There’s a new player in the ramen game here in town. Anyone remember the time when there was no good ramen in Edmonton? It wasn’t too long ago…and now it feels like more restaurants are offering the bowls of hearty noodle soup on their menus.

Ninja Club – 10324 82 Avenue – Edmonton AB

Right in the heart of Old Strathcona is a small Japanese restaurant, opened three weeks ago, owned by a couple from Japan. After a tip off by Linda & Twyla, I knew I had to stop by and see what they had to offer! I was pretty excited upon hearing that bowls of ramen are available for just $10.


Pickled Egg
The restaurant has taken over the space previously occupied by Two Rooms Café, and I showed up with a healthy appetite for lunch this past Thursday. Ninja Club wasn’t very busy for lunch hour and one of the owners said it has been quite slow since opening. But shortly after we were seated a group of Japanese girls came in to eat and I felt like it was a sign of good things to come.

The first page of the menu focused on the different types of ramen available (shoyu, miso, kimuchi, tantan), so it seems like they are trying to market that as their specialty. On the ramen menu each bowl is comprised of the standard broth, noodles, some form of protein and bean sprouts. There are add-ons of a boiled egg, chicken, beef, pork, and corn available at a price of $1 each. My friend Diane and I each ordered our own bowls and wanted to try out their selection of sushi as well. After all, we were in it for the authentic Japanese meal experience!

Diane ordered the Shoyu Ramen ($10), which always features a soy sauce based broth. This bowl at Ninja Club comes garnished with char siu (BBQ pork belly), green onion, spinach, bean sprouts and two squares of roasted nori. The bowl came steaming hot to the table and looked pretty promising! The broth was clear and the flavour was satisfying, but it lacked depth. We were looking for the umami that we usually find in ramen broths, and unfortunately it wasn’t there. Don’t get me wrong, the soup was still great to accompany every bite in the bowl. The egg noodles were of the average thickness and had that elastic bite to them, keeping their texture throughout the entire bowl. Fairly satisfying for the $10 price tag.

I opted for the Kimuchi Ramen ($12 - how cute is their spelling?!) with a side of pickled boiled egg ($1.50, above). This bowl of ramen was served with some spicy ground pork, kimchi, char siu, Japanese chili oil and the typical green onion, bean sprouts, spinach and nori. The broth in this bowl is a miso soup and one sip revealed the complexity in flavour that was lacking in the shoyu bowl. The miso and spicy oil added depth and additional dimensions of flavour that I quite enjoyed, and like the first bowl, these noodles retained their elastic bite to the end of the bowl. Now about that egg - the pickled version of the boiled egg is not advertised on the menu, but is available if you know to ask for it! According to the owner the egg is marinated in a mix of Japanese spices, but I could mostly taste a savoury soy sauce with each bite. The yolk was a bit overcooked and not oozy the way I like it, but it was not overcooked to the point where the yolk was solid. Overall, it was a good bowl of ramen. My only big complaint for both bowls would be the char siu - it's very lean and lacking in flavour. The owners are working to improve it, as they were unsure of what Edmonton was ready for!

Of course we had to try out their sushi as well since they were advertising their 'ausentic' (so cute!) sushi made with fresh fish daily! We chose to go with the Marina Plate ($16) which features 8 pieces of nigiri chosen by the sushi chef. The nigiri were presented beautifully on a plate shaped like a fish, and they included an extra avocado nigiri for us on the house. The selection chosen for us was: salmon (2x), tuna, mackerel, squid, avocado, scallop, red snapper, and unagi (BBQ eel). The rice was well seasoned, soft and the perfect size to hold the large pieces of seafood. We found the tuna and mackerel to be quite fishy tasting, moreso than usual. Otherwise the other pieces were good, but nothing extraordinary. However, I will say that I typically am a huge fan of red snapper and leave eel alone, but I would take this unagi nigiri over the red snapper anyday. It was fantastic.

In conversation with one of the owners, the broth for the ramen is made in house, but the noodles are brought in from elsewhere. She did assure me that the noodles come in fresh and not dried, and they're quite pleased with the manufacturer that they are ordering from, and the ramen noodles that day made me pretty happy too. If you're in the mood for some ramen, definitely give them a try. It may take a bit longer to work out the kinks and improve the char siu, but you get a pretty solid bowl for $10-$12. As for the sushi it is pretty standard, but the prices are quite attractive. Rolls are priced in the range of $6.50-$16, nigiri combo plates range $12-$16, and bento boxes are $10. The menu is small, but it covers a wide enough range that there should be something for everyone. Give them a try and let me know what you think!


Edmonton is a cold, snowy city for the majority of the year. During the winter months I'm always looking for ways to warm up from the cold, and nothing is more comforting to me than a bowl of steaming noodle soup. I'm going to be highlighting some of my favourite noodle soups in the city, and I'd love for you to share yours with me so I can try them too. Follow along with #YEGNoodleSoups and let the fun begin!

When the hockey game is on and friends want to head out to catch the game, what is the first place you think of? For me it's typically Central Social Hall. Pub grub, beers and hockey go so well together. But the two men behind Central Social Hall, Jesse Kupina and Jerry Rota, want to change that.

