AFURI Ramen + Dumpling is a popular ramen spot in Japan known for their yuzu shio ramen. They have officially opened their first Canadian location in Richmond near Lansdowne. I’m really excited to see it opening up in Vancouver as I completely missed it in Japan, but I did buy the instant noodle cups.
Expect to see line ups here at Afuri and hopefully the experience stays consistent as they have brought up staff from their Portland location to help with the launch. They use the same techniques in their cooking similar to their central kitchen at the foot of Afuri mountain.
We were invited for a media sneak preview to give you guys an inside look before they open on January 7, 2020.
Interior
The interior is nice, large and spacious. Very high ceilings as well.
Menu
The ramen and gyozas are all made fresh by hand everyday. You’ll find ramen, rice bowls, gyozas, and small plates on the menu.
There are also alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks.
Ordering
To order, you have to use the kiosk machines like in Japan. It’s very nice to see all the menu and customization options on the screen. You can even sub your noodles for gluten-free noodles.
You can pay right at the machine too with debit or credit. Yes, they also take cash. I know some people will probably hate using these machines. My parents wouldn’t like it.
Table Numbers
Once you’re order is almost done at the kiosk, you need to input your table number so they know where to bring the food over to you.
Homemade Gingerale
This has fresh ginger syrup and it’s not too intense. Nice and refreshing to go with their menu.
Yuzu Limeade
This drink is made with fresh limes juice and a splash of yuzu. This was pretty tart and isn’t as subtle like the Homemade Gingerale.
Buta Gyoza
An order comes with 8 pieces and it’s nicely pan fried. Inside the gyoza are pork, green onion, ginger, garlic, cabbage, sesame oil, and so. I enjoyed it and its a great item to share among the table.
Karaage
This has marinated fried chicken thigh, yuzu kosho egg salad, fried shishito pepper, and lemon. We really enjoyed this small plate. It was really crisp and moist. Tons of flavour from the marination too.
Kakuni Pork Bun
In the bun is kakuni pork, sweet chili soy sauce, green onion, cucumber, and pickled ginger. A solid choice for a bun. The meat is tender and delicious but we did notice that the consistency of the buns were off. One Kakuni Pork Bun had a thick slab of pork and the second one we got was much thinner. Hopefully they correct this when they open their doors.
Soft Shell Crab Bun
In the steamed bun is soft shell crab, spicy mayo, kimchi, and cucumber. This was really really good! The crab has a lot of flavour and the kimchi works so well in this dish. Highly recommended.
Yuzu Shio
Their signature ramen has shio tare, chicken broth, yuzu, bamboo, egg, chashu pork, endive, fried garlic, and nori. The broth is pretty light and there is the yuzu tang in the broth which is they are best known for.
It wasn’t my personal favourite as I felt it was pretty bland and too light. According to my other friend, it is very very consistent with the location in Portland.
Tonkotsu shio
This has shio tare, pork broth, chashu pork, egg, black garlic oil, green onion, pickled ginger, kikurage mushroom, and sesame. We found it quite fatty at the top of the bowl and pretty bland. It didn’t leave a good feeling in our mouths.
The best part of the dish was the chashu pork.
Yuzu Tsuyu Tsukemen
Tsukemen is dipping noodles, so you dip the cold noodles in the concentrated broth. This dish also has chashu pork, egg, bamboo, yuzu juice, endive, green onion, nori, and yuzu soy tsuyu.
This was a pretty good dish compared to the other 2 we had. It is much saltier but you get the tart yuzu, the spices, and the depth of flavour.
Extra Side
You can order extra side to your ramen for an additional cost if you want a bit more to your dish. We tried a bit of everything but the chashu is the best.
Final Thoughts
It’s always great to have more well-known Ramen shops in Metro Vancouver. There is already a lot but it opens our palettes to the different varieties of ramen out there. It’s not all the same and each place has their unique twist. For Afuri, it’s that yuzu touch to their broth.
We did find many hits and misses, but we are pretty picky ramen eaters and have our personal preferences. We really enjoyed the gyoza and small plates a lot more than the ramen.
Address:
140-7971 Alderbridge Way, Richmond, BC
Website:
https://www.afuriramen.com/
