Ramen Archives - Page 3 of 4

In Fairview

#DiningAsian2014: Benkei Ramen

August 26, 2014

From August 1 to 31, when you order featured Dining Asian dishes at participating restaurants, proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society. This is their second year hosting this campaign and the participating restaurants are:

Benkei Noodle Shop
Tamarind Hill
Scoop
Fatty Hi Chinese Restaurant
Friend’s BBQ Restaurant
Next Noodle Bar

Money raised for the Canadian Cancer Society goes towards funding cancer research, providing support services that inform and empower people living with cancer, leading prevention initiatives and advocating for healthy public policies. It’s an organization that is dear to my heart. When you tweet or instagram their featured dish with #DiningAsian2014, you can be entered to win prizes.

I came to Benkei with Phyllis to catch up over a bowl of yummy noodles. There used to be a bunch of Benkei locations, but this is now the last left. I remember coming to Benkei often when there were not a lot of ramen options on Robson street.

At Benkei Ramen, they are featuring their Shio TanTan noodles with a spicy buta-don for $10.50 for the #diningasian campaign.

The meal is quite big for lunch and will fill you up.

Shio TanTan had a lot of yummy rich pork broth with a side of egg. The noodles were cooked nicely and this was quite enjoyable.

Spicy Buta-Don tasted a bit strange as the pork was dry and overcooked that it just tasted like flaked tuna. I wasn’t impressed by this item. I think this was the same pork used in the ramen, but I don’t think I noticed as much since the broth helped moisten the pork.

Overall, it’s good to revisit Benkei after all these years, but I think I will stick to the ramen for now.

We Rate Benkei Ramen:

Address:
545 West Broadway Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.benkeiramen.com/

In Gastown

Taishoken Ramen: Newest Ramen Shop in Vancouver

July 13, 2014

Taishoken Ramen is the newest ramen join in Vancouver. It is located right across from Tinsel Town. During their soft opening, they were offering ramen up for $5. Sadly, I don’t like lines so I never ended up trying it in it’s first week. Once that deal was over, there are rarely any lines and there’s always a spot to sit. The ramen is around $9 – $14, so it is a bit pricey for the ramen they have on the menu.

Taishoken is a Japanese chain and is best known for their tsukemen. They have a small variety of ramen, but you can find the usual – miso, shio, and spicy.

The interior has a communal table in the centre and more seats on the side for groups of 2 or 4. I’ve been here twice so far for lunch and dinner, but it’s not too busy.

On the table, you have pepper, chili oil, soy sauce and vinegar to add to your meal.

Special Spicy Ramen has 6 pieces of pork belly, a soft egg, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, scallions, and seaweed. I got the least spicy version and it was quite spicy. They give you a jug of unseasoned broth to add, so you can adjust the flavour. The pork belly was delicious and fatty. Yum.

The special size gives you extra soft boiled egg, extra chachu, and extra nori.

The egg was soft but not too oozy.

Special Tsukemen was what M ordered and he chose the pork shoulder. It is more lean than the pork belly. The noodle is cold and in a separate plate so you dip it into the broth to eat. I find that most people order this item. It’s really good and addictive. M always orders this now.

Overall, it’s decent ramen but there are still better ones in Vancouver. The Tsukemen is pretty good and its one item you should order when you’re here.

We Rate Taishoken Ramen:

Address:
515 Abbott St
Vancouver BC

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/taishokenramen.vancouver

In Downtown/University of Toronto

Sansotei: Japanese Ramen in Toronto

May 19, 2014

The Globe and Mail rated Sansotei Ramen one of the top 5 spots for ramen in Toronto. As a Vancouverite, we have some top notch ramen places and it’s pretty hard to beat. Of the top 5 list, I skipped Hokkaido Ramen Santouka as we have it in Vancouver too.

Sansotei has their second location open on Younge Street and we don’t have Sansotei in Vancouver, so I really wanted to see how it faired amongst the other ones in Canada. Plus, a delicious bowl of noodles for a cold Toronto evening is much needed.

The interior walls were pretty cool with the textures. The restaurant was pretty small and can get quite busy during peak hours. Since it is still new, the word hasn’t spread too far yet.

Everything is under $10 and there are 6 different types of ramen to choose from:

Tonkotsu
Tonkotsu Black
Miso
Shio
Shoyu
Spicy TanTan

Cold Barley Tea ($2) was what M ordered. Fabo and I chose regular water. The cold tea was refreshing, but it was a bit pricey. It was a nice change from Green Tea.

