Ajisen Ramen

My problem was that the broth of my noodles should have been really hot in order to warm up the rest of the ingredients inside the bowl. But the broth was only luke warm and therefore some of the other ingredients were not hot.
Saving grace was the bbtea. Nice bubbles.

This is one of my friends favourtie Ramen places, and the only ramen place we visit when we’re in Richmond, so I have been here many times. Each time we’ve been here, the service is awesome, the food was exactly what I had ordered and tasty.
I have been trying all their different types of soups, just to compare the variety within the restaurant. The last time I went I had the spicy Ajisen Ramen with 25 degrees of spicyness, which was too spicy for me, maybe I’m just weak sauce. My favourite dish so far is the Kimchi Ramen.

I would consider this more a chinese style ramen. The soup base is oily and salty. The service — what service?
I’m pretty sure they use a lot of MSG because I fell asleep an hour after eating here.

I wanted to give it 3 ½ star. I only had the ramen here, but me and my friend like it. We came here every time we visited. The waitress is nice and the food comes out quick.

During our last visit to Vancouver we had several disappointing meals and this was one of them. One expects simplicity and satisfaction from ramen — last time Ajisen delivered. This time out, our food was mediocre — hitting a lot of salty notes, the store was considerably dirtier and the service was atrocious.
Richmond is a wonderland of Asian food… so we won’t be returning to Ajisen. When you only get a handful of days to explore a place each year, you don’t go back to «less than average»…

Been here once with my best friend and I definitely must say, this is nothing special.
Food: Below average. Got two different Ramen and an appetizer. I had one with the deep-​fried pork chop and I had more «deep-​fry» than «pork». Extremely disappointed. Ramen wasn’t too bad. Had the beef wrapped in enoki mushrooms, which was good!
Service: Extremely below average. I swear even the owner wasn’t paying much attention. These people don’t seem to know what their job is, talking and chatting with each other was probably their first priority. Needless to say we still got our food, but I would prefer having my dinner with my friend WITHOUT the staff chatting loudly with each other.
Price: You get what you paid for.

Ajisen Ramen is your destination if you’re looking for a bowl of imitation Japanese ramen.
I wouldn’t guarantee that you’ll be full regardless of how many orders of extra noodles you request because the MSG will eventually set in. The soup base is oily, and laden with ingredients that are anything but healthy for you. The flavours are borderline bland if it isn’t for the salt they add.
Service here is horrible. Don’t expect to be served even after they’ve instructed you to sit anywhere you wish. Also, don’t expect a quality check or refills on tea unless you wave your arms wildly.
Cleanliness could use some work as well. I won’t go into details.
If you’re in a rush, don’t expect to find parking during peak hours of the day. Parker Place shoppers will be hoarding all the stalls so give yourself some time to find parking.

The place is a little run down but it’s all about the food. I think the food is consistent with the Shanghai and Los Angeles locations. I have no complaints with the food. We tried the Deor fried Tofu, deep fried oysters and the curry chicken cutlet rice combo. There was a bit too much deep fried foods but that is our fault for picking the dishes.

Been here couple of times with my friends, pretty much had tried most of their «signature» ramen flavors. But honestly none of them are any good. For some reasons, their broths are full of msg, and are either bland or overpowering (imagine taiwanese beef noodle soup served with wannabe ramen noodles). Their ramen noodles is hard, has no texture, not thick, not chewy. The pork is the only acceptable part of the dish, it is soft & tasty, not bland, but again not very authentic, it tastes more like taiwanese beef noodles. Portion-​wise is reasonable, they dont cheap out and give you paper-​thin like charshu pieces like some places. In terms of services, they tend to hire some inexperienced teenagers as waitresses, so don’t expect much service if that is what you are looking for. In summary, their ramen are not authentic, but more like taiwanese fusion jap noodles. I am not surprised at all that they only have less than half of the places filled even during busy lunch /​dinner hours. Personally i wont return again because of the subpar quality.

This is my new favorite place in Richmond. Loved the ramen. I ordered the house special which came with a side of some kooky chili/​dried meat concoction. It’s very hot stuff and you add as much as you can tolerate. The REAL winner for me was the app of «deep fried chicken knee caps».
No joke. I wasn’t sure if chickens even HAD knees but these things were flat out delicious.

If I have to stop by Parker Place and need a quick lunch, it would be a choice.
I had chicken udon which it very tasty of MSG!
Service is poor, I don’t expect much out of this place. I usually have to wave my arm around to get any attention. Do not expect a quality check after you get your meal either. Consider it good when she comes around with some more tea.
G-​Men ramen much better than them.

