Category

Ramen

Category

Kinton Ramen is a Canadian chain of Japanese Ramen, which originated in Toronto. We actually went to Kinton Ramen in Toronto a few years ago and their ramen didn’t disappoint, so we were excited to try it out again.

Founded by Toronto’s Kinka Family in 2012, Kinton Ramen has earned critical acclaim for its chef-driven Japanese ramen dishes, which feature rich and flavourful broth paired with fresh, high-quality ingredients. Kinton Ramen’s new venture at UBC will be the first West Coast outpost for the celebrated ramen chain, which now boasts more than 20 locations around the world in Canada, Japan and the U.S. The restaurant has received numerous industry awards for its signature take on Japanese ramen – including a Platinum award in the ‘Best Asian’ category at the 2019 Toronto Star Reader’s Choice Awards – and has been voted ‘Toronto’s Best Ramen’ by readers of NOW Magazine for six consecutive years.

They are currently in soft opening mode.

Patio

Kinton Ramen at UBC is a sit down restaurant and because of the whole Covid-19 pandemic, only the patio was open when we were dining here.

Keeping you Safe

In accordance with current public health recommendations, Kinton Ramen has incorporated a number of new safety protocols into its day-to-day operations in order to protect restaurant staff and guests. While the eatery is usually known for its communal-style seating and energetic atmosphere, seating options have been reduced both indoors and outdoors to allow for physical distancing between diners. Additionally, all staff will be subject to pre-shift health screenings, must wear with PPE while interacting with guests, and will sanitize high-touch surfaces and common areas throughout the restaurant on a frequent basis.

Pork Miso

This has soybean paste, pork, corn, garlic oil, and scallions. We customized it with thin noodles, and then added an egg and seaweed.

The broth was very delicious and rice. There are a good amount of toppings included in the bowl. The cha shu was cooked nicely. We did feel the thin noodles were a bit on the soft side, so next time, we would want to ask for firmer noodles.

Veg Original

This has sea salt, fried bean curd, bamboo shoots, wood ear mushrooms, corn, onion ginger oil, and scallions. We customized it with thin noodles, and added on cheese, which came on the side. The broth was very nice, but we did feel the same about the noodles how they were a bit soft.

They have 4 different vegetarian ramens on the menu, which is a specialty just to this location. It’s great that there are so many options.

Karaage

We also got a side of ramen to accompany the meal. It has lemon and a garlic mayo. It was fried really nicely with crisp skin. The meat was also very tender.

Takoyaki

Takoyaki is deep fried octopus balls with tonkatsu sauce, mayo, bonito flakes, and aonori. This was really good and it’s so good to have takoyaki again. It has a nice thin crisp exterior and very savoury on the inside.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s an amazing option for those at UBC at the centre of the campus. They do also have alcohol and dessert on the menu if you want more than just the savoury items. The prices are definitely very reasonable and won’t break the bank for a university student.

Address:
6111 University Blvd #102, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.kintonramen.com/

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/

Marutama Ramen is finally open in Burnaby on Kingsway just minutes away from Metropolis at Metrotown. I absolutely adore their delicious creamy chicken broth and I can’t get enough. Even Jason Momoa agree as he’s a regular at the Downtown location.

I would actually come here a lot to their Downtown location when they first opened. As I spend more time at home in Burnaby, I was super stoked to hear that it opened so close by. It’s actually a great spot as there definitely needs more good ramen shops in the area.

Line Up

As Marutama in Burnaby is just a few weeks old, it is drawing crowds for lunch and dinner. They open at 11:30am for lunch, so we ended up getting there at 11:45am because it’s hard to be on time anywhere with a baby.

We missed the first seating, but we were the 3rd in line asking for a table of 4. They asked us if we wanted to split up, but we said no, so the wait was around 10 minutes. The turnover is pretty quick and we noticed that people in groups of 2s got in and out very quickly.

Interior

There is one big communal table, and then a bunch of seats for 2s. It’s a decent size inside but it’ll be hard to get a big group in quickly unless you’re the first people there.

Kid Friendly

The space is cramped but they are kid friendly in a sense. I know I was nervous taking Baby E as its a busy place with limited space. Where we were seated, they provided a high chair, sippy cup, and kid friendly cutlery and scissors. It was a nice touch.

We left the stroller and car seat in the car. Normally I would attempt to take it in, but at 7 months, she’s fairing well with high chairs even though she looks like a tiny little nugget.

I did notice other families at the communal table with a stroller for a small baby and a high chair for their toddler. Just arrive early before the lunch hour to make sure they can seat you in a good spot.

Menu

Tamago Ramen

This is their signature item on the menu and I highly recommend it if it’s your first time here. It’s a great introduction to Marutama with their great chicken broth and marinated ramen egg. You also get two pieces of chashu, and AOSA sea lettuce. You can get this mild or spicy.

I’ve had both before and spicy gives you a nice kick of heat. On a regular day, I would go with the mild.

Also, don’t forget to add these beautiful garlic chips into your ramen. It’s pretty damn good.

Aosa Ramen [Add Egg]

This is my go to ramen since I love the AOSA, which is sea lettuce. Unlike seaweed, it has a great flavour and texture. Usually you don’t see this in ramen, but it pairs so well with their broth.

