NOTE: I would give it a rating of 3.5 stars I went to this restaurant during the Christmas Market Festival. Since it was the festival, the restaurant was busy and there was a lot of people inside. We were given an estimate of 45 minutes of wait time, which was fine because it gave us time to walk around the Distillery District. We were called back when our table was ready. We were asked proof of vaccination and shown to our seats. As stated before, the place was packed and the restaurant was pretty small to begin with, so there was little legroom. The staff was nice but they were really busy so they weren't as attentive. Took a while to get both our bowls of ramen. As well, one of the bowls were not clean so we had to ask for another one. Taste wise, the ramen was good. Spicy ramen was pretty standard but if I had to recommend any ramen, definitely try the Black Garlic. It's a pretty standard ramen restaurant - has their pros and cons. A lot of the cons were mostly because they were really busy. read more

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My friend and I were visiting the Light Festival at Distillery District. We stopped by Boku Noodle Bar for dinner. I am surprised at the number of negative reviews as our dinner was delicious! We both really enjoyed the vegan wild mushrooms ramen ($16.50) with kombu dashi, king oyster, enoki shimeji mushroom, wakame, confit cherry tomato, chives, nori, garlic oil. I opted a slight modification with no chives and garlic oil. It felt a lot lighter than traditional ramen, yet equally flavourful! It is definitely on the more expensive spectrum of ramen; with that said, it made my belly happy! read more

BOKU - Ramen Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

I came here on a Friday afternoon while visiting The Distillery Winter Village (Christmas Market). It was a little busy given it was the holiday season but my friend and I were able to be seated right away. They check for proof of vaccination at the door as well as do contact tracing. The restaurant was on the small side and it did feel a bit cramped as we were sitting near the bar so the waiters/waitresses would often be standing beside us waiting for the food to come out. The staff were all very friendly and nice though. My friend got the takoyaki, which was served fresh and hot! She said it was very flavourful and piping hot. She also got the Japanese curry which she also enjoyed. She did state that it was not the sweet kind of Japanese curry, but the spicy kind, which she prefers. I got the vegetable stir fry with noodles, which was pretty lackluster. The bitterness of the arugula overpowered the taste of the noodles, which were disappointingly bland, given the fact that it was drowning in sauce. I did really enjoy the mulled wine though, which was visually pleasing as well as warming and sweet. Parking will be very annoying as the Distillery District is very busy during the holiday season. However, it is very accessible by TTC! read more

BOKU - Stir fried vegetable and noodles - Ramen Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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Came here on a Tuesday afternoon and didn't have to wait for seating. Saw their sign for $20 lunch special (any ramen plus appetizer) so decided to try it. Pretty good value considering it's the distillery district. We ordered tonkotsu and black garlic ramen, with korroke and gyoza for appetizers. I was surprised that it was a full portion of appetizers instead of a smaller combo portion. The korroke was creamy and the gyoza was crispy. Not bad. The tonkotsu ramen was good. Broth was thick and porky tasting, clingy nicely to the noodles. The eggs could've been better. The yolk was hard boiled in the tonkotsu, but in the black garlic bowl it still had a soft centre. The black garlic broth was not as flavourful as the tonkotsu, with the slightly burnt black garlic taste being very overwhelming. Our waiter was very nice and attentive when he was needed. read more

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I really wanted to love Boku but it was average at best. The chicken kaarange was really juicy and not greasy but the rest of the dishes were not more than average. The sake flight was really not good - bland and tasteless. I regret ordering it. read more

Nestled towards the end of the district, it has a nice vintage feeling. Crowded with a waiting for larger tables they were managing the place flawlessly. It's a wonderful place to wind up the evening. They have sake based drink options which considering the weather were a perfect pairing with the Asian themed food. Was catching up with friends after a while and wax lovely, not very noisy, there server was very courteous taking care of the table very well. We almost got everything on the menu except what they had run out of. The chicken namanam was delicious and highly recommended and so is the hot sake. They also have a beautiful patio for the summers, was well lit considering the light festival and made for a nice area for pictures. Food: 5/5 Ambience: 5/5 Service: 5/5 Vfm: 4/5 read more

BOKU - Mushroom ramen - Ramen Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

