Chaya

This is my favorite place to eat in Banff! I live in the San Francisco area in California, and have had ramen at many different (and very authentic) restaurants, holes in the wall, and shacks. Honestly, Chaya ranks pretty high up on the list. I had the veggie version of #3, Tan Tan Ramen. It is a sesame /​peanut combo broth, and is absolutely AMAZING after a day on the slopes. We also got pot stickers which were great. I ordered a side of kimchi, which was a disappointment as I’m used to having kimchi be a free side. What I got instead was a measly saucer of kimchi for $ 1.50. Oh well, the ramen makes up for it! My boyfriend ordered the miso ramen which was also delicious. The noodles, however, are the best part. They are by far the best ramen noodles I’ve had and taste very fresh. Please note that the restaurant is very small and doesn’t seat many people. Swing by about 30 minutes before you actually want to eat and put your name on the list, especially if there are more than 2 people in your group. The owners and employees are very sweet! Always super helpful. Last week I had to catch a flight in Calgary and was craving some ramen 30 minutes before I had to leave Banff. The place was full, but when I told her I need to leave town in 30 minutes at the very latest, the woman taking my order called to the cook and made sure my order was pushed to the top of the list. It came out before anyone else’s, which was much appreciated as I was cutting it way too close to getting to the airport in time. Price is also very reasonable. $ 11 – 13 for a large bowl of soupy noodles. YUM.

Best food I had In a week in Banff. I had a Tan-​Tan Ramen. Spicy but really good!
Not fancy, but definitely worth the price compared to everything else in Banff, anyway.

The food came out very fast. The was still hot when the meal was done. Some people may complain of service, but you get what you paid for. What do you expect you go to an asian restaurant, you get an asian service.
很好吃的東西！

The ramen was so good here that I went here twice! The noodles tasted fresh and the broth was very flavorful.
TIP: Get here early because place gets packed!

I tried three of their ramens, Miso-​ramen is my most favorite one.

I guess I’m spoiled with ramen living in LA cause this place was pretty disappointing.
Small restaurant, probably 16 people max? Ramen is pricey and I wasn’t impressed by it whatsoever. Just overall bland and to top it off the chashu was completely rubbery and flavorless.
Confusing ordering system. You sit down with a menu at your table but you go up to the register to pay and order. Lady only put in an order for 1 ramen so I had to wait for them to make it.
I guess it’s one of the few spots in the area for ramen, but I definitely wouldn’t wait outside for a table in winter weather for mediocrity.

A tiny shop of around 18 seats tucked in beside the behemoth that is Mickey’s. So tiny that it was packed no more than 10 minutes after it opened on a Saturday in November. Make what you will of that.
The ‘reservations’ system is informal and confusing based on what was witnessed: «please come back in X minutes». There is no space to wait inside so its all on you to find a place to keep yourself occupied while you wait.
Food was ok, though pretty basic for what they were charging. Small maki rolls are also available should you suddenly crave that whilst eating at a noodle bar.
To each their own I guess.
Water, utensils and condiments were self serve.
Service was ok, but somewhat harried.

There is no reservation. So plan ahead!
For example, if your planning to eat around 6:30 with 5 people, go into the restaurant and get a sheet from them saying to come back after 30min then for sure you can get a table.
It’s a really popular but small restaurant so be well prepared!
Food is pretty good, not only it has ramen but also Katsu, salads and stuff.
Water etc is self-​serve but nothing too inconvenience.

Worst!
Our family (include my 4month baby) walked in the restaurant to eat some ramen because it was too cold outside, and we asked if we can sit very end with the stroller because baby was sleeping. the other customers who were eating at the restaurant, told us they will be able to move the table if we wanted. It was very kind and sweet.
And now what?
the restaurant manager asked me to put our stroller outside or sit at the corner of entrance, it was below 10 celcius outside, and every time people was walking in or out, cold wind was blowing in. Plus the table & chair was really narrow, only 2 of them. We were 4 adults and a 4month baby. We can’t sit there anyhow.
So we asked the manager if we can sit at the table towards to cashier’s counter because it was pretty roomy, so we can set the stroller and all of us were able to sit.
The manager told us «No» she said she needed to use the space because of take out customer. Hello, it was a plenty of space, it was still enough space even after the stroller was set up.
We were so pissed, because I took my parents in law (both over 60 years old) and 4month baby girl. They shouldn’t treat us like that. That was really bad attitude for the customer. the other clients saw how they treated us. I checked the reviews here, and now I understand why they only have 3 stars.

A comforting hot bowl of delicious Japanese Noodle soup from Chaya hits the spot on a cold day. There is often a bit of a wait because they are very popular and it is a little place. No pretention here, it is all about the food. I have gone many times (a dozen perhaps over the last four years or so) and every time they nailed it. I am over due for a visit. It is great to have a reliable place of comfort like this. I have not found a comparable Japanese Noodle place in Calgary yet, though I have tried. Any suggestions? :-)

My friends and I were craving ramen, which isn’t easy to come by in Banff. But we came across this little place and was excited because the ramen looked delicious! The restaurant is tiny, it maybe seats 12 people, but we lucked out and got there before the lunch rush and was able to get a table right away. We all ordered the Tan-​Tan Ramen: a sesame and peanut based broth… it was sooooooo goooood. I highly recommend Chaya and would even say its worth a wait for a table if you can’t get in right away.