I added the ramen egg to it since it’ so good. The chashu was very dry when I went, so not as enjoyable.

Gyoza

The gyoza are hand made and then pan-fried. They come to the table with a crisp exterior and stuffed with pork and vegetables. There are 5 pieces to an order.

Cha Shu Gohan

The hot rice is topped with cha shu, pickled daikon, and green onions. It’s a nice side item to add to the meal. Or even a small dish to order if you’re not too hungry.

Final Thoughts

I really like Marutama and I would highly recommend it. The downside is that it is just terribly busy on weekends and also evenings. Weekday lunch is better as the wait is minimal.

Address:
5278 Kingsway, Burnaby, BC 

Website:
https://marutama.ca

Jinya Ramen Bar has quietly launched their new vegan menu items. Even though I’m not a vegan, their Spicy Creamy Vegan ramen is incredibly delicious. Once I had that broth, I was hooked. I honestly order it every time, sometimes with a side of chachu. I really appreciate the work that goes into crafting the ramen.

A few new item have been launched on the menu to give vegans and vegetarians more options. The vegan taco, vegan bun, and vegan rice bowl have been added.

Vegan Taco

This has soy meat, guacamole, and cilantro on a crispy taco shell made of wonton skin. It was really good and if you didn’t tell me what it was, I would think it was ground pork. I like the use of the wonton skin shell as its very crispy and didn’t seem to get soggy.

Vegan Bun

This has a steamed bun stuffed with pea protein patty (Beyond Meat), avocado, cucumber, and vegan mayo. When I took the first bite, I instantly knew it was Beyond Meat. I was very impressed that Jinya is on board with offering Beyond Meat on the menu. The patty has a good texture.

Vegan Rice Bowl

This is their plant-based rice bowl with soy meat, corn, atsuage tofu, cilantro, pickled red onion, and fried broccolini over steamed rice.

It’s a pretty sizeable portion and you’ll definitely get full. The tofu is served cold and most of the items are more room temperature. They did note that it’s supposed to be served this way. We did find that it needed more sauce as there was a good amount of rice.

Spicy Creamy Vegan Ramen

It uses a vegetable broth, tofu, onion, crispy onion, spinach, garlic chips, garlic oil, chilli oil, sesame seeds, and served with thick noodle.

The broth is really amazing and the addition of the garlic oil and chili oil were delicious. They give you a good amount of tofu too, so you will be full after eating this ramen.

You can also add sides to the ramen like their egg, bamboo shoots or Brussels sprouts to make the meal more filling.

Drink Pairings

Jinya Ramen has a fully stocked bar with bartenders, so if you are looking for something to pair with the vegan dishes. Here they are.

Yuzu Fizu

Yuzu Fizu is their selection to pair with the vegan tacos. They use simple syrup, yuzu, carbonated water, and topped with 1908 Empress Gin. The yuzu gives an added sweetness that mellows out the gin. It was very refreshing.

Asahi Dry Black

This is the pairing to go with the Vegan Bun. This is one of my favourite beers too as there are notes of liquorice, chocolate, coffee, and nuts. It is easy to drink.

Sake

They have a variety of sake on the menu that pairs with their regular items and vegan items.

Oku No Matsu: Yusa Junmai Ginjo was what they highly recommended to have with the vegan rice bowl. It is well balanced and textured, soft sweet flavours, and has a clean finish.

Houou Biden – Akaban Junmai Daiginjo was their suggestion to go with the Spicy Creamy Vegan Ramen. This is served in a wine glass to amplify the deep melon flavours and smooth textures.

Suutsu Fashion

Whisky based drink and it was like an Old Fashioned. I liked how they use one large ice cube to keep the drink cool. It had a good balance of the bitters and the garnish of the orange peel and cherry opened up the flavours.

Final Thoughts

I am a regular at Jinya Ramen Bar and their vegan options are very good, but the ramen is definitely pricey. Nonetheless, it is one of the best vegan ramen I’ve had so far. If you want to indulge and treat yourself, this is definitely it.

The vegan rice bowl is a good option too if you don’t want anything soupy. The vegan bun and vegan taco are good accompaniments too if you are super hungry.

Website:
https://jinya-ramenbar.com/

Ramen Taka has opened their second location at Aberdeen Centre on the 2nd floor. Their first location is on Bidwell and Robson Street. They are best known for their delicious broth that is topped with seasoned Hokkaido lard. It is very rich and piping hot, so make sure not to burn yourself.

We were invited for a sneak peek of their new location and try some menu items.

Interior

There is one long table of communal seating and some smaller tables on the side of the restaurant. Good for small to large groups.

Menu

Drinks

It’s great that they have Japanese drinks on the menu that pair with their appetizers and ramen. It’s fun when some drinks just bring back nostalgia like the ramune.

They have alcoholic drinks on the menu but isn’t available just yet.

Ramune is fun because you pop the marble into the drink and it’s like a fizzy soda. UCC Coffee is what the chef’s recommended and you can get it hot or cold.

Dragon’s Wing Gyoza

This comes with 5 pieces to an order. It’s also another chef recommended item on the menu. The gyoza were ok, but we wish they were cooked a bit more crispier on the exterior.

