Located in the Bellaire area of Houston, TX is the Japanese restaurant Toyori. A tip from a family friend led my son and I to visit Toyori after his tough morning of SAT testing. Now that the hard studying and testing was finally over we would visit Toyori to treat ourselves to some much needed Ramen.
I was told by a friend early on that there may be a wait but that it was going to be worth it.
Upon arrival to Toyori the restaurant was fully filled with people dining and we were asked to sign up on the waiting list outside.
As we wait we browse the menu and try to decide what we may order.
The wait was less than 10 minutes and we were taken to our shared table with another set of guest sitting beside us. This was a bit different but welcoming because it allowed us to interact and meet someone new. It also allowed us to compare each others orders which was fun.
We browse the menu which was filled with great pictures of the dishes they had to offer. Everything from appetizers to the Ramen dishes are detailed so you know exactly what you are ordering which is very efficient.
We order and only a few minutes later the waiter brings us the Chili Oil Beef Dumplings. When ordering we asked if they were really spicy and they let us know that they have a bit of spice but it was perfect for us.
My son and I liked the beef dumplings because the beef really locked in the flavor which was not like a common beef dumpling and even the price was super affordable for them. No shortage of that chili oil so a great choice for an appetizer.
Next to arrive would end up being the favorite of the two appetizers we chose. It was the Creamy Tempura Shrimp.
The Creamy Tempura Shrimp was fantastic but the chunks of pineapple smothered in the signature mayo sauce was simply fantastic at every bite. It is pretty amazing that just the appetizers by themselves are so good and we are not even at the Ramen part of the meal yet.
Next up our Ramen orders arrive to our table. I ordered the Special Tori-patain Ramen which is straight noodles in a creamy chicken broth. It had a meat ball in it along with a boiled egg, onions, spinach and scallions.
The Special Tori-patain Ramen was served with grilled chicken on the side that I put straight into the bowl right away.
I really like the Special Tori-patain Ramen because the broth was very light. The flavor is pretty complex because there are a ton of flavors within that dish but none over powering so very balanced. My son chose the Tonkotsu Black Garlic which is filled with the straight noodles in a pork bone broth. It has the black garlic oil, pork chashu, boiled egg, bamboo, bean sprouts and scallion. I gave it a taste and loved the vibrant garlic and deep pork broth that left the black garlic oil aftertaste which was great.
Diego said his Ramen order had to be better than mine so he had to try my Special Tori-patain Ramen. He said his was better but I thought they were so different that it really depends on what you are in the mood for when you arrive.
As we finish our meal we are handed two small juice bottle which we are told are a probiotic which will help with digestion. They really thought of everything at Toyori.
I feel Toyori is a great value because of the great dishes that are well thought out and most of all it is easy to taste the quality of ingredients they use. We will be back for sure.
