What Makes a Great Bowl of Ramen?

An informative article by the husband-and-wife co-founders of Crafty Ramen, exploring ramen as a cuisine, their personal history with it, and the brand's evolution from restaurant kitchens to at-home offerings. The piece would focus on what defines great ramen, how it has been adapted for modern lifestyles, and how Crafty Ramen has approached growth while staying true to quality and tradition.

When my husband Jared and I decided to move permanently to Guelph, we noticed something right away: there weren’t many ramen restaurant options in town. We knew how much Japanese comfort food meant to us, and we couldn’t imagine living somewhere without access to a good bowl of ramen. That’s how Crafty Ramen was born — out of passion, a desire to share Japanese food culture with our community, and yes, a little personal necessity.

If you’re not familiar with ramen, it’s a staple Japanese noodle dish built around a rich, flavourful broth, wheat noodles, and carefully chosen toppings. While it may look simple at first glance, ramen is different depending on the region you are in, and the flavours used. In seaside areas of Japan, you’ll often find seafood-based broths. In farming regions, heartier pork-based styles are more common. Each bowl reflects its environment, ingredients, and culture.

When Jared and I developed our menu at Crafty Ramen, we wanted to honour those traditions while adapting them thoughtfully for our local community. That meant being mindful of dietary needs and common allergies. For example, many ramen noodles traditionally contain eggs — but we created something that would work for different dietary restrictions. We also offer a selection of vegetarian options so that more people can enjoy a satisfying bowl without compromising on flavour.

For us, great ramen comes down to balance and consistency.

Balance isn’t just about the broth… it’s about the texture of the noodles, the aroma, the toppings, and how everything works together in harmony.

Consistency means that whether someone is enjoying ramen in one of our restaurants or at home from frozen, the experience should meet the same standard.

Our frozen ramen was actually created during the pandemic. When COVID hit, we began offering fresh meal kits so our community could recreate our dishes at home. What started as a way to stay connected quickly gained momentum, leading us to launch an e-commerce store and expand beyond our restaurant walls. But fresh meal kits have a short shelf life, and as demand grew across Canada, we needed a format that could maintain quality over time. After extensive testing to preserve texture and flavour, we developed our frozen ramen line, allowing us to deliver the same experience nationwide.

Jared leads the development of our new ramen dishes, often drawing inspiration from beyond traditional ramen. You can break the rules and experiment! We are often taking ideas from other cuisines and dishes and making unexpected variations of ramen with them. That creativity allows us to respect tradition while continuing to evolve.

Today, our goal is to bring the ramen experience to more people across North America. We’re expanding into international markets this year and are currently participating in a Costco roadshow through the end of April. If successful, we hope to become a regular Costco item, making it even easier to get your hands on a bowl of ramen.

Look for us in your frozen aisle!

Miki Ferrall is the co-founder of Crafty Ramen along with her husband, Jared. After attending the prestigious Yamato School of Ramen together, Miki and Jared toured Japan in search of the best ramen shops, tasting and learning as much as they could from masters of the craft. After opening the Crafty Ramen restaurant in Guelph, Ontario, Miki and Jared wanted to bring the comfort and craft of real ramen into people’s homes, with no shortcuts and no compromises. They developed their frozen ramen bowls to deliver that same flavourful broth, bouncy noodles, and craveable toppings you’d get in-restaurant, straight from the freezer to the bowl. Their frozen ramen bowls are now available in over 2,700 grocery stores across Canada.

Visit craftyramen.com/ to find a retailer near you.