Jammin’ ramen

Sumo Ramen brings Japanese
noodles to Chinatown

by MARK SLUTSKY

Japanese food has always been hit and miss (and far more latter than former) in this city; chalk it up to Montreal’s relatively small Japanese community compared to other Canadian cities like, say, Vancouver. Still, that hasn’t stopped sushi places from sprouting up all over town like mushrooms after a downpour in the last few years.

One element of Japanese cuisine, and an important one, that gets very little attention over here is ramen. Big, rich soups full of those thin, wiggly wheat-based noodles can be found all over Japan, but most Montrealers’ experience of the dish have probably been restricted to cheap instant soup packs consumed during days of student financial desperation. A shame, because a good bowl of ramen is a hearty and deeply satisfying meal and one with many delightful variations.

Montreal got a taste of “real” ramen last year with the opening of Ramen-Ya, a fast-food-ish place on St-Laurent in the Plateau that offered a pretty decent take on the dish (as well as fried pork cutlets with Japanese curry sauce, a substance to which I could easily become addicted. But I digress). Now, a new restaurant, Sumo Ramen, located in Chinatown (and apparently Chinese-run) is offering another take on ramen, with a dozen takes on the theme.

Located on the second floor of a building on St-Laurent just below de la Gauchetière, Sumo Ramen has a surprisingly tasteful and cozy atmosphere—they’ve obviously put some thought into the place’s décor, with warm orange walls and a general clean and comfy vibe. God knows I love my dingy Chinatown holes-in-the-wall, but this is nice too.

We’ll get to the noodles, but first, the appetizers. I was tempted by the Japanese-style deep fried chicken wings ($3.75), and for the most part, they didn’t disappoint. These are deep-fried (my friend described them as “triple-battered”). Somewhere in between a tempura batter and Shake & Bake, the wings have a deep golden brown crunchy skin, which goes along nicely with the kewpie mayonnaise dipping sauce provided alongside. My main complaint? For $3.75, four wing pieces (not even full wings) is stingy. You could easily get two or three times that amount for the same price in any ol’ pub. The dumplings, fried gyoza ($3.95) had a crispy, flat exterior and a tasty filling of pork and, I believe, cabbage and were also available as a full meal (with miso soup and salad) for $9.95.

On to the soups. The restaurant’s namesake Sumo Ramen is available, like all of their soups, with either a shoyu (soya) or miso soup base ($7.95 and $8.95, respectively). I went for the miso, a rich broth that was nonetheless enhanced by the liberal application of some soy sauce (it needed a little salt). Presentation was delightful: the soup was topped by bright yellow kernels of corn, a beautiful half hard-boiled egg and deep green seaweed. And the noodles: soft but with a good amount of bite. Two wide, thin slices of BBQ pork provided some fatty flavour—so much so that one of my friends tore the translucent strips of pure fat off hers before she could eat it.

That was the basic version, but there’s a kind for whatever protein or flavouring you might fancy: the volcano ramen ($8.95/$9.95) is a spicy variation), the leek ramen ($11.95/$12.95) comes topped with julienned onions, the shrimp ($10.50/$11.50), beef ($9.95/$10.95) and lamb ($9.95/$10.95) ramens should be self-explanatory. With the tsukemen, or dipping ramen ($8.95), the noodles are served separately from the soup—it’s kind of DIY.

Apart from the ramen, there’s a handful of rice-based dishes. I didn’t try the “Japanese Fried Rice” ($8.75) or the curry beef rice ($8.95), which I definitely will next time, but the eel bento box ($11.95) featured fresh, soft pieces of tender eel atop rice—a little bit too sweet for my taste, but generally quite tasty. All rice dishes come with a small bowl of miso soup and a salad.

Though we went for dinner, we got the sense that Sumo might make a great place to stop in for lunch, especially on a cold day. It’s not an earth-shattering revelation, but solid, filling food.