nomiya: tapas sushi and ramen

since when doesnomiyahave two locations? i’ve only ever passed/been in the one on calgary trail but their second spot is somewhere in ellerslie. who woulda thunk? if anyone reads this blog, then you know i love ramen. i should also probably divulge that i’m not the biggestnomiyafan – that’s what bad experiences will do to you, leaves a sour taste in your mouth. the ramen i had was weak, flavourless and just was not good. well, we were stuck south side and given that it was a monday, options were limited. i was in the mood for something soupy so we decided to givenomiyaanother shot. hey, at least i give places second chances right?

very delish!. finally got to trynomiyalast week. was rather busy around 730, which was a good sign. place is small but nice... the ac was on max!! we were seated immediately which is always good, but it seemed our waiter was the only one working. he was going as fast as possible but the guy can only do so much on his own. he brought us water quickly, but it took a bit for the tea (they ran out of tea pots apparently). however, the food was fantastic! the noodles were very good as was the broth. the sushi was very fresh and nicely presented. but the tapas were the highlight! the gyoza was very good but the chicken hearts and gizzards were outstanding!!! all in all, it was a good experience and i will be back again. hopefully they can have more than 1 waiter working on a sunday night

this was not my first time atnomiyabut unfortunately for them it will be my last. i've said so many good things about this place and brought my grandma and aunt visiting from toronto to enjoy their ramen. their broth is good and noodles are cooked nicely. service was the usual until we were leaving. my grandma wanted to treat us so she paid for the tab in cash, putting down $140 in bills while tipping 14% pre-tax. our server ran after us complaining that we didn't tip them enough and demanded for more money. yep. you read that correctly. that really does happen. if only i could have been as rude as this server, i would have taken all the cash back and paid for the bill myself on a credit card and tipped nada...but lucky for this server i am not that rude.

a little while back around christmas, i went tonomiyafor the first time. back when ramen options were incredibly limited,nomiyawas one of the few places to even got ramen. i decided i would give it a try. i wanted to see how the ramen in edmonton compared to what i’ve had in calgary and other places. there are two locations, one on calgary trail and the other in ellerslie. their ramen is dine-in only, and they discourage packing up leftovers because flavours and textures will change over time.

if you ever have a craving for ramen thennomiyain edmonton is the only place to go. i frequentnomiyapretty often, only bad thing is that it's kind of small (40seats) and located on the far southside. i will say this no other ramen in this city compares.

but i usually always get some chicken karaage and idaako karaage (baby octopus). nice and tender and crunchy. just wish it came with a sauce or something but nonetheless delicious. my girlfriend got their bento box with 3pcs nigiri, sashimi, rice, tempura and miso soup. all nicely made and formed and for $15, great value. but i always come for their ramen. they have quite a few varieties like tan tan, miso, seafood, shio and etc. but i always either get their spicy or tonkotsu ramen with a double portion of noodles. their broth is amazing, full bodied, flavourful and dense to say the least. it leaves a nice mouthfeel with each bite of noodles. and their noodles are cooked perfectly (just past al dente). you get an assortment of toppings that all add their certain something. delicious melt in your mouth pork slices, sweet kernel corn, pickled bamboo shoots, a piece of nori and a healthy dose of green onions. and their price point is reasonable, no more then $10 - $13 as compared to other places. only thing lacking from their ramen is a nice soft boiled egg.

for menomiyanails it, delicious ramen done right. other places should take note, for the time beingnomiyastill remains king in the yeg ramen game.

today we went tonomiyato satisfy our ramen cravings! the ramen was delicious and very savoury compared to before. we visited during happy hours and decided to get the chicken karage and dragon rolls (ouuuuuulala). we were surprised when our waiter came out with the torch and lit our sushi up. i thought he was going to burn the whole place down! but thank god, he didn't.

the dragon roll which consisted of eel, salmon, avocado, and japanese mayo topped with tobiko egg was the perfect combination in my mouth!

the chicken karage was good, but size is smaller than before.

the ramen was delicious! price wise it was around 65 for three people. very cheap and affordable!

service wise, the guy was very helpful, but the lady seemed pretty rude!

we will definitely come back as long as the lady isn't our server! yikes.

delish ramen. the sushi atnomiyais great but there are loads of sushi places in edmonton. if you go to nomiya, try the ramen! it is full of flavour and very satisfying. the service was friendly and super fast.