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screwusall BOKU; A double downgrade? Really? Boku used to offer daily specials -when I phoned for pick up order today -I was advised that due to the Winter Village they were not offering their previous daily specials; I understood that and continued to order; then the associate advised that they lessened the contents of their dishes too -no soft boiled egg in the Miso Ramen; at that point I bailed. A double downgrade is too much. Associate advised that the owner wished to make money. While it won't work out that way for me as my patronage will be deterred for much longer than the Winter Village is on. read more

We were freezing walking around, then we saw fire! The patio was adorned with heaters and fire pits to warm up. We enjoyed a bit of conversation with the bartender (and manager?). Drinks were tasty and reasonable. Fire was extra warm. The staff even gave us blankets to add warmth. Hope to come here again when it's warmer read more

BOKU - Fireside old fashioned and Canadian Club iced tea - Ramen Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

TL;DR: Great for Instagram, not so great for taste. We came here for summerlicious (2018). For starters we ordered chicken wings, and ribs. For main course we got 2 orders of beef gyudon. Then, for desert we ordered mochi ice cream, and Japanese crepe. The starters were pretty good, of the two I liked the chicken wings best. The ribs were very soft and falls off the bone! However it was lacking a bit of taste. Overall the starters had me kind of excited for the main course. When the two beef gyudon came around. At first glance I was a bit surprised. It was not thinly sliced beef but rather 3 chunks of beef. Well, alright. Not what I was expecting but I'll give it a shot. My goodness! That first bite was definitely not what I expected. It felt like they were trying to preserve my tongue with salt. The rice did not taste like sushi rice either which was the normal go to for a gyudon. I was very much disappointed. Skipping past the disappointment, we get to the dessert. Maybe this will help me add some sweetness to this bitter review. Unfortunately it does not. The Japanese crepe which contains mango pieces surrounded by cream, yum! Until I got to the third or fourth bite which had chunks of frozen mango and tasted like shaved ice; the server said it would be soft. The mochi ice cream was okay, a bit icy but sort of expected because the server said it would be. We also had an order of cold sake which turned out pretty good, was useful for washing down some of the beef gyudon. Maybe if I had more it would be edible. As for the service it was okay not spectacular in any way. They check up on you a few minutes after they serve you your food but doesn't refill your jug of water when it was empty until we specifically asked. The presentation of the food here was on par. It looked great and maybe even delicious. This was probably the best part of the meal. Getting to take pictures of the great looking food. Overall, I don't recommend this place but maybe I had a bad experience or they are better known for their other options. I don't think I'll be back here again. read more

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A wonderful place to eat in, especially while checking out the Christmas Market when it happens or during a cold day and you happen to be in the area. I came here with a group of friends and when we were here, the service was quick, efficient and friendly. The food was also of good quality, although I did find the portions somewhat small. My friends ordered the Katsu Curry Udon while I had two California Rolls and a Gyoza appetizer. Everything tasted great, and not gonna lie, I kind of kicked myself for not ordering the Udon as well since it looked really good. The only thing I would say is that the prices are a bit on the high side, however this is not surprising given not just inflation, but also the area this restaurant is in. Also, parking can be a challenge. Do NOT try to park here, please take public transportation instead. You'll thank me later. I'll definitely eat here again though if I have to be back in the Distillery District area for any reason. read more

2.5 stars It pains me to leave a review that isn't glowing especially because of how tough it's been for restaurants during the last two years. I'm typically really understanding with the less than ideal levels of service at restaurants because I've worked in the industry for many years in the past. However, my experience at Boku was disappointing. Food - We tried to order 4 dishes in total but when we asked for the salmon tartare, they said they were sold out. So we asked for the poutine instead. Also sold out. Then I asked for the chicken sandwich and you guessed it... sold out. At this point we just settled for the three dishes we had already ordered and didn't bother getting a 4th since it seemed like a quarter of the menu was sold out. It was only 7pm on a Friday night at this point. My partner ordered a beer and 10 minutes later they notified us that they were out of the beer he wanted as well. In terms of taste, I would say the dishes were just average with an above average price tag. Service - We sat there waiting a bit for someone to come take our order. I can excuse slower service if it's busy but I was a little frustrated with the lack of accountability of who was managing our table. Honestly I didn't even know who our server was. Three different servers interacted with us but no one seemed to be accountable. No one checked up on us and no plates were ever cleared. The server who brought us our food and bill stood over the kitchen expo counter most of the night even though there was no food to run. Didn't seem too interested in actually serving tables. I had to get up to ask for the bill and even after we paid, the dishes were all still stacked on our table. TL;DR underwhelming food with high price tag and mediocre service. Unfortunately this is unlikely a place I would return to. read more

