I was really surprised that the former burger shop, Big Jack’s Burger Shop, had closed down and now was taken over by Kyouka Ramen (I really liked that burger joint).  Kyouka Ramen, a Japanese ramen house, is located on Woodbine Avenue south of Highway 7.  We were here on a Friday afternoon and they opened right at noon.  Thus, even though we were here a few minutes before noon, we waited outside before they opened.  And then right at 12 when the staff opened up the door, even some other customers who were waiting for the opening of the doors rushed out immediately from their cars and entered the restaurant.  This restaurant was a lot busier than I expected, with all of the seats filled up by the 15-minute mark of opening.

Coreen and I had never been here before obviously.  I chose the Kyouka Ramen while Coreen chose the Shoyu Ramen.  It didn’t take long for the bowls of ramen to be served.

The Kyouka Ramen had edible kelp stock, daily chicken and pork broth, aromatic sesame oil, green chives, bean sprouts, pork and chicken chashu, egg, naruto fish cake, wood ear mushroom, and chili paste (mild or spicy or fire [+$0.50]).  I chose the “less fat” version of the soup and the “mild” chili paste.

I honestly didn’t like the Kyouka Ramen.  I thought that the broth was too oily and the ramen noodles’ texture was soft and not firm enough.  I didn’t think that the addition of bean sprouts and leeks into the ramen made it a very authentic experience although they claim to be an authentic ramen shop.

Coreen’s Shoyu Ramen had edible kelp stock, daily chicken broth, original soy sauce liquid seasoning, aromatic oil, leeks, pork and chicken chashu, egg, seaweed, spinach, and naruto fish cake.

We took our time dining in and I noticed that two tables down, one party had been waiting for their food for a long time but it didn’t still arrive yet.  While we were there, there were also some customers waiting for a table too.  The restaurant was very packed!