Gyoza ($4.50) comes with 5 pieces and ponzu sauce. Slightly crisp on the outside and a yummy savoury filling.

Zangi ($4.50) is deep fried chicken. It was very good!

Tonkotsu Black ($9.85) has pork belly, black fungus, egg, green onion, and garlic oil. M and Fabo thought the broth was very rich. The egg was perfect and runny.

Spicy TanTan ($9.60) has limited quantities each day. It has pork belly, ground beef, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, green onion, and egg. It was good, but was lacking something. The pork belly was delicious and tender. The egg was oh so good too.

Overall, the ramen was good but Santouka is still better.

We Rate Sansotei Ramen:

Address:
650 Yonge St
Toronto, ON

Website:
http://www.sansotei.com/

In Japanese

Kinton Ramen: Ramen in Korea Town

May 9, 2014

Located in Toronto’s Korea Town (near Christie Station), Kinton Ramen is easy to spot. There are two floors at this location — ground floor is for dining and the above floor is an Izakaya (Japanese pub/bar).

The place was quite full when Huhu and I arrive but we got seats at the high table in less than 2 minutes. (If you’re willing to wait, I would try to get a lower table at the back because I had a hard time settling into the high chair).

I love eating out at Japanese places since I’ve found a liking towards draft Sapporo. Huhu and I cheered on a better week ahead (it was Sunday night). The pint of Sapporo ($5.80) tasted good as usual. I just wished there was a thin layer of foam at the top.

The menu was designed so you work from top to bottom.

pick broth base (pork or chicken)
pick flavour
pick noodle
pick meat
pick additional/optional toppings.

I had pork base shoyu ramen with thin noodles and pork belly. I found the meat more fattening than I would have liked (I preferred the meat from Santoukou near Younge x Dundas Square). Because of the fat from the meat, my broth had lots of pork fat floating around. If you discount the floating fat, the broth itself had clean taste to it. To be honest, there wasn’t anything special. Just a normal bowl of ramen. The portion was big — I couldn’t finish it all.

Huhu had pork base spicy garlic ramen with thin noodles and pork belly. As the name suggests, this bowl is very very garlic-y and spicy. If you’re on a date, try to get something else!

It was difficult to have a conversation with my friend there because the music was so loud. But at least I liked their playlist.

We Rate Kinton Ramen:

Address:
668 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON, Canada M6G 1L2

Website:
http://kintonramen.com/

In Japanese

Kamamarui Ramen: Korean-Style Ramen

March 4, 2014

My sister and another friend highly recommended Kamamarui in South Burnaby for some delicious eats. They opened up near the end of last year and is know for their ramen and their “bomb”. The pictures looked great online, so I went with M for dinner.

I’ve always be wary coming here after the tragic incident 2 years ago.

The interior is simplistic and modern. You will see grey concrete walls, with wooden furniture. We assumed this place was Japanese-run, but once we walked into the door, we realized it was Korean-run. M knew obviously cause he’s Korean. We don’t see many Korean-run ramen joints in town. A lot of Korean-run Sushi places, but not ramen.

I’m not sure what the connection is but there is also a Kamamarui Ramen in Seoul, Korea too. Similar items but not exactly the same.

They even have the rear end of dogs as cute coat hangers.

Their menu is quite simple, they offer ramen, dons and a few side dishes.

Bomb ($3) is a rice ball seasoned with seaweed and teriyaki sauce. It is also topped with some sesame seeds. It’s a very popular item to be ordered, but I thought it lacked much flavour. There’s no filling inside, so its just the rice and seaweed.

Miso Ramen ($9) has a miso and pork soup base seasoned with miso flavour, green onions, bean sprout, and 2 slabs of chashu. The flavour of the broth really lacked depth and was very light. The pork was lean cut, so you don’t get the fatty delicious bits. Still…those are huge pieces of meat.

If you get the ramen and bomb combo, it’s $10.50, so you save $1.50.

Chicken Mini Don had the rice on the bottom, with flavourful chicken on top with some teriyaki sauce and a bit of peas.

Tonkotsu Ramen ($9) has a pork soup base with soy flavour, green onions, bean sprouts, and chashu. It’s similar to the Miso ramen but just with a different broth. I found a similar problem with the broth, it also lacked depth and was light in flavour.

You can get the mini don and the ramen for $14.50 as a combo.