Excellent food and service. It's a little hidden gem in the distillery when you're looking for good ramen

Summerlicious 2018 I ordered the ribs, cold ramen and mochi ice cream. My friend got the tuna poke cones, poke bowl and crepe. The portion of the ribs in comparison to the tuna poke cones was gigantic. I feel there should be a bit more of a balance in the sizes of the appetizers. The ribs were on the salty side but good. I've had cold noodles before and wasn't a fan but decided to give it another try. Once again there was difference in bowl sizes for the main. Do not mistake this for complaining that I had large portions haha. The bottom of the ramen was a touch salty but otherwise enjoyable. I'm a fan of, almost, anything green tea or matcha flavoured and had a hard time deciding between the cheesecake or mochi ice cream. In the end I went with the waiter's choice of mochi ice cream and was not disappointed. The mochi was larger than ones I usually have so once again I was pleasantly surprised. On the menu it did not list what type of fruit was in the crepe. Either that's an oversight or done purposely so that the the filling can be changed. read more

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Located in the Distillery District, we decided to check this place out when we were visiting the Christmas market. We ordered a flight of sake (I believe we got 5 - from light to heavy) and it was a great way to start dinner. We ordered the Takoyaki (fried octopus fritters) and they were delicious! Great for sharing between 2 people. I ordered the bbraised beef udon stir fry and enjoyed this dish. The beef was so tender and just melted in my mouth and the noodles were cooked nicely. It seems at first deceptively small, but perhaps it's the bowl it's plated in...there are lots of noodles :) The service is really friendly and make recommendations if you are unsure what to have. They can also explain the sake pairings/flights as well as they will explain what order to drink them in to get the maximum experience. read more

Yum! Have you ever been on vacation and had soooo many options, but like a place so much you have to come back the next day? Boku is that kind of place for me. The food is fresh, flavorful and delicious. Over two days we tried: curry chicken katsu udon, karaage don, k-chicken sandwich, seaweed salad and kimchi. We were very pleased with the quality of the food, the service and the atmosphere. Their outdoor seating is excellent for people watching and has an excellent location in the Distillery District. It is a very enjoyable spot for a snack or a meal. read more

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I had my dinner there with my husband tonight. Finally I think I found the perfect ramen in town! The ramen brouth is very rich but not too salty or oily. Ramen noodle is slightly thicker than the average which I prefer. We also tried few other dishes. Also recommend the udon noodle and their unique flavoured beer! We will definitely back specificly for the ramen! read more

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Boku is a cool space at the Distillery District; lots of wood and exposed bricks create a warm contemporary urban space. Patio seating is available. I ordered from the Summerlicious menu and started with the Takoyaki and Gyoza Duo (octopus fritters with tonkatsu sauce, bonito flakes, Japanese kewpie mayo and aonori paired with dumplings served with sesame ponzu); I loved the flavor and texture of the takoyaki, really nice; the gyoza was deep fried and was forgettable; serving size was small. The highlight of the meal was the main, Miso Ramen (pork chashu, king oyster mushroom, sweet corn, menma, pea shoots and a drizzle of black garlic oil); the pork chashu was tender and flavorful; the ramen was cooked a bit more al dente than I like, but it was ok; oyster mushroom and sweet corn were nice; the drizzle of black garlic oil thankfully was just right and not overpowering. Tip: when ordering the Miso Ramen from the regular menu, I'd recommend adding the shoyu egg (extra $1.00) for the full experience. The Taro Cheesecake (coconut tapioca with a chantilly) serving size was minuscule and the coconut tapioca was AWOL. Service was great; servers were attentive. Vegan options available on the regular menu. Plenty of paid parking options are available in the area. TLDR; good food, great service, disappointing Summerlicious portion sizes. https://thomassu.smugmug.com/Food/2019/190720Boku/n-2bWGtJ read more

