Nope, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you. That ain’t a pile of noodles the delicious pork shoulder is leaning against. It’s shredded cheese. Shredded Swiss cheese in fact. But don’t worry, the delicious fresh ramen noodles are immediately below. So feast your peepers on a steaming bowl of Cheese Ramen ($10.80) found at the recently opened Kinton Ramen (51 Baldwin St.) by the good folks at Guu Izakaya.

After some careful plunging, scooping and stirring, the cheese melted easily, adding a smoky flavour and gooey texture to my bowl. It may seem unconventional, but not to this trooper who’s discovered processed cheese in a Korean Hot Pot before. I love melted cheese, so I was game. The broth was light, not too salty (one of my gripes with Kenzo Ramen) and the pork shoulder was incredibly tender. The cheese did cling together in large lumps and the chopstick skills required to separate them into edible bites left my hand crampy. But it’s all in the name of adventurous ramen eatin’.

The fresh noodles are custom made for the restaurant (hence the signature wooden box the come in) and are easily the best ramen noodles available in Toronto right now. (As a side note, I am expecting Hokkaido Santouka to snatch that crown once their much-anticipated Toronto location opens. This is based on my experiences at their Vancouver and Hong Kong locations.) Kinton’s noodles are thicker (than Kenzo’s) with more bite resistance as they’re cooked to order. No Mr. Noodle mushiness here.

Four large vats of soup broth are constantly on rolling bowl in the open kitchen. You can actually see the pork bones bobbing up and down in the mixture of chicken stock, pork bone stock, fish and vegetable broth. Warning: try not to sit at the stools directly in front of these pots. While I imagine it’ll be the coziest spot in the winter, during the summer Toronto’s currently having they are basically the hottest three seats in the city.

The only benefit of those seats is the great vantage point into the open kitchen, where you can watch the chefs assemble each bowl. They pour the broth through a strainer, whisk it, add the noodles, tenderly separate the noodles with chopsticks so they don’t clump together, then carefully add meat, corn, bean sprouts, scoops of raw garlic and other condiments.

If you’re not interested in a little Swiss with your Japanese, there are other options besides the Cheese Ramen. Here’s the Miso Ramen ($9.50) with an extra order of pork ($2) which allows you to try both the pork shoulder (seen poking up around the perimeter) or the pork belly (seen in the centre of the bowl). You must normally make a choice of pork and I recommend the pork shoulder as the belly is quite fatty. The double swine order did prove to be too much meat for its hungry owner. The size of a normal bowl is quite impressive and most will struggle to finish.

Much like Guu, line-ups are a given at Kinton but table turnover is high. Arriving at 6pm meant a 20-minute wait, and by 7pm there were at least 40 people milling out front. Definitely give Kinton a go this summer, I feel confident proclaiming it’s Toronto first real ramen restaurant.

Kinton Ramen / 51 Baldwin St.., Toronto
647 748 8900 / Hours: Mon-Sun 11:30am-3pm, 5-10:30pm

The Double P’s are known for buying gifts at grocery stores when we travel. And our friends have learnt that we love food-related gifts brought back from foreign countries. So imagine my delight when my dear pals Pat and Diane brought me this pair of ramen-noodle-inspired socks.

As you can see, the design is identical to the famous Shin Ramyum instant noodles by Nong Shim. You can find them at any Asian supermarket, like T&T. The english text describes the flavour as ”Gourmet Spicy.”

Inside are dried ramen noodles (in a circular shape) and two small packets. One is the Soup Base, the other the Vegetable Mix which includes dried green onion, mushroom, carrot and red pepper bits. These are better than other instant ramen noodles because the flavour is more complex and the noodle texture is superior.

I have a slightly different method for making instant noodles that I learnt during (when else?) university. Yes, university/college is that pivotal time when Mr. Noodle becomes a sustenance staple. The instructions typically direct you to cook the noodles, soup base and vegetable mix all together in 550mL of boiling water for five minutes. I prefer to cook the noodles in boiling water until they’re almost done, then drain most of the water, leaving only the amount of liquid I want as soup broth. Then I’ll dump in all the dried Vegetable Mix, but only add a portion of the Soup Base, adjusting it to taste (careful, it’s spicy). If I have an egg (sadly, today I didn’t), I’ll stir it in a minute or two before the noodles are done.

I finish the bowl with a garnish of fresh green onions and a wedge of lime. Then I put on my Ramen Socks, kick up my feet and enjoy.

I am crazy about French Onion Soup. Sure, it’s one of the most unhealthy soups around, with all that bread and bubbling cheese. But oh man, it is ridiculously good. My brother Jonathan and I used to make this at home all the time, then took to the streets to find the best bowl in Toronto. For a while, Le Papillon took the crown, but now I have to hand it over to Patachou (1120 Yonge St., at MacPherson). They’ve managed to make a very hearty and heavy soup taste lighter, thanks to their vegetable broth. Plus, this is the only French Onion Soup where I didn’t run out of cheese towards the end of the bowl. For $4.95, it certainly doesn’t break the bank either.

A spoonful of this will warm your soul. When you get that perfect bite of oozing Emmental cheese, softened bread, a few slices of onion and their savoury broth, everything else melts away.

Patachou is a terrific bakery and café serving a range of salads, sandwiches and pastries. There’s another location at 835 St. Clair Ave. W. at Winona.

If you can’t get to Patachou, here’s the Martha Stewart recipe I use at home with beef stock, and here’s an option using vegetable stock. Where have you had the most delicious bowl of French Onion Soup? Leave a comment and let us know.

Sharing a bubbling hot pan of spicy seafood stew from Seoul Restaurant (621 Bloor St. West) is one of the best ways to catch up with a good friend. When the dish arrives perched atop a flaming gas element, you’ll both sit quietly in anticipation for three minutes. That’s all the time it takes for the broth to cook the mussels, squid, various types of shrimp and fish, and warm through the tofu, zucchini, carrots, bean sprouts and cabbage. Then you’ll have plenty of time for rousing conversation and dramatic storytelling while you work through the stew, four types of pan chan (Korean side dishes) and a bowl of rice each. It’s a steal at $18, which serves two with leftovers.

Our favourite extra topping is udon noodles, but there’s plenty to choose from including sausage, ramen, a boiled egg, and one we couldn’t resist trying: cheese. Seeing a Kraft Single ooze and melt into all that seafood did seem blasphemous, but friendships will only grow stronger over the shared revelation that this creamy addition to the soup is surprisingly good.

Seoul Sam Mi Restaurant / 621 Bloor St W, Toronto
416.532.9669