Today, we decided to go to Richmond Night Market for dinner.  We chose the “International” offering (behind Home Depot) and boy were we disappointed.  After having a Hurricane Potato each, we left due to the dismal selections.  Craving something completely different, we decided to go for ramen!  Searching reviews, Yah Yah Ya Ramen appeared to be the consensus for people to go to in Richmond, so we figured we’d give it a shot.

Located right beside Richmond Sushi off of Captstan and Sexsmith, it’s a small place.

It appears there is usually a line up to get in.  Why? Because the food comes out sloooooowly it seems — NOT because it is worth the wait.

The kitchen is open for you to look at, and it’s always fun listening to Japanese people speak.  Totally makes it feel more authentic, even though I have no idea if it is or not.

There is a very limited menu, of standard ramen’s, and you can choose the consistency of soup base, as well as hardness of noodle.

To start off, we had the gyoza.  It was completely average in every sense of the word.

What made it stand out, were the jars of oil, vinegar, and soy that it came with.  That made it cute!

Jax chose the Black Ramen with medium hardness noodles, medium soup base, and light oil with Spinach Add-on, while I chose the Shio with medium noodles, light soup, and light oil.

Jax’s Black Ramen was average at best.  Very salty, and not black enough.  The bamboo was good, however it did not compensate for the rest of it.  Her noodles were hard, and not at all what she was expecting.

My Shio Ramen was very similar.  The soup was not light — it tasted medium to medium-heavy.  My noodles were also hard as well!

You are unable to choose the fattiness of the pork, which is kind of a bummer.  Having just gone to another new ramen shop close to work (Danbo), comparing them back to back is a no-brainer.  This place just doesn’t cut it.

Note that this place does not accept credit card.  Cash or Debit only.

Overall, i’d rank it 6.5 / 10.  Would I go back? No.