My expectations were a bit high for this place, since it was situated in Distillery District and boasted a fancy menu. That hope was crushed pretty quickly by our waitress. Instead of acting jolly or at least FRIENDLY, she was a mood killer. She didn't seem impressed that we only wanted to drink water, and did not even show a hint of smile while waiting for our food orders. Upon her return, she placed the pitcher and water glasses on our table without a peep. Girl, are you a robot? We were quite disturbed by her attitude, but noticed that she acted the same towards other customers - bad day perhaps? Our server changed halfway, and thankfully someone else came to help us and *wipes sweat*, he was great. The entrees start from $16 and up, this is no food court-style dishes, I believe we deserve better than average service. In terms of food, the portions were great. I thought we wouldn't get full, boy was I wrong. I had the mussels and pork dish, it was so weird lols. There were lots of mussels, an abundance! I didn't mind the sauce, but the other party members felt it was too bitter (probably from the wine). It was really odd that they added pork belly to this dish (cubed ones). They were super dry and crunchy. Perhaps the thought was to have them dipped in the sauce, but this was not worth it for the price. The bread was perfect for dipping, so that was a nice addition. The ramen was alright, their noodles were slightly thicker than what I'm used to at like Santouka and Sansotei. The soup was quite strong in taste, but nothing bad. I think it was spot on and was fair in price. The veggie dish was clearly made up of Korean glass noodles (which are not expensive), this was a bit of a rip off in my opinion. Overall, I was quite disappointed in the whole experience and really hope they do something about their service. My cousin wanted me to give this place a 2.5, but I rounded it up to a 3. read more

Our party of 4 arrived at the restaurant on Labour Day weekend and we were waiting to be seated for 20 minutes. No one greeted us or took our name down. We had to walk into the restaurant past the hostess table to attempt to flag someone down. Even then it was a struggle and no one wanted to make eye contact. Perhaps they werent ready for dinner?? We were not notified of anything and just stood there. When we finally got seated we waited another 20-30 minutes for someone to take our order and for some water (which we didn't get offered). But no one came by even when we flagged a server down. There were also multiple plates sitting on the kitchen counter waiting to be delivered. The restaurant was not even full at this point. We decided to leave and were not stopped at the door to ask why or checked on. Menu looked amazing and the food looks good but they must be severely understaffed! read more

We came for All Day Happy Hour on Saturday - $6 Ontario beers - what a deal! We loved the green tea IPA. The patio was lovely for people watching. We didn't have food but were very happy with the attentiveness of service and taste/price for the beer. Would return! read more

Delicious curry perfect spice friendly and very quick service. Seated quickly when we walked in. Given water and order taken fast. Cannot say enough that food was excellent! Picked up empties fast as well read more

BOKU - Katsu udon curry and curry with rice - Ramen Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Nice Ambience, friendly staff. Good vibes in the distillery district. Black garlic ramen noodles were a bit too hard and it upset my stomach. But the soup flavour was quite good. read more

BOKU - Ambience - Ramen Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

was lucky enough to be invited to a tasting by @tofoodiefriends to try out appetizers and some main dishes! each appetizer brought out was fresh, tasty and delicious. the best part was that all the dishes were light and flavourful so you weren't left with a heavy feeling. boku is hidden away inside the distillery district -surrounded by some amazing artwork and the usual location for the Toronto Christmas market. they will be taking part of winterlicious this year with a great set lunch and dinner menu! they have some great vegetarian & vegan options and enough variety to please everyone. read more

BOKU - tofu and stir fry vegetables - Ramen Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Cute little patio area. K Fried Chicken Sandwich was really good. Poke bowl was fresh and the peach sake was also good. read more

BOKU - Poke Bowl - Ramen Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

Stopped by for lunch. Did the 3 course lunch special, Canadian whiskey flight and a cocktail. Enjoyed everything. Server was nice and helpful. read more

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My boyfriend and I stumbled apon this place while walking around the Distillery District. They had a board out front that said the sake flight was only $20 so we thought, what the heck...why not? There were a bunch of people sitting outside but it was much too chilly for me. We were one of two groups sitting inside. The bar and kitchen were about the close so we quickly ordered the sake flight and an appetizer. The bartender was so nice and very kind in walking us through the different kinds of sake. We have both had sake before but never in a flight where we were able to try multiple all together to really pick up on the different flavor profiles. It was very interesting and fun. I would definitely come back here to try out more of the menu! read more

Visited on a Tuesday and service was a mess. Looked like there was only one server, one hostess, one manager and 4-6 back of house staff. Menu is quite small and to the point. Was a little annoyed at it so my partner and I just had beer and miso ramen. RAMEN- beautiful and velvety broth, garnished were delicious and the egg was amazing. The noodles in both our ramen were clumpy. Good for a quick bite if you have no expectations. read more