French Fries with Truffle Salt

Who can say no to fries? We clearly couldn’t. These were good but a tad on the soft side. Also, the truffle salt wasn’t as noticeable.

Kakuni

It was described as melt in your mouth, but it was more on the dry side as you can see from the picture. Perhaps they are still working out kinks.

Paitan Dragon’s Dewdrop Shoyu

This has their creamy white tonkotsu pork broth with their signature soy sauce flavour. It also comes with seaweed, chashu, mushroom, bamboo and half an egg. We added corn to this ramen as well as less lard. The broth was delicious but we wished the corn was more crunchy. The chashu was a bit dry and the noodles were a tad overcooked.

Paitan Supreme Dragon Miso

This has their hearty and rich white paitan tonkotsu pork broth with a blend of different miso pastes. This broth was a tad on the salty side but still delicious. It also comes with seaweed, chashu, mushroom, bamboo and half an egg.

Similar to the other ramen, chashu was dry and the noodles were soggy and overcooked.

Final Thoughts

Overall, they have a few kinks to work out before their grand opening. We’ve been to their original location and we know the potential they have and it can be really good. It was nice to see their new second location, but we would recommend waiting a bit till they get a rhythm going.

Address:
 4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond, BC

Website:
https://ramentaka.ca

Koyuki Sapporo Ramen is located in Downtown Vancouver on Jervis and Robson Street. They specialize in Miso ramen which was originally from Sapporo city in Hokkaido.

We were invite to try a variety of items off the menu from ramen, dons, and their appetizers.

Interior

There are a decent amount of seating inside for groups of 2’s and 4’s

Menu

Ebi Mayo

A classic Japanese tapas dish. Each prawn is battered and deep-fried, topped with sauce and a slice of lemon on the side. This all sits above a bed of greens. The sweet and sour sauce was more prominent as we didn’t sense any mayo in the dish. It was decent.

Tonkatsu Don Set

This is the most popular don on the menu and was recommended by the staff. The don comes with pickled radish and miso soup on the side.

The tonkatsu don was decent but we did feel the tonkatsu ended up to be mushy and soggy with the cooked egg. Would have been nice to have it separate so we can feel the crisp texture of the panko breading.

Milky Chicken Ramen

For our ramen, we asked one of the staff for her recommendation and her favourite was the milky chicken ramen, so we decided to give it a try. The broth was light and not too rich. We customized our ramen with thin firm noodles. Then added egg and seaweed as well. It was pretty good overall.

Seafood Tomato Risotto

They definitely have a lot of fusion type of dishes on the menu. The base of the sauce had a tad of spice and more of a sour ketchup flavour profile. The seafood sitting on top of the risotto didn’t feel very incorporated into the dish at all. It was so-so.

Final Thoughts

Overall, dishes we tried were decent but nothing really stood out. Given the neighbourhood, there’s really tough competition. As it is off Robson, it’s not as busy, so you’re guaranteed a spot without a long line up. We felt it was more like a spot to have a quick bite of tapas with beer. Their menu is pretty big, so there are lots of diverse options.

Address:
795 Jervis St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://koyuki.ca/

Ramen Koika has launched their limited time-only Prime Rib Ramen as their special for the next few months. They are anticipating this will stay on the menu for another 2-3 months as it’s been quite popular.

We were invited to try the prime rib ramen out for dinner.

Prime Rib Ramen

The prime rib ramen is $15.95 and it comes with a piece of AAA Prime Rib, onion, cabbage, wood ear mushroom, bean sprouts, and tonkotsu soup base with triple black garlic oil.

You can get the broth non-spicy, mild, or spicy. If you want more meat, you can add another piece of prime rib for $4.95.

I went with spicy tonkotsu broth for mine and you can definitely tell its spicy with all those red peppers. Spicy has a good amount of spice for me but it does build up over time.

My husband got mild and it also had a hint of spice which wasn’t bad at all either.

They give you a plastic glove to handle your prime rib if you want to use your hands to devour this big bone. The meat is very tender and full of flavour. Definitely the best part of the meal.

If you love meat and have a big appetite, I would suggest getting 2 ribs instead of 1.

We both got our noodles to be cooked more firm so it has more texture and chew.

Final Thoughts

The prime rib ramen isn’t a traditional ramen but it is Koika’s twist on ramen. It has more of a Korean taste profile to the ramen rather than Japanese especially with the spices used. Good to see some diversity in Vancouver’s ramen scene.

Address:
1479 Robson St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.ramenkoika.com/

Your next favourite ramen might be from a food court.

It’s a bold claim, I know. Vancouver loves ramen and throughout the years, there had been a trend of using heavy broth full of flavour. It’s absolutely delicious but they leave you reaching for water hours after your meal.

Hida Takayama Ramen sets itself apart by offering a lighter broth with the same depth of flavour achieved by their special mix of dashi and broth.

A Hidden Gem

Hida Takayama Ramen is a hidden gem inside the Robson Public Market food court. Its original owner wanted to retire and two of its loyal customers stepped up to take over. Reg and Ping are owner operators of Yui Japanese Bistro, and they now also own Hida Takayama Ramen.

They kept the old recipes, but have made improvements to the taste and prep procedures to ensure a consistent experience. The previous owner continues to be their supplier for noodles and gyoza.

