Ajisen Ramen

I was in the Willowdale area with my baby and craving ramen, but needed to find a place that could accommodate my stroller.

Restaurant: Ajisen Ramen
Location: Willowdale
Meal: Lunch
Day: Thursday
Son's Age: 10 weeks

When I arrived, there were actually already two other families with strollers seated, and I worried that they wouldn't have room for another one, but they were able to seat me near the door. I have to note that whoever was responsible for the soundtrack seemed to be a huge fan of Justin Bieber, as well as parodies of Taylor Swift. I'm not counting this towards my dining experience but in case you feel strongly about music selection, there you go.

Accessibility: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
They were clearly well prepared for patrons with babies. I was seated at a booth near the front and could see that there were also high chairs and booster seats available.

The server kept asking if I was all right or if the baby was perhaps to close to the door. She was actually more worried than I was, so I ended up moving his car seat into the booth next to me.

He was pretty quiet the whole time, although frankly with the music playing I don't think he would have been disruptive even if he decided to fuss. The aisles were wide enough for me to take the stroller to the washroom as well, even with the other strollers in the restaurant.

As you can see, he wasn't happy at this point, but from a functionality standpoint there is room for the strolle and there is a change table available. I was very comfortable maneuvering around the restaurant with baby in tow.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Service was great! Even though I was comfortable sitting in the booth, the server was very concerned about my proximity to the door due to the draft (which wasn't even that bad), but unfortunately didn't have another table where I could park the stroller next to me without blocking anyone. Also, while the aisles are in fact big enough to fit the stroller, there was a box on the floor near the kitchen that blocked the washroom. When I saw it, I was worried about getting by, but as soon as I approached, someone quickly popped out of the kitchen to move it out of my way and hold open the washroom door. I never felt rushed during my visit, and my food arrived promptly.

Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This one was difficult for me to rate. I started with a coconut bubble tea because I saw it on the menu and I'm always in the mood for bubble tea.

This met my expectations, but I love bubble tea so it's rare for me to find one that let me down. As for my meal, I chose a spicy pork ramen.

Here is where I'm torn. I love that you can choose what level of spice you want - I went with 100%, and I like spicy, so they delivered on that front. The broth really hit the spot. Also, the menu has a much wider selection than other ramen places. The pork was pretty much Chinese BBQ pork, which I love, but it's not typically the pork found in ramen dishes so that threw me off a little. The ramen noodles themselves were also thinner than I like and the taste of the noodles themselves were okay but not great. I suppose I would rate the noodles themselves as three stars, but the broth and spice level as five stars, so netting out to four. If you are passionate about ramen noodles (and you don't have to worry about a baby), I would recommend other places, but otherwise this is a decent place to try.

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Overall, if you have a baby in tow, this place is really easy and comfortable to take your baby to, the servers treat you well, and the food is decent. I suspect that you'll be hard pressed to find a better ramen place that is stroller-friendly, so if I'm out with my son and craving ramen I would probably come here again.