They have great drinks and a very aesthetic place and lovely food. Had great service with a nice vibe read more

BOKU - Ramen Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

This place is new but a gem! We came across this place while we were walking the distillery district on Saturday evening. It was pretty late, think they were about to close but the server was nice enough to let us grab a seat on the patio and order food. I asked the server what was their famous dish and he stated that they opened not too long ago but their miso ramen was popular, it comes with pork but I don't eat pork and the server was kind enough to recommend the miso ramen without pork and replace it with mushroom. It was pretty damn good! I inhaled mine, although it needed some sriracha sauce, the mushroom flavor mixed with the miso was amazing. Will definitely come back here to try out the rest of there menu! read more

1: very tasty ramen. 2: very reasonable prices (especially in distillery). 3: very nice staff. I had the miso ramen with a side of gyoza. read more

My Nephew and I decided to have lunch here after walking around the Distillery District in Sept 2019. We ate on their patio which was a nice place to enjoy the Distillery District's ambiance. We split some apps (Gyoza and Takoyaki) which were excellent. We both chose the Beef Udon as our entree. The Udon was very good, with a tender beef, which lent a rich beef flavor to the dish, and al dente noodles. The only thing it lacked were some additional flavors, specifically Asian flavors, to the dish. I thought it was kind of a one-note dish, although that one note was an excellent beefy flavor. (Think shredded beef like pot roast.) Because it is clearly not a stir-fry preparation it also lacked the typical "flavor of the wok" you'd get from your favorite stir-fry dishes. These are minor nit-picks though. Overall, our meal was very enjoyable. Also, service on our visit was terrific. read more

What stood out about this place was the service. They were attentive and quick to pick up any empty plates. I tried the karage, tuna poke and mochi. The karage was nice and light but it lacked some flavour in the batter. I liked the dipping sauce it came with. The poke was a little lacking however I liked the dressing that was on the tuna. It was a little tangy and stood out in flavour. The mochi was my favourite thing especially since it was filled with ice cream. I wish there was more. read more

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I went here once for lunch and ordered the chicken curry katsu. There was not even one piece of vegetable or potato in the curry and it lacked flavour. The chicken was totally bland. I would rather make boxed Japanese curry at home than eat here again. read more

Food was uninspiring. I was so excited to try the cold ramen, what a disappointment. An authentic cold ramen normally comes with the Japanese yellow hot mustard but they didn't have this nor wasabi. Ramen was salty and boring. By the look of things, I'm afraid this restaurant will close. read more

Food was bland, dry and overall extremely underwhelming, will never be returning. Waiter was not knowledgeable at all of the menu and 50 dollars wasted! Service was barley there. read more

I went here for Winterlicious lunch on a Saturday. The food was a little slow, but the staff were friendly and great. I got the gyoza and takoyaki appetizer, and I prefered the gyoza. The gyoza was tasty and crunchy while the takoyaki was rather firm in texture and the inside octopus was cold. For the main, I had the miso ramen. I loved the BBQ pork as it had a good amount of fat, meat, and flavour. The broth had a strong mushroom taste and I found it really unsalty! I would have actually prefered it to be more salty, but I guess it's healthier. Dessert, I got the milk and sweet corn, which was some sort of milk pudding with a sweet corn mousse, pretty much taste like what it sounds like. I also got the Neo Tokyo sour which was delicious (I loved the egg white part). Overall, I quite enjoyed the food, and would be open to trying other things on their menu. read more

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Food was great, had the Poke special $10 on a Friday evening. For that price, it was an awesome deal! However, docked one star because it took 45 minutes from order time to receiving the food!!Poke Bowl read more

BOKU - Ramen Near Me - Toronto, Ontario

We came to this place during the Winter Village. The service was slow and the food is tolerable. Not good and mid at best.

Came here for lunch for a colleague. It's really great, and quiet. The lunch specials are filling and pretty good value. I had a ramen and the little spring rolls (sorry to butcher the name of it from the menu). I recommend it. Great cool vibes. I love the tables by the window ~ great to catch some rays on a cold but sunny day. read more

Visited Boku on a Friday afternoon and was not disappointed. Excellent food and service. Ordered a "five for you" (can't remember the name exactly) meal combo that was worth every penny! Consisted of 3 snacks and 2 entrees. Such an amazing deal. Will be coming back soon! read more