Kenzo

Average place — I’ve definitely had better ramen elsewhere, but if you’re at Yonge and Sheppard and craving ramen — wouldn’t hurt to give this place a try!

So Disappointed about the waiter here, when he required me to give 10% minimun for tip. Never come back

I’ve definitely had better ramen elsewhere, but it’s good enough to satisfy that ramen craving.
We ordered the tonkotsu and the king of kings. The tonkotsu wasn’t great — broth was not hot. waaayyyy too much beansprouts, and the pork slices were dry (could have been zapped in the microwave). The King of Kings was a tad better. It came out piping hot and the broth was more flavourful. but again… waaayyyy too much bean sprouts! Would come back again, though. they could have just been having an off day. But… for the Kenzo chain that’s known for their tonkotsu broth, I was quite disappointed.

The spicy ramen with porn bone soup (2 spice levels) is the spiciest thing you have ever tasted! You will not be able to finish the bowl, but if you like spicy food… it’s highly recommended!!!
Great spot

My favourite place for ramen. Vegetarian and vegan options Are available.
For a vegan option I usually go for the vegetarian Sapporo miso ramen with vegetable broth $ 10.95. They do not use egg in the ramen noodles.
They make their noodles in house. Which may be why their prices are a little higher than some other ramen places. The broth is rich and flavourful and the portions sizes are just right.
I give 4 stars only because they charge the same price for the vegetarian ramen a with no meat as they do for the meat version. $ 11 for soup with noodles and veg is a little expensive. But yet I keep coming back cause it’s that good :)

If the noodles had more life, if the soup base was stronger and there were better garnishings, I’d be there for many meals during the week! BTW, the shrimps in the Nagasaki was decent last year. The past few times they deem to have bought smaller cheaper shrimps. Thoroughly disappointed.

These guys have one of the best Korean soups in town and for very reasonable price. They taste specially good on a cold winter day. The portion is also very big. I struggle to finish it in one sitting.

Okay, this place is close by, which is probably the only reason I still visit it rarely. The soup base is definitely average, if not subpar. Unfortuneately, I also get the same MSG dryness feeling in my mouth after I eat here. The noodles are okay, nothing special. The seaweed, scallions, and other vegetables do not taste fresh. However, one saving grace is that their meat is flavourful and tender.
The price point for basic shio and shoyu ramen is around $ 7. The larger sized/​specialty ramens are around $ 12 – 15.
The service is okay, there is only one waiter. However, he does pour water and take your order promptly.
Overall, just like the McDonalds next door, I do not come here for the food, but only venture here for the convenience.

I like the food a lot. I prefer their ramen than other japanese ramen places. The only thing about it is their service is not the best. Lots of times the staff were just sitting there and chatting and looking at customers.

The food is okay, the ramen I ordered was served very fast, but the service was just so so, as the waiter seemed to be so inactive and looked dead, as well as I received the bill soon after I just finished my meal and I didn’t ask for it.
Note: the ramen is just average, disappointed as this is called «ramen shop», which it should be good at its ramen.

Best for lunch or a quick bite. The service was great and attentive. The ramen here is Korean influenced Japanese ramen — and I like it. I tried the Jisu ramen and my mom had the Netsu ramen. The Jisu ramen broth was nice and sticky and had a soy-​sauce based broth. It was loaded with lots of fresh veggies (bean sprouts, red pepper, mushrooms, green onion, bok choy). For a carb conscious girl like me I loved how I felt full without eating much noodle.
My moms Netsu ramen was spicy and had a lot of yummy veggies as well.
I think for people that like a fresh, healthier take on their «traditional» ramen with more options would definitely enjoy Kenzo’s ramen.

Eating here right now the king ramen… that shit is amazing. crack. Good pricing nice people serving. Really good place to go to.

This restaurant is quite visible on the Yonge & Sheppard intersection. There is a giant mechanical statute with moving noodle outside the restaurant. You can’t miss that!
Compared to Kinto Ramen, which is only 10min walking distance north from Kenzo, this restaurant is a lot more spacious. There is no waiting time, which can be positive if you need to get your food fast.
Kenzo has a decent number of selection on its menu. In terms of the menu, the difference between Kenzo and Kinton is that Kenzo pretty much doesn’t allow you to customize their dish. This can be a good thing because it means they can make their default dish right.
I ordered Tonkotsu ramen, which is basically pork belly with a regular soup base. At first, the noodle that I ordered was firm (al dente). However, as I eat, the noodle quickly goes soggy. The pork belly wasn’t as tender compared to Kinto, but that maybe because the meat at Kinto was mostly fat. In another way, this means that Kenzo may lead to a healthier alternative. All in all, this place is worth trying if you are around the neighborhood.

The food here is pretty average for me. We come here because the food is fast, the place relatively clean and there’s always a table available. This place is similar to Ajisan for me except they have better soup and less MSG.
I’ve had their Tonkatsu Ramen before and I really found it average. Nothing really stood out to me at all. But I couldn’t really say that it was bad. The only thing I didn’t like was their noodles, I generally like the more chewy noodles while their noodles were a bit plain. I’ve also tried their rice dishes such as Oyakodon (Chicken and egg with rice), which was decent. Again just around average for me.
But the service is good, and you get quick food. Prices are reasonable. Will drop by for a quick bite.

