Jennifer wrote to Ben recommending this sushi and larmen restaurant. Since Ben is not around, he forwarded the recommendation to me because he knows the boys would love to go to a Japanese restaurant.
Shibuyatei Sushi and Larmen is located at the corner of Sexsmith Road and Bridgeport Road. Parking is available in front (just a few) and at the back of the restaurant.
The menus are pasted in the board in front of the counter. There is also a chalk board menu.
You order at the counter. This is a small place with 7 tables which seats 14 people. It’s a one man operated mom and pop place. The chef told me that they had opened for business since August 2011.
I ordered the Charsyumen as recommended by Jennifer. There seemed to be a price reduction as the printed menu showed that the original price was $11.50 and now it’s $10.80.
Charsyumen is ramen with fully cooked pork with soy sauce flavoured soup. There were five of six big slices of pork in the bowl. Other fixings include …bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, corn, green onions and seaweed.
I find the the Charsyumen is too porky for me. So, I added a lot of white pepper to mask the flavour. I do enjoy the noodle which is al-dante. Next time, I will just go for the Larmen (less the pork) for just $7.80.
Shibuyatei claimed that they dont use MSG for dishes, sauces and dressings. However, a few ingredients have a little MSG. I wonder what are the few ingredients.
Arkensen ordered two rolls; Tokyo roll and Yukon roll which is $4.75 each.
Tokyo roll is made with cooked tuna, mayonnaise and cucumber.
As for the Yukon Roll, it has cooked Salmon, mayonnaise and avocado. Arkensen enjoyed his rolls.
Nanzaro ordered the Fried Chicken with Rice (Gifu Don) for $6.50. It is served with some potato salad. The fried chicken is boneless chicken pieces. They were not crispy though. Nanzaro said it’s decent comfort food.
The meal came to $30 before tips. Shibuyatei accepts credit and debit card. However, there is a 3% extra if you pay by credit card.
The above are Shibuyatei’s menu. You can click on the menu to have a larger view.
“Larmen”?? is that a different take on Ramen?
Maybe the owners are Chinese and “larmen” is really referring to hand-pulled Chinese noodles, phonetically translated from Shanghainese, in order to cater to Richmond’s Chinese clientèle ?
I’ve never heard of larmen as an off-shoot of ramen neither.
Too expensive for such a small portion.
Perhaps the owner means some food contain “natural glutamates” instead of “synthesized” MSG?
MSG could occurred “naturally” in many foods, such as in chicken/beef broth, soup cooked with kelps, mushrooms or tomatoes.
By what Suanne said, maybe the kitchen doesn’t *add* MSG in their preparation & cooking, but some of the ingredients they use already have MSG in them. For example, surimi, or fake crab (often made from pollock) which is prevalent in rolls (ie: California) can and do come with MSG in it. Of course, a LOT of processed Japanese foods, condiments and ingredients contain MSG as a de facto ingredient, it’s almost impossible to eat Japanese foods without getting MSG in one form or another.
Owner is Japanese and he purposely used Larmen because he wants to distinguish his larmen from other ramens in town. We asked the same questionn actually. As for the MSG, I think I agree with LotusRapper’s comment. I myself is very sensitive to MSG, but I often come to Shibuyatei because I don’t get any MSG reaction from the food. I guess the MSG is very minimal or closer to none. They are now serving tonkatsu curry with rice which is another awesome dish.
Thanks Lucky. So what is larmen anyway ?
Curry tonakatsu on rice ……. one of my ATF dishes !!
At $10.8, it is overpriced compared with most other ramen places.