quickly. About half of the restaurant was occupied with a family birthday party. The adults and the kids wee enjoying themselves. It's a family friendly place. I ordered: - Special beef pho (P1) which has a little of rare beef slices, flank and meat balls. - Deep fried chicken wings and drumsticks - Prawn salad rolls (takeout) The soup of the pho was good. While I thought it would be rare beef slices, the beef was all cooked. I thought maybe the soup was too hot? Maybe the beef was cooked by the soup on the way they served from the kitchen to the dining room? I was too hungry to raise a question. The beef was OK, not tender. I appreciated the flank and the meat balls. It would be better if they can add one to two other toppings. It's a special noodle. Other Vietnamese places tend to have 4 to 5 tops. They served bean sprouts, a quarter of key lime and a little basil leaves on the side. The pho noodles were cooked perfectly. They have medium and large sizes. The large size had a reasonable portion of noodles for its size. The deep fried chicken wings is something I highly recommend. They probably used fish sauce and honey or sugar as the coating sauce. It was very apetitizing. It also had a bit of spicy kick. The Prawn salad rolls were saved for later. They go well with their homemade peanut sauce. The prawn and the veggies inside were fresh. The chef was a young Asian guy. I think they have room for improvement on sourcing ingredients. The location is convenient. Free 2-hour street parking is available. They are open everyday except Sunday.

It's your typical Chinese food... Not terrible, but definitely not great. Very cheap with…read moreingredients and overpriced for what you get. Lemon chicken sauce was like lemon flavourEd water, ginger beef was lacking ginger and sweet sticky sauce, beef and broccoli only had five skinny pieces of beef (I counted.) Worst part was supervisor's attitude when I called about my order. They didn't acknowledge that I was unhappy about the quality, said I was lying about the beef, and did nothing about it. That's why I'm writing my first Yelp review ever. I will not order from here again.

Delivery took over 45 minutes. The food was good - not hot…read moreanymore, and certainly not authentic, but tasty. Not sure what the food is like in the restaurant, but I hope that it is better.

Absolutely delicious, fast, fresh, and reasonably priced. wonderful, friendly people. A gem of a…read morerestaurant in Courtenay.

I'm going 3.5 stars. Service is fast. Spring rolls were hot , crunchy and filled with the right…read moreingredients. We ordered a second. 2 of us had the sate pho bowl #9 and I had mixed #1 . Broth is good. Seems properly made . We asked for an add of coconut milk to the sates but we're told no. They don't do that. I don't think he understood. That would have really improved the soup but it was still good. A solid 7 out of 10. But no higher when compared to broth in the city. Service was good. Soup might be the best all day.

Beef Shanghai Noodles to die for. Portions are enormous. Little hole in the wall pace but the…read morenoodles are great. Service is prompt and you may wait a bit but the food is prepared from scratch.

This is my go to place for outstanding Vietnamese cuisine. Always good and the service is…read moreoutstanding too. Great place to have a satisfying lunch. Highly Recommend!