Kenzo Ramen is one of many Ramen restaurants you’ll find strolling down Yonge. It’s right by Yonge/​Sheppard across from the Boston Pizza and sandwiched between all these Korean bars and restaurants. You can’t really miss it from the outside because there is (or was) this pretty cool moving statue that shows a person playing with noodles.
The menu has several offerings of ramen, but avoid the basic. You want to go for their specialties like the Tonkotsu Ramen or the Nakasaki Champon Ramen. The Nakasaki Champon is a light clear broth that’s pretty salty and comes topped with seafood items like shrimp, mussels, and squid. The seafood is very good as they don’t cook it into the broth thankfully. They are added after the hot stuff and it soaks up enough of the broth, without making the broth very fishy or making the seafood overdone. Noodles are excellent, but portions are a bit light.
I’ve never really been a big fan of ramen places because I always think of instant noodles. I know places like this try to get me out of this mindset, but it’s a bit tough. They do a good job adding stuff but I can’t help but think that the noodles were only like $ 0.10 cents. In any case, the broth and add-​ons are the winners here. As well, the place is clean and prices are fair.

As a ramen fanatic, I’ve tried most of the ramen shops in the city. Kenzo is a chain that started with the yonge and steeles location and expanded its way down.
To be fair, Kenzo is not the most authentic ramen with its Korean influenced flavours. As such, I am basing this review purely against its other chain locations. Kenzo versus Kenzo.
First, let’s start with the service.
Service is non existant here like most other asian restaurants. This is to be expected, but I’ve had much better service at their other locations. The waitresses here looked like they hated their jobs and wanted to be elsewhere. No communication whatsoever. Simply hands me the menu, walks away and starts talking with their co workers behind the counter. No «hello, how are you?» Or «here’s the menu, would you like some water or tea to start?»
Onto the food.
I ordered the netsu ramen which is a spicy ramen. This is my standard go-​to menu choice when i visit kenzo.
The waitress comes over, places the tray on my table without a word, and walks away to chat with her coworker once more.
The netsu ramen comes in this big bowl filled with noodles, ground pork, and veggies. I’m used to walking out feeling quite satisfied after having one of these bad boys, and for 10 dollars, it’s not a bad deal.
At this location however, the netsu ramen, or shall i say beansprout ramen, was very disappointing. The amount of noodles in the bowl was shockingly little with the beansprout to noodle ratio being 2:1. No joke! Furthermore, the owner lady (it was obvious that she was the owner because she was berating and yelling at her employees) looked as if she had dung under her nose. Seriously! I swear i’ve never seen such a miserable person.
All in all, this specific kenzo location left me with a bad taste in my mouth and i left feeling hungry.
Very disappointing in every single way.
On a positive note, the food came out in 3 – 4 minutes as usual. Excellent if you want a disappointing meal in a rush!

Solid and Satisfactory.
I have the spicy ramen and I was pleasantly surprised. I paired it with be matcha slush, wow, my favourite so far of all the matcha drinks I had. It was worth the try and with time and more business I can see them being successful. I would return.

So I don’t care for ramen at all so my review is biased. Came here once before and had the Ji Su Men (A soy sauce base soup combined with chicken, eggs and sesame oil. Mixed with stir fried vegetables.). This was GROSS, the soup base was thick and i vowed to never return. Came here again this past weekend against my will and had the Tonkotsu Ramen. It was nothing spectacular. The pork that it came with was really lean in comparison to other ramen places, which is good cuz its healthy but really we all know it tastes better when its a little fatty. The egg was good and that was about it.
However, we started with the Takoyaki (Baked octopus ball filled with octopus, green onion, cheese). I don’t like seafood but this was actually really good! There was only a midget size octopus in the middle but the outer ball area was so soft n tasty– not sure what it was though haha. Also had the Tonkatsu (pork cutlet) on the side and this was REALLY well done. The outside was perfectly crispy and the pork was super moist and tender on the inside. Comes with a sauce that was also really good and a small side of salad. I would come back just to eat the pork but NOT the ramen.

Haven’t been so upset by the service and food from a restaurant for so long. The food has only gotten worse in here. The ramen we ordered has 80% bean sprout over a 20% content of noodle. The pork was no where near what it is supposed to look and taste. The egg looks extremely small. Out of all, only the soup base is barely acceptable. Perhaps it should be renamed as Kenzo bean sprout soup instead. We also ordered takoyaki (octopus ball) which arrived late, tasted like banana split and the ball is empty with a small octopus meat in it. Fast food style takoyaki would have made it much better.
The waitress demonstrated little service manner by throwing down the menus on the table. She also failed to perform her job professionally by delivering the wrong food to the wrong table twice in a roll.
Overall, the experience was terrible. With the price being no less than any downtown Japanese operated ramen restaurant, there is no point to visit this location of Kenzo if you want to eat good ramen. If you want fast food to fill up the stomach on the neighborhood, try another restaurant.

First off, this location is totally unrelated to the original Yonge and Steeles Kenzo. The waitress told us that the original owner sold the Yonge/​Steeles location and opened with the same name at Sheppard, Wellesley, Dundas and Bloor. Strange that the menus are identical too.
I ordered the Tonkatsu Ramen — $ 10.95 — and the broth is not as thick and creamy as I liked it to be. I asked for less salt, and it was significantly less salty than my friend’s bowl. The pork was over cooked, but still tender. Maybe a little too much bean sprouts. The Yonge/​Steeles location charges $ 13 for their Tonkatsu Ramen, and if you prefer creamier soup, I’d go there instead.
The interior of this location is chic and modern, and no wait time to be seated, which is rare for ramen places in Toronto. The service is friendly, and food arrived fast.
If you come here, you MUST order the gyoza! One of the best I’ve tasted in T-​Dot! They’re made fresh, so you’ll need to wait 15-​minutes. Totally worth the wait!