you know what's great about edmonton? it's always cold. and you know what that means? yes, you've guessed it! it's always ramen weather. when i was toldnomiyawas the best place for ramen in edmonton, i just knew i had to go and see for myself! the outside doesn't look like much, but it was it was packed with people slurping up bowls and bowls of steaming hot ramen. i couldn't wait for my turn to get my hands on a bowl. but first, some fried chicken. chicken karaage ($6.95): these tender pieces of lean chicken are deep fried till golden and is served with a wedge of lemon. they were incredibly crisp evident from the loud 'crunch' when everyone at the table simultaneously bit into the chicken yet still very juicy and moist inside. it would have been absolutely perfect with a tiny dollop of kewpie mayonnaise but it was still a solid start to the meal. now for the ramen. shoyu ramen ($10.50): a soya flavoured ramen, this is one of our lightest soups. complete with marinated egg, this ramen is tangy, salty and savoury.  the shoyu ramen is light soy based broth loaded with sweet bamboo shoots, shallots, fish cakes, squidgy egg, tender fatty roast pork, crunchy wood-ear mushrooms, corn and a sheet of toasted nori. the broth is flavoursome, noticeably clearer and tasted extremely light. oh, if you like a little heat, generously sprinkle some shichimi into that broth for that extra kick. for those who aren't into collagen rich soups, this is perfect for you! but for those who are, feast your eyes on this next ramen. tonkotsu ($11.50): the heart of all our ramen! the many hours of simmering makes this ramen hearty and milky smooth. 

i am very disappointed ,the sushi was not best at all, ramen either. never come back.


-----06 dec, 2014-----

i just came back from toronto this morning.i came tonomiyawith my friend for lunch, becausenomiyais my favorite, i miss the dragon roll and tantan ramen, but i took the first bite,the taste was not the same as before, a little bit weird . however ,i still want to try them next time.

nomiya seems to be the go-to place for ramen in edmonton since it's pretty rare here. seriously, can we get some more ramen restaurants around the city?! along with ramen,nomiyaalso offers sushi and tapas.

bad experience started from the door. firstly i have to say the restaurant looks clean and well maintained. first impressions are very important & my first impression was very positive. but unfortunately it was all downhill from there.
the service was ok, i was greeted pleasantly at the entrance but because i wanted to order a take away, i was left to stand and wait by the door for a while, even after it was blatantly obvious that i had perused & browse the menu to it entirety. the waitress even having the odacity to serve and sit 3 gentlemen who had walked in a considerable few minutes after me, while leaving me to stand there for a while longer. 2/10 for the service.
i proceeded to enquire some more detail about my impending choices on the menu and was just treated as though i was an idiot and had no idea about that type of cuisine. by then they had already soured my firstnomiyaexperience.
i kept my cool, ordered my food and just left (no tip of course) after it came. but the final kick in the teeth was yet to unfold when i got home.. i was greeted with some kind of bad attempt at sushi rolls that flaked as soon as a chopstick touched them. needless to say, i won't be going back there again. better japanese cuisine can be had from edo (which in itself is not great either).
you might have better luck, but i won't be bravingnomiyaagain. once was enough.

nomiya has always been my go-to place for a ramen or nigiri craving, and for good reason.nomiyafeatures a great variety of ramen soups, from miso based broths to tonkotsu broths, where the pig bones are boiled for long periods, breaking down the collagen and creating it’s signature milky broth. their ramen dishes are also garnished nicely, often with fermented bamboo shoots, corn, nori , and slices of pork. the noodles are yellow tinged, chewy and springy, although do they use the same noodles in every ramen dish. different styles of noodles should be made to complement the different soups. the soups should be also been served hotter. the dish i opted for during that visit was the seafood ramen.nomiyaoffers a nice selection of nigiri sushi. the rice was loosely packed, allowing the the bed of rice to fall apart and mingle with the fish. oftentimes, in other sushi establishments, the rice was far too tightly packed with barely any air pockets between the grains. the fish was served

great sushi!. finally get a chance to visitnomiyalast month. they had great sushi, probably one of the best in town. however, i found their ramen could be better.