Menu

Reg believes that ramen “shouldn’t be too expensive” and although you’re getting restaurant quality food, the menu is inline with food court pricing.

The broth is gently simmered for three days, the thin noodles continue to be made by the original owner, and the chashu is made with premium kurobuta pork. They make and prep their ingredients from scratch.

In the media preview, we tried the Original White Sesame, Traditional Hida Chuka, Basic Spicy Miso and Tantanmen White Sesame. We also tried the gyoza.

Original White Sesame

Hida sesame broth, chashu, white sesame, bamboo shoot, green onion.

Basic Spicy Miso

Hida signature broth, chashu, seaweed, bamboo shoots and green onion. This was my favourite!

Traditional Hida Chuka

Clear chicken dashi broth, chashu, bamboo shoot, green onion and seaweed. The broth looks simple, but there are layers of umami and salt that makes this special.

Tantanmen White Sesame

Hida signature broth, spicy ground pork, pickled ginger, ginger onion and black fungus. It’s good, it’s rich and the topping is so flavourful.

Gyoza

Hida Takayama’s gyoza is made with premium kurobuta pork and is still supplied by the original owner. They’re a great side to the ramen, but I would love it more if it had better texture with a crispy bottom.

Final Thoughts

Hida Takayama Ramen is a great addition to the Vancouver ramen scene. Its new owners have improved the taste and consistency, but kept the style of its original humble beginnings.

The noodles have a great bite and goes with all of the broth options available. Their egg is perfectly cooked, so go ahead and add a side of egg with your order.

We completely overlooked it when we visited, so learn from our mistake and take advantage of the free parking for patrons in the basement of Robson Public Market.

 Address:
1610 Robson St #203, Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://hidaramen.com/

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Yuu Japanese Tapas is located in Richmond, BC and they serve up contemporary Japanese cuisine. They have a wide menu from appetizers, individualized hot pots, ramen and other items. Earlier in the year, The Original beer Ramen made headlines around the world for their ramen that looks like a huge mug of beer, which was made of cold bonito broth ramen.

For the Winter, they have launched a few new items – Volcano Ramen and miriku collection. We came here to check it out.

Interior

There are a lot of tables for small to large groups inside.

Menu (new items)

Volcano Ramen

Their volcano ramen comes in 2 types -AAA Beef Volcano Ramen and Jumbo Clam and Prawn Volcano Ramen starting at $19.50.

What is great about Yuu Japanese Tapas is the experience and fun they provide the customers before the meal begins. When the ramen arrived, the server pours the ramen broth into the sizzling hot stone bowl and covers it with a volcano lid, so it steams up like a volcano.

AAA Beef Volcano Ramen

This has AAA Beef slices, Enoki mushrooms, bean sprouts, green onion, and a tonkatsu broth. You can add egg, butter, cheese, kimchi and more ramen noodles for an additional charge.

We had the choice of having it mild or spicy, so we chose mild. The tonkatsu broth is rich with a lot of beefy umami flavour. The noodles has a thickness to them too. We added cheese to the dish and it made the ramen consistency more thick and less soupy.

Jumbo Clam and Prawn Volcano Ramen

There are seasonal clams, prawns, bean sprouts, onions, and their rich tonkatsu broth. You can add egg, butter, cheese, kimchi and more ramen noodles for an additional charge.

We ordered mild, but it still had a kick to the broth and made it hard to taste the deep beef flavour. This was ok but we felt the AAA Beef Volcano Ramen was a bit better.

Strawberry Milk

You can get this hot or cold, but we went with cold. It tastes like milk with strawberry puree and you can’t go wrong with that. It tastes pretty good. The glass is a bit small for the price.

Melon Milk

We decided to switch things up and get this hot. It was served in the same container and served very hot to the touch. It has a strong melon taste and it felt more artificial tasting. Imagine those Korean melona bars.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the experience at Yuu Japanese Tapas was good as the dishes were unique looking, but when it came down to flavour, it missed the mark and the prices are a bit higher than normal Japanese ramen shops, nonetheless, they really make sure the experience, fun and interactivity of the dishes are their.

Address:
3779 Sexsmith Rd #1118, Richmond, BC

Website:
http://www.yuutapas.com/

The Shop is an eatery and butcher shop under one roof at Two Rivers Meats in North Vancouver. We were invited to try their winter menu, which features their specialty meats and seasonal produce available from local suppliers.

Interior

The space is bright and welcoming. The left half is an eatery with an open kitchen and family style seating.

The other half is a butcher shop with an array of ethically and sustainably raised meats. Two Rivers Meats proudly offer meat products from farms all over BC & Alberta who “raise their animals in open spaces without the use of antibiotics and growth hormones.”

Help yourself to popcorn while you wait for your order!

Menu

Their winter menu is a good mix of shareables, food from the grill and rotisserie, as well as options for the kids.

After placing your order, grab a popcorn and your bone marrow table number.

We decided to sit right by the bar facing the grill so we can feel the warmth of the fire (it was cold and raining outside). Meats were cooked over an open fire using alder and birch wood.

We ordered the burger with tallow fries, sausage platter, the beet slaw, and the ramen.

