food challenge Archives

In Downtown

Ramen Taka: Ramen Challenge in Vancouver

June 3, 2018

Ramen Taka aka Ramen Takanotsume is launching their Giga Ramen Challenge on June 1st and it’s not for the faint of heart. I came to watch my friend Maggie attempt this challenge and wow…it’s not easy. In 30 minutes, you must finish the whole bowl unassisted. There is the equivalent of 5 bowls of ramen in there. If you fail, you pay the price of 4 bowls. For example, if you got the Shoyu, that is $11.95 x 4, which is $47.80. If you are victorious, it’s free.

She loves a challenge, so she was drawn to it right away. Make sure you reserve ahead of time to ensure they have time to put it together.

Giga Ramen Challenge

The big bowl of ramen start off with their delicious broth that is topped with their delicious seasoned Hokkaido lard. You can choose shoyu, shio or miso as your broth. Their broth os made with a mixture of pork bones, veggies, and seafood simmered for many hours to be able to get a deep flavour in the broth.

Maggie went with the Dragon’s Dewdrop Shoyu Ramen for the challenge as it’s lightest of the flavours and she felt like she had a better chance of finishing it.

As they built the Giga Ramen, it kept getting bigger and bigger. It’s crazy how much goes into this.

Even the staff were curious about their first competitor and wondered if she could do it all.

Regular Sized Ramen

This is the regular size, so it’s a good portion for those who aren’t up for the challenge. I got the Dragon’s Dewdrop Shoyu Ramen too as it was recommended for first timers. The piece of chashu and seaweed were huge as it sits on the side of the bowl, and the egg, black fugus, green onions and bamboo shoots accompany the delicious noodles and broth. I was surprised by the broth and how good it tasted for a shoyu based broth. I do like my broths more fatty, so it’s definitely not for everyone. It is also piping hot as, so you need to wait a bit before digging in.

BEGIN THE GIGA RAMEN CHALLENGE

This in comparison to the regular bowl is colossal as it is 5 times larger. I won’t spoil the outcomes if Maggie finished it or not, but you can read her blog here. She also has a video, so you can watch every detail of sweat.

Are you ready for the Giga Ramen Challenge?

Faceboook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/ramentaka.ca/

Address:
841 Bidwell St, Vancouver, BC

In Commercial Drive / Grandview

Dundas Six O Pho Challenge in Vancouver: 5lbs of Meat and Noodles

December 19, 2017

There’s a new food challenge in town at Dundas Eat + Drink for their Six O Pho challenge until December 31, 2017. There’s some satisfaction to devour such a beast but I personally couldn’t conquer this. Other’s have dared and have failed by making a tiny dent into it. Seattle has been know for their huge pho challenge at Dong Thap Noodles, but now you can stay in Vancouver for this. Just a quick drive to East Vancouver for this gem.

The details of the Six O Pho challenge:

Be the fastest person to finish the 5 lb bowl of pho in under 30 minutes (meat and noodles)
The big bowl of pho is $34.95 if you fail to finish it in time. Your name and time will still be recorded if you finish it.
Unlimited water is provided.
Limited quantity per day – FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED. Available everyday from 5-10pm
The fastest time by December 31, 2017 will be the winner of the grand prize and names will be announced on January 2.
Contestants are allowed to challenge this multiple times.
Grand Prize – $100 Cash and your name on our trophy; 2nd and 3rd place winners receive $25 gift cards

Regular vs Six O Pho Size

I could easily down a whole regular bowl, but the Six O Pho size is probably 4 or 5 times the size. It’s massive for one person to finish. If you have the stomach for it, good luck!!

I found the taste of the pho actually good. The Beef Brisket, Rare Beef, and Beef Balls were delicious and the broth was equally as good without any MSG. I would come back again for their regular pho.

Are you ready to take on the Six O Pho Challenge?

Address:
2077 Dundas St, Vancouver

Website:
http://www.eatdundas.com/

In Cajun/Creole

The Holy Crab: Monster Roll Challenge

November 7, 2017

The Holy Crab in Downtown Vancouver has the Monster Roll Challenge where guests are invited to devour their 36-inch seafood roll in 5 minutes or less. It weighs a whopping 6 pounds. If you are defeated, you have to pay $75 plus tax. I was up for the challenge and so was Maggi, so we rolled up our sleeves to destroy this monster. This is only available until November 30, 2017.

The Monster Roll

Inside, you’ll find crab, shrimp, calamari, soft shell crab, fish finger, onion, garlic, mushroom, bell peppers, mayo, and your choice of Cajun sauce (mild, medium, spicy, or holy moly). We went with mild because I didn’t want to suffer the consequences the following day.

36 inches is the size of 3 Subway footlongs, so that means we had to eat 1.5 foot longs or 18 inches each.When we watched them assemble this, we felt very confident we could finish. Once they started adding more and more on top, we could see why this really isn’t an easy challenge.

The Rules

Be the fastest team of 2 to finish a 36-inch seafood roll and place your names and time on our leaderboard – 1st place will win a $300 GIFT CARD to The Holy Crab!
The seafood roll will be cut in half for every team. Time starts at the same time for both of you, and you and your teammate are responsible for eating your own half (no helping each other).
The cost of the Monster Roll is $75 (tax excluded). Names and time will be recorded when your team finishes the roll.
BONUS – If your team finishes the seafood roll in 5 minutes, your team gets the roll for FREE and receives a $25 gift card to The Holy Crab for your next visit.
Unlimited water and/or soft drinks are provided (must let staff know before the competition starts).
Only 5 Monster Rolls available per day – FIRST COME, FIRST SERVED (no reservations). Available every day during opening hours.
The team with the fastest time on our leaderboard by Nov. 30 will be the grand prize winner and names will be announced on Dec 1st.

Let’s Eat

We started off at a good pace, but soon we realized it was more that we could handle. My strategy was to go for all the good stuff first by eating the seafood, then the bread. At first it had a good taste since I love seafood and if it’s crispy and deep-fried, I’m so into it. At the 4 minute mark, I really started to feel it and I didn’t like the mixture of all the sauces. After 10 minutes, we threw in the towel. I easily demolished the seafood and still had a good amount of bread left.

Maggi on the other hand almost demolished the bread and has some seafood leftover. The hardest part was the richness of the lobster oil soaked in the vegetables, then the added sauces inside. I may have thrown up a little bit afterwards.