ambitious menu fails to deliver. i recently visitednomiyaafter i saw that they changed their menu. before, i usually went to try their ramen (which is still served). the new menu consisted of traditional japanese items, such as bbq skewers, hot pots, and others. i was excited since it's very difficult and rare to find these items in other japanese restaurants in the city. when i was there, i ordered a chicken heart skewer, salmon skin chips, wasabi octopus and the seafood hot pot. the chips and octopus were fine, but nothing spectacular.

however, what i had issue with was the skewer and hot pot. the skewer came out rock hard, literally... i couldn't get the meat off at all as it was severely overcooked. the waitress replaced it without hesitation and it came out much better, but again, nothing special. the broth in the hot pot was very sweet and threw me off.. i then realized it was because it contained copious amounts of red bell pepper. if you know anything about japanese cuisine, bell peppers aren't part of it, esp. in this seafood broth. the other vegetables needed to be cooked longer as they were still very crunchy. there was a lot of seafood, which was good, but there were a lot of fish bones left on the white fish and also within the broth itself. i thought this would be a hazard if a child was eating this dish as the bones in the broth were only noticed after i took more sips of the broth.

overall, i was disappointed with my meal. it wasn't what i expected from the new menu as the execution was not there. i feel thatnomiyadoesn't have much of an identity. it needs to known for something particular, rather than offering so many items that it can't handle.

i keep writing reviews about this place... well this place has vastly improved on both their ramen and sushi... something happened. some have told me that a "vancouver chef" came to rescue this place. i believe it. in other news, i heard that the new south side location (ellerslie/111st by save-on's and liquor depot) won't have ramen because they don't want competition... such absurdity but time will tell.. for now, enjoy this place because there really is no other competition... they have all tried and failed (i'm looking at you chinatown location imitators).

came back in april 2014 and it is consistently good as always. i think this place has reached steady state and it's got an excellent menu, good ingredients, great service, decent portions and nothing can fail now. absolutely nothing can go wrong now.

-----10 apr, 2011-----

the revival ofnomiya- dec 2012. *update dec 2012*

someone told me it was a new chef... guess they were right? the ramen tasted pretty competent. heck, i'm starting to blend in vancouver, hk, calgary, and edmonton ramen... now it's either me getting sloppy ornomiyareally stepped up their game. give it a try again if you were one of the early adopters that were disappointed. note - i also heard that there's going to be a second new 111st/ellerslie location by save-on-foods. stay tuned?!

old review:

alright boys and girls, show's over. hype was what drove me to wait 50 minutes to get in on my first visit. i tried the spicy miso ramen, chicken karaage, and the chop chop rolls. the ramen looked fantastic and it didn't taste half bad, but not right either. the chicken karaage was to die for, so crispy and tender and fresh i'd throw them $6.50 to eat that every time. the chop chop rolls didn't look like your typical zen sushi, so i was reserved, but it tasted so darn good for what you can get in edmonton... amazing.

second visit - tried the tan tan (miso ramen w/ peanut and sesame sauce?) and it was ok. thick soup as expected. wasn't very salty/concentrated as you would expect from normal ramen. i call it healthy tasting how's that.

third visit - tried the shoyu ramen. meh. watered down ramen (felt cheated) with mediocre pork. oh crap. this is starting to bring back the memories of tokyo noodle house (on whyte ave) and samurai bistro in chinatown... yes, this is whatnomiyahas become after a few weeks of opening. the cheese mentai was pretty good but that was because of the awesome jap mayo (q-pie at superstore/t&t). the alaskan salmon roll sure looked great but the rice tasted dense and packed... too much rice for the other ingredients at hand.

will there be a 4th visit? you betcha. i just won't order any friggin ramen and try rice bowls, appetizers, and sushi.

4th visit - i did try the curry katsu today - very tasty sushi type rice. the curry was done just right. the pork chops were a bit overcooked and thin (go to i love sushi if you want good pork chops - you get two big ones). the unachi roll was amazing. and i broke my rule and tried a tiny bit of shio ramen - not bad. :o chicken karaage was a bit sour but it could be because we added too much lemon juice! overall a worthwhile visit. busy as always.

extra note: i strongly suggest ramen lovers to try t&t's frozen ramen packages. look for brands like nissui, nissin, and maruchan. they taste better than all the ramen in edm and only costs a few dollars a package.

and the frozen ramen, ladies and gents, conclude my 5th visit... no more love fornomiya:(