65 Day Dry Aged Beef Burger

Their signature item is the 65-day dry aged beef burger, which is served with aged cheddar, charred tomato, zucchini pickles, iceberg lettuce, and white BBQ sauce in a brioche bun. We opted to add bacon.

This burger is delicious! There’s a depth of flavour in dry aged beef that is hard to describe but is easy to distinguish by taste. The bacon is good, but this burger didn’t need it. It’s great as-is.

As a side, The Shop offers Tallow Fries and I recommend that you get them each and every time you visit. (Fun fact: McDonald’s Fries were originally fried in tallow–it’s now made in vegetable oil…and additives to mimic the taste of beef tallow.)

Sausage Platter

The sausage platter is good for sharing and the selection rotates every other day based on the season and availability. It’s served with pickled onions, zucchini pickles and mustard. The pickles are fresh and are made in-house.

When we visited, the three sausages featured were Buffalo Chicken, Toulouse and Chaurice. This is a great option if you’d like to try their sausages or to share with the table.

Two Rivers Ramen Bowl

The Two Rivers Ramen is miso bone broth, soft poached egg, bean sprouts, noodles, charred garlic chili oil, spiced nori, crispy pork and green onions.

Ramen in a butcher shop?! I was initially suspicious, until I realized they have a ready supply of bone, marrow and fat to make an amazing soup broth.

The miso bone broth in this ramen is rich, buttery and tastes amazing. The noodles has a good bite and the garlic chili oil topped egg was a nice touch. It was perfect on a rainy day. My only hesitation about this dish is the five-spice crispy pork which overpowered the taste and did not complement the soup. Next time I visit, I’ll ask if there’s another meat option available or simply ask for the crispy pork on the side.

Final Thoughts

Two Rivers Meats have supplied Vancouver retailers and higher end restaurants for over a decade. Their meat is from BC and Alberta farmers who make sure their animals are raised ethically and sustainably. Best of all, they’re making it available for everyone to easily purchase and taste these products at The Shop.

Their menu is solid and the food tastes great. They’re a great option if you’re considering eating less, but better sourced meats. It would be an afternoon well-spent to drive up to North Vancouver, try their burger and fries, then purchase a selection of their sausages for the week ahead. My only regret is that I forgot about the cookie, so I’ll need to come back and try it.

Address:
180 Donaghy Ave, North Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://tworiversmeats.ca/the-shop/

Horin Ramen + Sake finally open their doors on Robson and Bute in Downtown Vancouver. They specialize in Fukuoka Ramen with their own spicy twist. Back in 1966, Mr. Sadayuki Nakahara and his wife Keiko were the originators of adding spicy chili peppers into a pork-based Tonkotsu broth. They have taken this secret recipe and opened a bunch of ramen shops in Japan and now around the word.

Interior

The interior is very narrow with half the restaurant for seating and the other half is their kitchen. Since it just opened, it’s not very busy at all. Plus, they have very limited hours as they are still in their soft opening phase.

They also make their noodles in-house, so you can watch them turn dough into ramen noodles.

Menu

Chashu Ramen with Soft Boiled Egg

You have the base of tonkotsu broth and 3 times more slices of braised pork belly for a total of 6 pieces. There is also green onions and their house made chili blend.

You can customize your ramen with noodle firmness (soft, standard, firm), Dashi (less salty, standard, extra salty), House Chili Blend (less spicy, standard, extra spicy), and lard (less fat, standard, or extra fat).

M thought it was ok, but didn’t stand out compared to some other ramen shops in Vancouver. He didn’t like the saltiness of the broth even though he got it standard and the chashu slices were very thin. He didn’t feel like the chili blend was that special as other ramen shops do that in town too.

Ajitama Ramen

You get their soft-boiled egg marinated in their tare-seasoning. There are 2 slices of chashu, chili sauce, and green onions.

You can customize this ramen too and I got it mostly with the standard options, but with firm noodles.

Final Thoughts

Overall, it’s a solid bowl of ramen for this section of Robson Street, but they have stiff competition as there are more ramen shops a few blocks away. It all comes down to personal preference.

The prices are also very fair. When it comes to their sake selection, there are only 4 options and it’s pretty pricey for a whole bottle. They don’t have options for just a cup.

Address:
1226 Robson St, Vancouver, BC

Ramen Gaoh is a new ramen shop in North Burnaby on Hastings and Willingdon. They are the newest concept from the Menya Kouji Group, which also has Ramen Gojiro and The Ramen Butcher.

What is unique about Ramen Gaoh is that they specialize in miso ramen. Since they have been open for a few days, there have been large line ups due to a great $6 special, but that is now over. As menu prices are back to normal, there was still a line up during peak hours on weekends. Hopefully this dies down as weeks pass by.

Interior

The space isn’t too large but fits groups of 2s and 4s well. Any larger and it’ll be hard to fit.

There is indoor seating as well as heated patio seats.

Menu

Green Tea

They give everyone cold water, but I wanted some green tea, so they change for hot green tea. Pretty standard green tea and nothing exciting.  You can always ask them to refill it with hot water.

Karaage

We got the original karaage and it came with 4 large pieces and a wedge of lemon. They have other versions with tartar sauce or teriyaki sauce too.

