DINNER AT GAGANA RAMEN - Airport

I have been wanting to try this place when they first open back in May. I was excited to learn that the restaurant is the Northeast but at a very odd location. Gagana Ramen is located on 11th Street kitty-corner to the main Canada Post office or up the hill from Deerfoot City. Gagana Ramen is a franchise from Japan. They even had a Japanese chef come in to train the local chefs the Gagana way. I think the owner of this location is Chinese since they took an ad out on the local Chinese newspapers, and I can hear them talking in the back. However, it doesn't matter as long as the food is good and authentic.

I think I'm turning one of my co-workers into a foodie. So far, she has love all the places I suggested she should try. So, I decided to take her here. Since we leave work at different times, we decided to meet at the restaurant at 6 pm. We came on a Wednesday. Currently, Gagana has a promotion: Monday to Wednesday 20% off total bill; Thursday to Sunday Free order of Chicken Karaage, Edamame, or Seaweed salad when you purchase 2 orders of ramen or rice; for 4 or more, additional 10% off the bill. When I arrived at the place, there was only one other table occupied. By 7 pm, more people were starting to come in. Naturally, my co-worker was very late so I had a chance to really browse the menu.

When you step inside, Gagana looks very minimal, but I can assure you that food and service are excellent. Gagana, on their menu and wall picture, describes how their ramen broth is made. It looks like a long process. I recently read and seen that people in Japan, if they wanted to open up a ramen shop, will go to Ramen school to learn the process of making the broth, combining different flavours, making noodles, and learning to cook the different toppings. It was a interesting read and video segment. Gagana stew their pork and chicken bones and more than 10 kinds of vegetable for more than 12 hours and then use bonito to blend that together. The process continues on after that. Gagana has a very small menu. Even though they have only four ramens on their menu, it can been seen that they take great pride and care with the four ramen dishes. Since there were two different ramen dishes I wanted to try, I ended up coming here twice in one week.

Chicken Karaage 300g $10

My co-worker and I felt very gluttony so we ordered the large size of karaage. There is a smaller size, 150g for $6. When this order came out, I was surprise how much 300g was. I'm not good at judging size/amount at all. The chicken was crispy, but not too crispy, and the meat was very tender. It is one of the better karaage I had in a long while. The karaage came with two dipping sauces. There was the typical red chili sauce mixed with Japanese mayo, and a soy sauce based one which was new to me. I like the soy sauce based one. It had a roasted seaweed or sesame after taste to it. We couldn't figure it out. I asked the server what the sauce was made from but she had no idea.

Tonkotsu Ramen with Egg $12 + $1.50

I wanted to try their traditional Japanese broth. It was very good and not salty at all for my taste. I think I still like the milky pork broth better since I can taste the pork in it. With this traditional broth, you can taste layers of flavours with nothing very distinct. The noodles are made from wheat and whole wheat flour, and they are a little thicker than what the other ramen shops around Calgary serve. They were cooked with just enough softness for me. The noodles were topped off with 2 slices of lean/fatty char siu, green onions, leeks, cabbage, bamboo shoots, corn, seaweed slice, red chili powder, and fried onions. I like the char siu here. It melts in your mouth and is charred a little to give it more flavour. It is the second best char siu I had in a ramen so far. I had to order the soft boiled egg separate. The only ramen that comes with half an egg is the spicy miso. The egg is soy sauce based and was cooked very well with the yolk being very creamy. The only thing that I thought didn't belong in this dish was the cabbage. The pieces were big and too cumbersome to eat. I understand that it brings a another element of crunch but it didn't work for me.

Tsukemen (Dipping Ramen) $13.50

My co-worker ordered this on our visit, and I'm a big fan of dipping ramen and soba. So I decided to come for a second visit to give this a try since I was in the area picking up some packages. This is a cold noodle dish with the broth being hot/warm. The broth and noodles are a little thicker in this dish. This is better to get the broth with the noodles. The broth was a little salty by itself but once you mix things in, it gets better. In the broth, the chef put thinly sliced leeks, green onions, and red chili pepper. With the noodles, it had a slice of lemon, char siu bamboo shoots, cucumbers, and cabbage. I usually squeeze the lemon in my broth but it can be put on the noodles. I got to really taste the char siu by itself. It was nice and melted in my mouth. The bamboo shoots were very good and crunchy too - doesn't taste from the can. So, to eat this dish, you grab a chopstick full of noodle and briefly dip it in the broth and eat it. You also do the same with the vegetables and meat as well. It really is that simple. Once you are finished or almost finished, the server usually offers you a dashi based soup/stock for the broth. If they don't offer you this, just ask them. The dashi stock dilutes your broth so you can enjoy another flavour. You drink this up like a soup. Tsukemen is a good experience to try.

All in all, this little shop in the middle of an industrial area is a great place to enjoy ramen that is currently served in Japan. With the small menu, it allows the chefs to take their time to fine-tune their dishes. This is one of few restaurants that serve Tsukemen in the city. I recommend everyone to give Tsukemen a try. They are open everyday and close at 8:30 pm.

Gagana Ramen
#101 5421-11 Street NE
403-452-3826