Really disappointed in the ramen at Chaya. After a cold day of hiking in the snow and rain, nothing sounded better than a hot bowl of ramen or phở. We decided on Chaya. Unfortunately, the ramen noodles were undercooked to the point of being spongy and the ramen toppings were lacking. No nori, seasoned egg, or bamboo shoots. The ramen base had the consistency of broth, so probably was not a cooked down pork broth that can be expected. My gf’s spicy ramen was pretty underwhelming too.
I really hope they can improve on the ramen. Would be stellar to have a sumptuous bowl of ramen after a day in the cold. Best of luck.
Can’t really speak for anything else on the menu.

Worse place and worse food. Not Japanese foods at all. Ordered the bbq-​ramen and dandan-​raman
The bbq-​pork are boiled not bbq, ask the owner she said «this is Japanese bbq“lol just treats me like a dumb never had Japanese ramen be4.
The dandan-​ramen said «has bamboo» yea we did find a 2 cm smalllllllll bamboo, only one.

When I looked up «Restaurants» in Banff, Chaya would come up first and I figured some Unilocal algorithm would point me in the right direction. Plus, after a week of pizza and burgers, that sounded like exactly what I was looking for.
Chaya is a small shop on the main drag in Banff, staffed 100% with Japanese people — I was cautiously hopeful. Oddly enough, they also serve Thai food — authenticity at its best. Unfortunately, Chaya’s ramen was mediocre, the space is claustraphobic (max group size is 4 — they don’t allow strollers), and the service is pretty atrocious. How that is possible at a Japanese establishment I don’t know.
* TAN TAN RAMEN — 2.5 STARS:
Minimal vegetables (I added extra, and apparently onions are a vegetable), mediocre noodles, and terrible peanut-​y broth. It’s salty yet quite bland, and overwhelming of peanuts unlike anything I’ve ever had. You can opt to add pork «belly» because it only comes with some ground meat, but it tastes more like lean porkchop. There is no egg. Gasp.
* SIDE SALAD ($ 2) — 3 STARS:
The side salad looks like the stuff you get when flying economy on an American Airline internationally. It’s a small plastic bowl of chopped iceberg lettuce and a piece of steamed broccoli topped with Japanese ginger dressing. The dressing was a bit on the sweet side but the redeeming quality here.
It’s reasonably priced and reasonably quick, but I’d rather get a sandwich at Squish than return to Chaya. Definitely do not go if there is a wait, and by all means, don’t order the Tan Tan unless you like peanut sauce.

Getting a seat here can be really difficult because it’s super small, but they try to accommodate you as much as possible.
Got the tan tan and the wonton ramen. Both were good, but not necessarily spectacular. Appreciated the kind of simple state of the restaurant, although it would be great if they had a couple extra spice/​sauce bottles to go around so you don’t have to fight other customers for them.

Don’t let the Unilocal stars fool you. This place has zero hospitality and clearly do not care to serve guests. Walked in at 8:30 and the lady told us we were restricted to take out as they were closing at 9 and everyone needed to be out by 9. I absolutely despise restaurants that do this with their misleading hours. They should just post their hours as closing at 8:30.
So at 8:30 with a four topper open and with a reserved sign on there and two tables about to finish up they refused to seat us.
Fine. We will take our money elsewhere. I rarely encounter such negative service and attitude. Clearly the owners should not be in the hospitality business if they are constantly turning customers away.
Avoid.

Gonna be straight up, this place is NOTHING to rave about, especially if you’re a visitor from Vancouver or Toronto! I’m from Vancouver, and am blessed with incredible and authentic Japanese Ramen. I came here with my family and we ordered the BBQ Pork Ramen…5 slices of blanched (and bland) pork that’s not traditional chashu style, with a bunch of bean sprouts, and shoyu soup broth. Avoid this tourist trap, I just don’t get how this place got ranked 4 stars, it’s two at best for mediocre food. Oh, and we were gonna order their Gyoza, but she pulled it out of the fridge ALREADY cooked and was probably going to re-​grill or worse, microwave them. I’m so disappointed and never coming back.

Excellent Ramen!
The place can get very crowed at meal times. Expect to be moved around if a large party walks in.

This tiny gem of a Japanese noodle shop has somehow found its way into the heart of Banff. Stumbled across it roughly 8 years ago and always made it a point to go here for lunch or supper since.
With seating so limited that you will most likely have to reserve a spot and come back in 15 – 30 minutes, you may be tempted to just keep walking. Don’t. If you love what a steaming, authentic Japanese broth and tasty ingredients have to offer this is your stop. If you aren’t a connoisseur yet — this is a great place for an introduction.
Just keep in mind, you’re here for the quality of the food, not the decore (which is clean and simple).
For a healthy meal, substitute brown colored soba noodles for the less healthy udon or ramen variety. Soba is made from buckwheat which is very healthy. Asian fast food noodle shops rarely carry the soba noodles so this is a refreshing treat.
The seaweed salad is quite good too.

Stopped by for a late lunch on a Friday afternoon and we didn’t have to wait for a table. Bonus!
I ordered the tan tan ramen, hubby had the pork ramen and we split an order of gyozas to start. First of all, they took the cold cooked gyozas from the fridge and presumably microwaved them. Not a good start to the meal. The gyozas were tasty enough but did not have the crisp pan fried texture. Instead, they were soggy.
Then the ramen arrived piping hot. The tan tan ramen had ground pork, one piece of broccoli and some bamboo shoots. While the spicy and peanuty broth was quite good, I was hoping for more «stuff» in my ramen such as some more greens or half a boiled egg. Hubby’s ramen had slices of pork and bean sprouts. The broth was tasty as well but he loved the tan tan broth and the serving of ramen wasn’t big enough for me and he started eating mine.
In all, I enjoyed Chaya and it definitely hit the spot on a chilly winter day.