Central Social Hall - 10909 Jasper Avenue - Edmonton AB

Kettle chips & dip
Born and raised Edmontonians, Jesse and Jerry have lots of experience in the bar and club scene, but wanted Central Social Hall to grow in a different direction. The intention was to create a higher end pub space where men and women can hang out, eat, and enjoy the social atmosphere. However, the food wasn't cutting it. With the help of Chef Reuben Major (formerly of Earls in Vancouver), the menu was revamped and has become what it is today. The kitchen is focusing on the use of fresh local ingredients and making items from scratch wherever possible.

A couple weeks back I had the opportunity to attend the new menu tasting event hosted by Jesse and Jerry. The night started with a welcome plate of Kettle Chips & Dip ($8.99, above), which featured housemade chips with a sour cream and caramelized onion dip. Surprisingly the chips were not very oily and the dip had a slight sweetness from the onions. The chips were dangerously addictive for some individuals at our table, proclaiming they would be happy just eating them all day (I'm looking at you, Funmi & Adrian!).

Next up was a sample of the Bacon + Deviled Eggs ($7.99), served atop a smear of red pepper relish aioli. The filling was deliciously creamy with a hint of smokiness from the bacon and tang from the aioli. This plate surely had the gastropub feel to it.

The Ball Park Pretzel ($9.99) came to the table next, and I was shocked to hear that this was the mini size. The real deal is four times as big. Basically bigger than the size of your face! The baked pretzel was quite soft, with some nice colouring from the oven. Spicy mustard and stout cheddar sauce accompanied the pretzel. While the cheese sauce could have been a bit cheesier, I found the mustard to have a bit too much horseradish in it for my liking.

The Albacore Tuna Tataki + Wontons ($14.99) was my favourite dish of the night. The portions were pre-assembled for us, but at Central Social Hall you will build your own when you order this dish. Tuna, avocado, pickled ginger, cucumber, ponzu sauce and wasabi aioli were piled on top of a crisp wonton chip, and the ingredients worked well together. Creaminess from the avocado, savoury and tangy notes from the ponzu, crunch from the cucumber and sweet and spicy notes from the ginger - you can taste the independent flavours but they combine harmoniously. Yum!

The Spicy Chicken Tacos ($12.99) featured poached serrano lime marinated chicken meat, slaw and pico de gallo on a white corn tortilla dressed with Valentina hot sauce. This taco was juicy, making it a bit of a messy experience to eat, and it really packed heat. All I could really taste was the spicy flavour, and wished there could have been more flavours from other ingredients.

The Crispy Prawn Thai Noodle Salad ($16.99) was unfortunately the least impressive dish of the evening. The colours are absolutely beautiful on the plate, but that's about it. This salad is composed of vermicelli noodles, cabbage, cilantro, mint, carrot, cucumber, chili lime dressing, pickled onions and a sprinkling of peanuts. The rice noodles sat on the plate in a stiff, starchy state, which told me that the noodles had not been cooked at all. The salad was quite oily and lacking in flavour, with only the tang of the pickled onions coming through. For someone who hates cilantro with a passion, I found myself searching for it. What? While an Asian-inspired noodle salad is a nice change to see on a menu, this one was not executed well in my opinion. With some work, this dish could have some potential. I love vermicelli salads!

Seafood Linguini ($16.99) was not a dish I expected to see on Central Social Hall's menu. Shrimp and salmon were cooked with garlic, chilies, grape tomatoes, arugula and basil in a creamy rose sauce. The acidity from the San Marzano tomatoes cut through the richness of the dish and the flavours were well balanced. The pasta was cooked to a perfect al dente and this was a hearty pasta dish I would eat again.

The night ended with a serving of the Apple + Cranberry Crumble ($6.99) served in a small mason jar. The fruits were topped with a maple and pecan crumble, a small scoop of vanilla bean gelato, and garnished with a mint leaf. I wish there was more gelato, as it really helped cut the tartness from the fruit. It was a nice dessert to finish with since it wasn't too heavy.

It's nice to see that another establishment in Edmonton is committed to local, sustainable ingredients. I was pleasantly surprised at the offerings of upscale pub food on the menu at Central Social Hall, and with a bit more tweaking this can be a great spot to enjoy food and conversation with friends in the downtown core. Central Social Hall will be expanding to a new location in St. Albert before Christmas, so check the out if you're in that area!


Disclaimer: as this was a media event, views expressed in this post are solely mine. I was not expected to feature this restaurant on my blog, nor obligated to do so. This post is 100% my opinion, and as always, my priority is to you, the reader, to present an unbiased, thorough review.

I'm a hoarder of anything with sentimental value. Birthday cards, invitations, festival programs, ticket stubs... I keep it all. There's seriously boxes of the stuff in my room! When I was younger I used to flip through the photo albums that my mother put together. Her love for capturing moments through photos sparked a similar interest in me and I once went through a phase of compiling pictures of me with my family and friends into photo albums.

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*Disclosure: Ookpix provided the opportunity to produce one product free of charge. This post is 100% my opinion, and as always, my priority is to you, the reader, to present an unbiased, thorough review.