Gyo-O: Garlic Ramen and Salmon Skin

I visited Gyo-O for the first time when it opened a few years ago and have not been back until today! However, I did remember that I had a good experience there so I was eager to try their food again tonight. The restaurant is quite small with two rows of tables on either side so it is not the place to go with a large group.

We ordered an appetizer called BBQ Salmon Skin and I was expecting it to be deep fried and crunchy but it wasn't. Some pieces were slightly crispy but most were not. The salmon skin pieces rested on top of some greens and was drizzled with sweet teriyaki-like sauce. It was pretty tasty but I wouldn't necessarily order it again since I'd want to try something else next time.

BBQ Salmon Skin

The Garlic Ramen with tonkotsu broth (marinated pork bone soup base) was one of the best ramen  soups I've had! It was creamy and full of flavour with every sip. There were a few pieces of squid, shrimp, and clams in the bowl but I would have preferred pork slices. This may even be better than the ramen I tried at Kintaro!

Garlic Ramen

 The Salmon and Tuna Don was honestly nothing special. It was simply what it looks like in the photo: salmon, tuna, and plain rice. I mixed the rice with the teriyaki sauce from the BBQ Salmon Skin to give it more taste but otherwise the whole bowl was very plain. I remember I tried a chicken karaage don here before and the sauce made the whole dish tasty!

Salmon and Tuna Don

Overall, I still really like Gyo-O and I would come back to try the other ramens.