Eats

Gagana Ramen – Calgary Restaurant

We’ve been to Gagana several times and it’s quickly become our go-to Asian noodle fix. Great service, reasonable prices, a generous loyalty card and, importantly, satisfying food.

In the video, our appetizer is Takoyaki – Five seasoned octopus balls. Our boys were skeptical as we’ve had horrible renditions of it at all-you-can-eat buffets in Vancouver. Thankfully Gagana’s was perfectly cooked, seasoned, presented, and delicious.

I’ve been smitten with tsukemen ever since discovering it on a trip to Little Tokyo in LA, and enjoy Gagana’s version quite a bit. Tsukemen is a dipping ramen where the noodles – often thicker than ramen noodles – are presented to your table separate from your broth. Tsukemen broth isn’t made for “drinking” like a traditional soup broth, but the extra-rich and salty broth is created to cling to your noodles in all its flavourful glory. Unlike with traditional ramen, I love the fact the noodles don’t get overcooked by sitting in hot soup and appreciate the texture and bite of every noodle.

Just before your noodles are finished, the server taught us that you can add a mild seafood broth to the remaining rich soup, to complete your meal by drinking your soup.

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