OJI SEICHI: LIMITED-TIME OFFERINGS ARE A HIGHLIGHT AT THIS TORONTO RAMEN SPOT
The Cost -$24 per person
The Atmosphere – Located in Toronto’s East Chinatown district, Oji Seichi is a relatively small restaurant with some counter, table, and outdoor seating. The restaurant’s furniture is pretty minimalist and nondescript, and there isn’t much to say about its décor either. Despite that, it is a great place for a casual date, a solo outing, or dinner with friends. Just know that there are no reservations taken so you may need to wait a bit if visiting during peak hours.
Opened in 2021 by Chef-Owner Mitch Bates, a Momofuku alum, Oji Seichi is a ramen spot that is best known for making its ramen noodles fresh every day in its basement on a machine that Bates had imported all the way from Japan. The restaurant’s menu is pretty short, consisting of four mainstay ramen options and a handful of appetizers. Subject to availability though, Oji Seichi normally has a few limited-time offerings that often consist of a ramen, a “Sandy,” and a dessert. We checked out Oji Seichi for dinner to sample a mix of their permanent and limited-time menu items.
The Order – Seaweed and Cucumber Salad, Chicken Katsu Sandy, Oji Classic Shio Ramen, Oji Classic Shoyu Ramen, Spicy Miso Ramen, and the Daily Pie.
The Fantastic – The best dish of the evening was Oji Seichi’s limited-time ramen offering, the Spicy Miso Ramen. A pork-based broth with homemade sweet miso, roasted pork, cabbage, bean sprouts, egg, chili oil, and scallions, the broth was spicy and a bit creamy and was absolutely delicious. The roast pork fell apart (in the best way possible) at the touch of the chopsticks and the sweet miso perfectly combined with the chili oil to give the dish a wonderful mix of sweet, salty, and savory flavors. We only wish it was a permanent fixture on the restaurant’s menu.
The Great – The other two of Oji Seichi’s limited-time offerings that we ordered earned our Great rating: the Chicken Katsu Sandy and the Daily Pie. The chicken katsu sandy, which is the restaurant’s term for a sandwich, came wrapped in foil and was served with onion rings. It came on a hamburger bun and featured panko-fried chicken that was topped with pickled daikon, shredded cabbage, and mayo. The breading on the chicken was light, making for a really nice, crisp outside that allowed the flavor of the juicy chicken to really come through. The toppings were also good, as was the soft, mushy bun, making this dish one that we’d definitely order again if it was on the menu.
We didn’t really need to order dessert after each person had a ramen and we split the sandy and an appetizer among three people, but when I heard that the Daily Pie was a deep-fried strawberry rhubarb there was no way I was going to pass it up. It arrived at our table as a rectangular-shaped pastry filled with excellent strawberry rhubarb and topped with sugar. The dessert also came with homemade whipped cream which was extra light and airy. The pastry part itself could have been better but the rest of it was very nice.
Now, back to ramen. The Oji Classic Shio Ramen was the best non-limited-time item that was ordered. The broth is special – a salt broth made with chicken, pork, and seafood, you could taste the salt, but it wasn’t too salty. The flavor that is given to the broth from the meat and seafood proteins is incredible and it is really the best part of the dish. In addition to the noodles, the ramen also had an egg, roasted pork belly, bamboo shoots, Naruto (a type of surimi), nori, spinach, and scallions. On their own, the noodles and the pork belly were solid, but it was really the broth that brought out the best in them. Of the two mainstay ramens we tried, this one would be the one to order again.
The Good – The last ramen we ordered was the Oji Classic Shoyu Ramen. Instead of the salt broth of the Shio Ramen, the Shoyu Ramen had a soy sauce-based broth; it simply was not as good as the other broths. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t as good. Given that the other ingredients added to the ramen were the same as the ones in the Shio, we recommend going with the Shio over the Shoyu.
The only dish ordered from the “Snacks” section of the menu (essentially appetizers) was the Seaweed and Cucumber Salad. What I expected to be more like a typical seaweed salad was far from it. It was more like a combination of cucumber slices, seaweed pieces, and radishes with some sesame seeds on top and a tiny amount of spice from jalapeños. The salad had a light soy vinaigrette as well as some fish sauce, but you didn’t really feel it. The dish was enjoyable but was definitely on the simpler side.
The Verdict – The three limited-time menu items that were ordered were three of the top four dishes of the evening and while I’m glad we got to order them, I wish they were a part of the regular menu. Oji Seichi’s Classic Shio Ramen is definitely worth going to the restaurant for and we suggest ordering that in addition to some of the limited-time specials for your meal.