Kimono serves up ramen and first-class service

• Name + address: Kimono Ramen 3987 Riverside Dr., Unit 7

• Type of food: Japanese/Fusion

• Appetizers: $5 - $11

• Mains:$16 - $26

• Diet: Meat, Seafood, Vegan and Gluten-free options

• Wheelchair accessibility:Yes

• LCBO Licensed: No

• Website: Kimono

Not that a certain quota of ramen restaurants heralds the arrival of any benighted status but it’s nice that Ottawa appears on track to welcoming at least one new addition a year.

Kimono, which opened last Thanksgiving, is located in the same strip mall at which you’ll find T&T. It’s a welcome and much needed addition to what was a culinary wasteland. Now you can enjoy a proper lunch before you do your shopping. Something that is always advisable before you shop for groceries.

Upon entering, the printed sign indicates that you seat yourself at any set table. I sat down and took in the warm and modern ambience. I was given a menu and watched as other diners strolled in.

Years back and a few doors over, Bambu restaurant was struggling to make a go of it and new ownership jumped in. They then closed that restaurant and opened Kimono which offers a more limited menu and smaller footprint and I see that as giving them a successful advantage.

Certainly cost saving in 2023 will be important for any restaurant's survival but I can happily report that customers at Kimono will enjoy nicely done food at reasonable prices. More than anything this will ensure them a healthy run. 

As is often the case when I’m ordering something off any menu, they did not have the first appetizer ordered: Lotus chips with avocado dip. Very well. I was also interested in the chicken karaage (crisp fried boneless chicken) and so placed my order with the server Elizabeth. Minutes later she returned telling me they did not have that item ready either but she did recommend the Inari Bombs. These are fried tofu skin pockets filled with rice, your choice of seafood and topped with soy drizzle and tobiko (flying fish roe). I took her advice and ordered the scallop version.

I need to add a word about service here. Too often the value of that is overlooked and critics and the general public alike pay scant attention to good service while always ready to emphasize the bad. 

I watched as Elizabeth worked the room herself, going from table to table, recalling precisely the order in which guests came in and seated themselves. No single table was taken out of order and I knew I was in the presence of an experienced and efficient server as I watched her scan the room for anything that needed to be sorted next.

The inari bombs arrived pleasingly arranged and I tucked right in. Tofu skins are one of those products that can very quickly pick up the taste of the fridge. None of that here. Everything was as fresh as it gets and the rice was perfectly done. Each bomb held a large scallop, sliced in two, plump and sweet. The tobiko proved a nice contrast with its salty crunch.

Kimono offers a good selection of ramen choices for all diets and that includes gluten-free. I opted for a spicy miso chicken and it arrived, piping hot with noodles cooked al dente. The noodles themselves were not the traditional alkaline noodles you find in the best ramen shops. Adding an alkalizing agent like potassium carbonate to wheat noodles makes them springy, chewy and less likely to absorb liquid. These were plain wheat noodles.

All other components spoke to the care the kitchen puts into each bowl of ramen. The bamboo shoots were tender and not fibrous. The tamago (soy cured soft egg) represented one of the better examples I’ve had in Ottawa. The chicken itself was cooked perfectly and I was delighted that it was cut against the grain of the fibres making for easy eating.The corn and bean sprouts gave up a sweet crunch and the spice was entirely tolerable.

Elizabeth shared with me that all soup stocks are made in-house and it’s encouraging to know that they’re doing it right. It was much better than I was expecting and while I miss the more unctuous broths of the better ramen restaurants in Vancouver, Kimono is delivering a quality experience in terms of both food and service. It’s certainly worth a return visit.