The exterior was crunchy, moist inside, and full of flavour. Highly recommended and great for sharing.

Okonomiyaki Gyoza

Each comes with 5 pieces with okonomiyaki sauce, mayo, bonito flakes and green onions. They use their original pork gyoza made in-house.

They have different gyoza topping like miso mayo, spicy and trufffle too.

Shiro Miso

This uses white soy bean paste. Generally, it is more mellow and sweet for a lighter miso flavour in the broth. My friend added an ajitama egg and butter to her ramen.

Scorpion Ramen

This is their signature spicy ramen and the broth is made from chicken and pork with their secret miso blend. You can get it in 3 levels of spiciness as well as numbing.  At level 2 spiciness and level 1 numbing, it still packs a punch.

Misotarian Ramen

This is the miso ramen for vegetarians. It has a creamy miso and soy milk broth topped with assorted vegetables and a portobello mushroom. I added the spicy garlic sauce as well as some chashu. Not so vegetarian anymore.

It was decent if you like miso-based broths. I wished there was more of the spicy garlic sauce since it didn’t seem as fragrant. The portobello was a big size and gave the dish a nice meaty texture without the meat.

Final Thoughts

Ramen Gaoh is a great addition to the neighbourhood giving people a taste of miso based ramen. Is it my favourite ramen joint? Definitely not, but that’s only because I’m not a big fan of miso ramen. If you are, then this might be the place for you.

Address:
4518 E Hastings St, Burnaby, BC

Website:
http://www.ramengaoh.com/

Mensho Tokyo is a popular ramen shop in Japan and this is their first location outside of Japan. Luckily, it’s located in San Francisco in the Tenderloin. When I was visiting for a week, a lot of my Instagram followers suggested I go to Mensho Tokyo SF. We were warned that there would be a long line up and should go right when they open, but we didn’t make it until around 7pm.

Since we didn’t have evening plans, we decided to just wait. If so many people were also waiting, it must be good right? It’s also Michelin recommended.

Interior

The space is small, so I can see why there isn’t that many seats, so I can see why there was such a long line up. We counted about 28 seats in here.

Menu

Enoki Mushroom Chips

Since we waited for so long, we wanted to make sure we ordered as much as we could to make it worth it. The enoki mushroom chips were more like enoki tempura. A good pairing if you have beer.

Oyster in Shoyu Dare Oil

There were a good amount of oysters submerged in the oil. It was good to snack on them as it was better than the canned smoked oysters.

Tori Paitan Ramen

This is their most popular ramen and it has a rich and creamy chicken broth, pork chashu, duck chashu, menma, kale, burdock, and katsuobushi sauce. We added an ajitama egg to it.

The duck was delicious and we think its been sous vide to get that nice colour and texture.

Tori Paitan Ramen (Double Chashu)

If you want some extra charshu, this option might be for you.

Spicy Tori Paitan Ramen

I went the spicy route and it was more of a medium spice level. It is made with a base of their rich and creamy chicken soup, pork chashu, menma, spicy jalapeno miso, cabbage, burdock, green onion and nuts. I also added the ajitama egg.

The egg was perfectly cooked so it looks like the golden sun inside. I found my bowl to be quite rich and salty. It was very difficult to drink all the broth without feeling for my waistline.

Final Thoughts

The ramen is good and unique for those who enjoy rich chicken broth. I personally found the broth to be way too rich for my personal preferences. Their chashu, duck and ajitama egg are done very well and love these.

I wouldn’t line up again for their ramen as there are other shops that appeal more to my tastes as well as being cheaper. With each bowl being close to $20 with auto gratuity, it was pricey.

Address:
672 Geary St, San Francisco

Website:
http://mensho.tokyo/

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

Ramen Koika has opened another location on Robson street to join all the other Ramen shops on the same street. It has taken over the previous location of Hapa Izakaya. We came to check out a bunch of their appetizers as well as a few of their ramen dishes.

Interior

The interior is large and there are lots of tables for small to large groups compared to their Davie street location.

Menu

Minions Dice

Minions Dice has 4 pieces of deep fried tofu with their special sauce and green onions. It came piping hot and it’s a good small bite to go with ramen.

Golden Scallop Fry

An order comes with 3 pieces of the deep fried scallops in a panko crust. It is then topped with teriyaki sauce.

Takoyaki Balls

The takoyaki pieces have octopus in the centre and then topped with mayo and takoyaki sauce.

Puri-Puri Ebi

You will get 4 pieces of the deep fried panko breaded jumbo shrimp with tartar sauce, sesame and parsley. Crisp when eaten right away or else it gets a bit soggy if you wait too long.

Coco Karaage

This has their house deep fried boneless chicken with a spicy sauce and sesame seeds. It was a bit spicy and a tad sweet.

Creamy Croquette

Inside the croquette is corn, onion, mashed potato, and mozzarella cheese. 3 pieces per order.

Pork gyoza

You get 5 pieces to the order. It has juicy pork on the inside and crisp on one side.

Pork Bao

The pork bao has shredded pork, marinated onion, green onion with their special sauce with mayo inside this bao. I didn’t particularly like this as it was too saucy.