(Just a side note: Ajisen is actually a chain, mostly located in Asia)
To be honest, I am not sure why Ajisen is never more than 25% full at this location. They have arguably the best ramen in Richmond, but nobody seems to give them credit. So, here’s my official endorsement.
The place is very clean, the staff is friendly, and they play nice music. There are some pretty cool-​looking murals on the walls too.
For appies, I suggest trying the tofu with fish roe on top. It’s a totally simple dish, but it is freaking good. Their gyoza are also very fresh and crispy.
Their ramen bowls can be adjusted in terms of spiciness. I’ve had maybe 4 – 5 different bowls (can’t remember what they’re called), and every time it’s good. The soup doesn’t have a huge layer of fat on top, which I also like.
Dinner can be easily be had for less than $ 10 without an appetizer.
I try to come here more often, because I would feel bad if they went bust.

My opinon of this restaurant was already mediocore until I talked to someone who worked there before — they don’t give ANY tip to their waitresses. NO TIP. Can you imagine those poor girls working so hard all day and only get minimum wage? I think a restaurant that isn’t willing to invest into good servers should not be in business.

This is the first Ajisen on this side of Canada and quality of the ramen is consistent with other Ajisen locations.
The ramen broth is a lot lighter than the ones they serve at places like Santouka or Santa Ramen. The flavor of the broth relies more on the use of spices and vegetables and less on oil and MSG. The result is a good, subtle combination of flavors that does not overwhelm. The taste is almost identical to the broths found at Ajisen locations in the States.
This Ajisen location serves a number of good side dishes/​appetizers. Canadian locations offer a membership card. Not sure what you get with it but might be worth looking into.
The restaurant is a bit hard to find. It faces the parking lot on the Hazelbridge side of Parker Place and there is no direct entrance from the mall.

Having put significant energies into seeking out the best ramen providers in New York and Toronto, I think it’s fair to say that I’m an avid Ramen fan.
Although Ajisen is a chain that I have heard folks speak highly of before, I found their food and service (at this one location at least) particularly unimpressive. Though there are several selections for add ons (teriyaki, curry selections, seafood) on the menu the broth is all the same, meaning bland.
Also, the noodles used are not your standard ramen noodles (curly, chewy, skinny) instead they are more akin to the noodles you’d find in Taiwanese noodle soups (thinker, straight, white in colour). A disappointment to say the least.
Though we did not make it in time, I liked that there was a happy hour menu where many snack foods (2 dumplings, one riceball, edamame) were one dollar. After looking at the prices of these items regularly (around $ 5) I could see why. We ordered a crab maki at regular price ($ 5) and were served miniature cylinders filled with imitation crab and some slices of cucumber. Not cool.
Each bowl is also supposed to come with a hard boiled egg a la standard ramen protocol. When I asked why ours did not the waitress said that they had run out of eggs and instead added two slices of gross-​looking pork circles. What if I didn’t eat pork? Some notice as to this change would have been nice.
My fellow eaters were disappointed, though not as much as myself (they have never had Benkei). They also preferred the blandish broth to ramen’s typical saltiness, which has earned this review of Ajisen an extra star.
Nonetheless, Ajisen is proof that just because a place carries wide wooden spoons and chili flakes doesn’t mean it’s worthy of dealing quality ramen.

I LOVE this place BUT only for it’s ramen and nothing else.
I normally order the pork ramen, a lot of my friends get the bbq corn ramen too. The broth is what makes this place so great! it has such a unique flavour to it!
I only come here for the ramen, a few times i have ordered appetizers like the gyoza, rice rolls, but i don’t find them very good. their deep fried chicken is tasty but you can get that anywhere else… the ramen is what makes this place awesome and unique!

Having tried this chain in Hong Kong, I decided to see if it was the same, or better over here.
Located at Parker Place, but you cannot get in from inside the mall. You actually have to go outside to find its entrance.
The ramen is very different from the ramen I’ve eaten at other Japanese places. The ramen they serve here seems as if it’s slightly undercooked, so that it’s more chewy than the ramen I’ve eaten. Yes, I like ramen that has a bit of bounce to it when you chew, but the ramen here is a bit too «bouncy» for my taste.
I had ordered the Beef Teppanyaki ramen (black peppered grilled pieces of beef), and the downside to it was that the beef has been obviously pan-​fried, cooked a quite a bit of oil and immediately put into my bowl of ramen when it was done from the pan. It’s one thing for oily soup, which I completely understand for ramen, but for the meat to have that oily texture to it? I’m definitely not a fan.
Lots of different choices, but the biggest downer for me was the quality of the ramen. I love all kinds of noodles, but to me, this isn’t what I’d call quality ramen.
If you’re a fan of deep fried food, this may be a good place for you, because almost all the side dishes are deep fried or fried in some way.
Note: Thank goodness this place actually know how to write proper English. I think I would have been writhing if I saw another case of KAWAWA.

when i go here i usually get the beef teppanyaki ramen… it’s so good… except it’s a bit on the oily side…
other things i highly recommend:
— unagi fried rice
— deep fried soft shell crab
— tofu baked with fish roe
— beef enoki roll