Shiki Menya

This restaurant is my favorite place to eat. Best ramen, chat siu, soft tamago, and sexy broth. In the menu: "Classic Tonkotsu" is the most of my fave. I know there's a waiting line, crowded, small place, but it's worth it. I brought my friends and family to try that, they LOVE it! I ❤️ Shiki Menya! Oxox

My husband and I wanted to try Shiki Menya after all the hype we had heard about it. We decided to go on a Saturday, around noon. It is incredibly busy in the Bridgeland area, so we had to do a few laps before finding a parking spot on a nearby block. When we arrived, there were two couples in front of us waiting for a table, but it was a relatively short wait - about 10 minutes. The restaurant is very clean and modern, with a large outdoor patio area. There is lots of table and bar seating options throughout - it was actually a lot more spacious than I was expecting. They were very busy inside, and it took quite awhile for a server to come to our table. We wanted to order tea, but they did not have any hot tea options - only cold - which I found very unusual for a ramen house. We started with the chili goma flavour fried chicken karaage. All I can say is WOW - it was absolutely outstanding! For $9, we received a generous portion of delectable fried chicken - very similar to boneless wings - in a delicious sweet and spicy sauce with an incredible, smooth, creamy dipping sauce on the side. The dish had a perfect degree of spiciness and was a great start to the meal. I would absolutely go back just for this dish. Now onto the ramen - I ordered the hazy chicken shoyu and my husband ordered the tonkotsu nu-classic. We were expecting a lot from this ramen based on what we'd heard, but unfortunately it really fell short. For the positives, both ramens had very good noodles, which seemed to be made with whole wheat flour and were definitely fresh and perfectly cooked. The broths were tasty, but not at all spicy, nor was there any sriracha available. I was disappointed in the chicken broth, as I found it lacked body.. it was a well developed flavour, but felt a bit thin and was not what I was expecting/craving from a ramen broth. Both ramens were very thin on toppings - each had only half a (very liquidy) egg; the chicken ramen had only one extremely thin slice of beef; and the tonkotsu had only two slices of pork. While the appetizer was outstanding, it missed the mark for the feature dish - ramen. While still decent, the ramen was way overpriced for what you get. Overall, it was way over hyped, and I would only return to have the chicken karaage.

2021-12-23 This ramen shop is unusually good at what they do. Before getting in, one has to to line up, get Covid passport and photo ID checked, as per the current rules. This may sound obvious but many restaurants still don't do that full verification. I ordered Gyosa and an order of "Chili Goma" ramen soup, which also happened to be our server's favorite dish. The store-made gyosa were spectacular. They had a fresh, thin, fried but tender skin, filled with perfectly spiced mix of pork meat and vegetable filling. A perfect appetizer. The sauce that came with it was also very good, even if I could not name the components within. The ramen soup lived up to the time we spent in the lineup on a cold, snowy day: The chili oil and roasted sesame seeds provided some depth, spicy notes and complexity to a rich and creamy broth. The noodles were firm and had just the right amount of bounce and firmness. The fried pork bits within remained crunchy until the end despite being immersed in the soup. This dish is a comfortable, above average helping. Good value. I ate every drop of the soup and towards the end, the ingredients that had sunk to the bottom of the bowl added extra taste to every spoonful. The lineup outside to get in remained just as long from the time we got in to the time we left. About 40 minutes. In my opinion, at time of writing, this is the best ramen & Gyosa combo in Calgary. Well done!

Been wanting to try out Shiki for almost three years now but never had the power to wait in line for too long. Fortunately, we got up early morning on a holiday morning and decided to just go and try it out. We still waited outside but just for a brief couple of minutes. I think it’s best to go here with just one companion so you can go skip the line and head out to their bar counter table. Most big groups had to wait for too long for what I observed. I like the ambience of the restaurant with their up to date hip-hop tunes and funky-Tokyo interior design. Of course we had to wait for another 45minutes to get our hot bowls of ramen but we didn’t mind as we are so excited to finally try it. I got the MISO GARLIC RAMEN and it was just Okay. Charsiu pork was charbroiled and taste really good. Noodles are firm and not too much in quantity. The soup was okay with a little hint of spice and garlic flavour. There’s not much in my bowl and I’d say the servings weren’t that generous. I felt betrayed with all those hype years when I always see the place jam-packed with folks and good reviews from our friends. My partner’s bowl was TONKOTSU BLACK and it wasn’t that good to be honest. Soup taste bland and the sea weed flavour enveloped the whole experience. My partner didn’t like it and so am I. While sitting on the bar and watching the kitchen and front of the house crew, they were all moving fast and really precise with all the customers’ orders. We noticed that they only have 2 people by the kitchen doing the bowls and there were a lot of tables inside including the patio area. So I guess that’s ratio of the kitchen crew to tables weren’t that suitable to serve a fast-paced ramen place, hence the long wait for both outside and inside. I’m not saying you shouldn’t go here and try out their food. I’d say it’s pretty much delicious and there are more choices in their menu. Plus I really like the vibe of the resto and the quality service of all the crew members. And that’s why I’m still giving them 4 stars. I’d be back next time to try out their premium ramen bowls👌

*** MUST EAT - BEST SPECIALIZED RAMEN IN CALGARY *** the last time I was here was when they first opened at the old location across the street from this location, however moving locations didn't stop them from making amazing creative ramen!! this place isn't your typical Japanese ramen place, no not at all, as someone who has tried Michelin star ramen places in japan and many creative ramen across North america this place is a niche of its own! you really can't go wrong with any ramen here, bowls are huge, broths are tastetul, noodles are plenty and you end up filled! my family and I also got tacos, which were also delicious! PROS • tons of creative ramen options to cater to your pallatte • friendly staff as always • interior design is laid back and chill,.but clean • any ramen you get is to die for! CONS • no reservations allowed - why? because it's first come first serve, they only make a set number of bowls and once they sell out they sell out. • no parking lot, have to park on side streets which is difficult to do in this area. must go here, whether a traveler or local, this is calgary's best ramen staple!