Veggie Triple Black Garlic Ramen

In this ramen, you will find tofu, egg, bean sprouts, spinach, bamboo shoots, green onion, roasted seaweed, and the triple black garlic oil served with their thin noodle. A good option if you don’t want any  meat. The garlic is is very delicious.

Triple Black Garlic Ramen

This is their regular ramen with cha-shu, spinach, egg, bamboo shoots, roasted seaweed, green onion, garlic chips and the triple black garlic oil. The cha-chu was fatty and delicious. The amount of garlic was fragrant and I enjoyed it. I would have wished for a little bit more broth.

Chicken Tamago Ramen

If you love chicken, you will find 2 eggs, garlic chips, bamboo shoots, green onions and the chicken broth with thin noodles. The chicken broth was rich and delicious.

King’s Seafood Ramen

The King’s Seafood Ramen is a beauty and you can get this from mild to spicy. There is blue crab, clams, green mussels, cabbage, black tree fungus, onion, red pepper, green pepper, Thai chili, bean sprouts and sprinkled with more red pepper. If you love spice and seafood, this would be good for you.

Kimchi Ramen

This has the base of chicken broth and it also has shredded pork, kimchi, mushroom, spring onion, onion, cabbage and green onion. You can get this mild or spicy.

Queen’s Ramen

Queen’s ramen has carrot, cabbage, mushroom, green onions, spring onions, bean sprouts, and the chicken broth can be mild or spicy. We had it spicy and it was pretty darn spicy.

Sapporo Miso Ramen

Stir-fried ground pork, bean sprout, green onion, and corn in the noodles and pork broth.

Tonkotsu Shio Ramen

There is chashu, bamboo shoots, roasted seaweed, green onion, spinach, and bean sprouts with the thin noodles and the pork broth.

Final Thoughts

It’s good to have Ramen Koika join this street as they have a large variety of pork and chicken broth ramen with the ability to have spicy or mild broth. My favourite of all the ramen options us the triple black garlic since I love garlic.

Address:
1479 Robson St, Vancouver, BC

Website:
https://www.ramenkoika.com/

Jinya Ramen Bar on Robson celebrates its 1 year anniversary with a gift to themselves, and their customers by proxy, the first Suntory Toki Highball Machine in Canada! What in the world is a highball machine? You can think of it as Japanese whisky cocktails on tap. While we were at the birthday bash, we also got a peek at their appetizer menu.

Dropping in around the time of their 3 to 5 pm happy hour of $5 Sapporos, $4 craft beer and now the $5 Suntory Toki highball, the place was already humming. By the time we left around 7:00 pm the wait was already around 20 minutes for a seat. As expected from one of the most popular ramen joints in town.

I would liken the Suntory Toki highball to the gin and tonic version of whisky. Bubbly and light kind of a cool breeze freshness; while still having a bit of that warmth of a whisky that lingers inside even after you’ve taken a sip. The soda that is mixed with it is said to be extra carbonated so that it breaks up the fragrance of the drink better.

When you think of Japanese whisky you might think of Suntory’s Yamazaki single malt or Hibiki, a blended whisky, the latter of which I often seen behind the bars in Vancouver; and Lost in Translation. Toki is the newest edition to the line and crafted with the intention of being mixed. We were luckily seated next to some very experienced bartenders at the event and got to hear their insights. From an industry perspective, Suntory Toki is very acceptable price wise. Perhaps this factor combined with the rising popularity of Japanese whisky, we could see more Japanese whisky cocktails at our favourite lounges.

With the drinks, we were served a selection of small bites. Jinya’s appetizers are interesting as they have a bunch of options that aren’t typical izakaya options but still have a distinctly Japanese flair.

Soft shell crab bun

The most curious of the bunch is the soft shell crab bun. It’s a whole soft shell crab deep fried and dressed in a sweet and sour sauce. To round off the crunch, avocado, baby leaf spinach and spicy mayonnaise give it even more dimension. All in a steam bun wrapper.

Crispy chick peas

The crispy chick peas are fried and tossed in spicy curry salt. Extremely light and not at all greasy.

Brussel sprout tempura

Their brussel sprout tempura, similar to the chick peas, is not at all greasy but still comes with the satisfying crunch. Made with white truffle oil, and cut into small pieces to be covered in flavour and tempura batter. This is not a humble brussel sprout but a glamorous barely-vegetable.

Salmon Poké Tacos

Their salmon poke tacos use a fried gyoza wrapper as the shell. A nice way to round out the meal if you are craving something like sashimi.

Creamy Vegan Ramen

When the happy hour event ended, we got in line to be seated again. It’s hard to come to Jinya and leave without having ramen. As their restaurant signage says “no ramen no life”. This time around we opted for the creamy vegan with a side of Takoyaki.

Takoyaki

I was pleasantly surprised to find Jinya’s takoyaki is served on a bed of eggy tartar sauce. Usually a do-no-wrong kind of snack almost no matter where you order it, it’s rare to see something new done with it. Traditionally a street food, takoyaki is a piece of octopus wrapped in a hot ball of batter and brushed with a sweet and salty sauce.

Address:
541 Robson Street, Vancouver

Website:
http://jinya-ramenbar.com/

 

Ramen Nakamura is known for their oxtail ramen. We came right in the morning when they opened to avoid any line ups, plus we were up early due to the time difference. When you look on the internet, a lot of people say their oxtail ramen is really good, so we came to see if it live up the the hype.

