KOL3 Restaurant - Calgary

My wife, who is Chinese, has always struggled to find good Chinese food outside of Toronto. However, a friend suggested we try Luck Bamboo and we were not disappointed.

I tried the Chinese food at this restaurant once and that was enough for me. The chicken fried rice had a strange smokey flavor that I didn't enjoy.

The food is delicious, excellent, and affordable! It's definitely worth a visit and the staff is superbly attentive.

I popped in and asked the server what they would recommend. The tonkotsu ramen - either spicy or not - was recommended. I chose the spicy version with wheat ramen noodles, pork bone broth, bean sprouts, half of a boiled egg, green onion, mushroom, sliced pork, corn and dried seaweed. Wow. I am looking forward to coming back and working through their menu. The restaurant is small but the portions are sizeable, service is excellent and exceedingly polite. The kitchen is efficient and the resulting product is wonderful.

After a disappointing lunch at another Kensington ramen restaurant, we got the courage to try again and found our way to Menyatai. What a great little spot and it was total ramen redemption. The first improvement from our previous foray was the service. We were greeted and shown to a table within a minute of our arrival. It irritates me when servers see you waiting at the entrance but cannot take the time to acknowledge you. I don't expect immediate seating but I don't appreciate being ignored. Menyatai is small but you don't feel claustrophobic. There is separation between tables and the noise level is manageable. We ordered some gyoza to start and they were delicate and delicious. Their were piping hot which indicates they were prepared fresh. The ramen and udon were just delicious. Huge bowls filled with lots of meat and veggies. The other place was heavy on the noodles and their biggest mistake was the ramen was not hot. Lukewarm ramen is not acceptable. We will most definitely return to Menyatai. It's our new ramen go to.