Interior

There isn’t a lot of space inside, but most of the seating is around the counter.

Menu

Oxtail ramen

We ordered the combo and it comes with gyoza and fried rice. 3 items for $23, which was a bit pricey in our opinion since ramen shouldn’t be so expensive. Nonetheless, it does use oxtail, so that isn’t a cheap ingredient.

There is a good amount of oxtail in the bowl. The oxtail was tough and wasn’t fall off the bone as anticipated. It didn’t retain much of the broths flavour and needed a bit of effort to take the meat off. There was also quite a bit of harder fat around some pieces as you can see in the photo. The broth was light and packed full of vegetables that it didn’t compliment the oxtail very well.

I think it would have been better if it was a richer spicier dish, but the both of us though this dish was over hyped. We couldn’t order this again.

Gyoza

The gyoza were pan-fried and comes with 3 pieces for the combo. They tasted ok, but didn’t wow us. A pretty standard gyoza.

Fried Rice

The fried rice came in a mound and was good with bits of pork, egg, and green onions.

Hakata Tonkotu Ramen

This bowl of ramen was a lot better in my opinion. It was slightly milky but it could have had more depth of flavour. It was cheaper too at $11.50.

Final Thoughts

There was definitely too much hype with their oxtail ramen. It could have been better executed and the flavours and tenderness were missing. I wouldn’t come back as there are other good ramen restaurants in Waikiki like Hokkaido Ramen Santouka.

We Rate Ramen Nakamura

Address:
2141 Kalakaua Ave #1, Honolulu, HI

There’s a new ramen shop in town called Ichikame Shokudo located in South Vancouver. I was invited to give their ramen and other dishes a try. I was pretty excited to try this place and we can never have too many ramen shops in Vancouver. Especially in this area, it needs more food options.

Interior

The space isn’t too large, but is good for groups of 2 or 4. They can accommodate larger groups, but go early or later in the evening.

Menu

Complimentary tea

As we sat down, they gave us some hot tea as we browsed through the menu.

Shio Ramen

The broth is very light and not rich at all. It’s definitely a different style that personally didn’t attract my taste buds. It lacks the depth of flavour. If you’re looking for something that has a cleaner taste, this is it.

Spicy Ramen

I was hoping this would have a better kick of flavour, but it was still a bit bland and needed more heat and depth. Their ramen eggs are good and the chashu is not bad either.

Kimchi Cheese Ramen

This has a spicy ramen base with veggies, kimchi, and topped with seared cheese on top. This was a very interesting combination and strays a bit from tradition ramen flavours.

Italian Tomato Ramen

This ramen has a tomato base soup with fried chicken, cheese and mixed greens. The soup base is very comforting as it reminds me of tomato soup from my childhood. The fried chicken in the broth made the exterior soggy, so it would have been better on the side.

Pork Belly Samurai Rock

It has braised pork belly, green onions, sesame and pickled radish, egg, on top of rice in this hot stone bowl. The pork belly as nice and torched with a good amount of fat. The portion size is good for an individual.

Katsu Cheese Curry

On top of the bed of rice is curry, katsu, greens, cheese, seaweed and nori.

Beef Cheese Curry

The beef, cheese and veggies in this hot stone bowl. All three were decent but I preferred the other 2.

Pork Yakisoba

Served on this hot skillet with all the yakisoba and pork on top.

Vege Mountain

This huge bowl of cabbage was awesome. Nicely seasoned and a great item to share. I love cabbage, so I had a lot of this and took the leftovers home. For the price, this portion is generous.

Prawn & Cheese Gyoza

The gyoza comes with 6 pieces per order. These gyozas are topped with prawns and the cheese sizzles on the hot plate. It does take some time too cool down.

Spicy Cheese Gyoza

Somewhat similar to the other gyoza. With both of them, I wished the gyoza were more crisp especially when it comes on a hot plate.

Takoyaki

It comes with six pieces per order. A  nice snack to share with the table.

Agedashi Tofu

It is presented in a bamboo steamer and comes with 4 pieces. Garnished with nori and bonito flakes similar to other dishes.  This tasted ok, but nothing special.

Veggie Croquettes

4 pieces per order and it is crunchy on the outside and savoury on the inside.

Chicken Karaage

One of my favourite appetizers! Crispy, moist and delicious. A great item to pair with your meal.

Yukikaze Freeze

They have partnered up with a local company – 77k Freeze to create their Yukikaze Freeze. There are 7 different flavours and I tried the Wasabi Chocolate as it was pretty unique. With this particular flavour, it was chocolate with dried wasabi sprinkled around, so it wasn’t as intense as I would have imagined.

Freeze Drink

There are 9 different freeze drinks and they also have frozen iced tea drinks too.

Final Thoughts

A lot of the dishes were pretty average. Nothing really stood out to me that I must return for. If you’re in the area and you’re craving a bowl of ramen and don’t want to travel far, this is a good option in South Vancouver.

We Rate Ichikame Shokudo: 

Address:
6956 Victoria Dr, Vancouver

Website:
http://ichikameshokudo.com/