The service was atrocious! Thats what pissed M off more than the food. They seemed like they are understaffed or inexperienced. We waited by the door to be seated, but no one acknowledged us there. The empty tables all had dishes still piled on top and seemed neglected. It took them a long time to take our order since all the staff seemed to have disappeared to the kitchen for some time. We also asked for more tea and water but none came back. They seemed quite frazzled and the whole experience just declined from there. They also mixed up our orders too.

Overall, the food is decent for Burnaby. It still doesn’t compare to the ones Downtown, but at least you don’t have to drive all the way downtown to get some ramen. M still prefers to go to Hakkaku Ramen in North Burnaby.

We Rate Kamamarui Ramen:

Address:
6514 Royal Oak Avenue
Burnaby, BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=6514+Royal+Oak+Ave&sll=49.2243728,-122.98879&sspn=0.0053814,0.0109864&t=m&hnear=6514+Royal+Oak+Ave,+Burnaby,+British+Columbia+V5H+3P4&z=16″]

In Japanese

Gajokjung: Ramen in Pohang

November 14, 2013

Apparently, there is a ramen restaurant in Pohang, South Korea. M’s family was just craving a bowl of ramen and raved about this place. Gajokjung means Family Restaurant.

There’s parking in the front, but we just took a taxi here.

The lines can get quite long during peak hours and is difficult to get a spot. You definitely want to come early to grab a seat or wait till it dies down a bit.

Copy of the menu

There is complimentary cups of coffee available. It’s weak coffee, so it won’t give you that extra perk that you need in the morning. All the coffee is self-serve, so you can grab as much as you want.

Pork Tonkatsu (8,000 won) is one of their best sellers. It is extra crispy and delicate on the outside because of the panko crumbs. Highly recommended!

Combination Tonkatsu Special (9,500 won) comes with pumpkin, fish, pork and cheese filling. I got this to sample all their different kinds. All of them were great, but the best one is the pork.

Japanese Ramen Miso ramen (7,500 won) has a miso soup base, with seaweed, veggies, and a piece of pork belly.

All the ramen come with picked radish and kimchi on the side. You can get this refilled if you want more.

Koma Karashi Ramen (8,000) is their hot and spicy flavour.

There are 4 levels of spiciness you can choose from:

Mild
Sweat
Tear
Volcano
Crazy

I chose Sweat as I wanted to enjoy my meal and not regret any decisions. Crazy just sounded crazy.

Both the ramen fell a bit flat compared to the ramen that can be found in Vancouver. It was lacking the full body flavour in the broth and the fatty pieces of pork belly was not evident.

Buckwheat Noodles (8,000 won) has 2 clump so noodles. It was ok. Nothing special to it.

Overall, the food was ok. I’ve just been spoiled by all the great ramen from Vancouver. The best thing about this place was the tonkatsu. I would highly recommend eating all the tonkatsu you can. It’s really good!

We Rate Gajokjung:

Address:
1104-9 Duho-dong
Buk-gu, Pohang-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
South Korea

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=1104-9+Duho-dong+Buk-gu,+Pohang-si,+Gyeongsangbuk-do+South+Korea&hl=en&ll=36.063497,129.373755&spn=0.020433,0.041885&sll=36.065028,129.373208&sspn=0.040865,0.083771&hnear=1104-9+Duho-dong,+Buk-gu,+Pohang,+Gyeongsangbuk-do,+South+Korea+(6+Daegok-ro)&t=m&z=15″]

In Downtown

Ramen Jinya: Ramen and Green Tea

October 18, 2013

Ramen Jinya is a chain ramen joint from Los Angeles. It was pretty packed during peak hours and it’s not a surprise since people want to escape the mucky weather outside to enjoy a nice big bowl of ramen. Seeing it is the only ramen restaurant on Robson street (close to BC Place),

A bunch of us came here for dinner for a table of 5 and it took a little while. There were at least 3 or 4 other groups ahead of us. We waited since we really wanted their Jinya Tonkotsu Black Ramen.

JINYA Tonkotsu Black ($11.25) is made from their pork broth with pork belly char-siu, kikurage, bamboo shoots, green onions, flavoured boiled egg, seaweed, black garlic oil, and garlic chips. This is their top selling ramen and the broth is rich and full of flavour. Highly recommended.

Tonkotsu Spicy Ramen ($10.25) you can choose from mild, spicy or hot. I went with spicy because why order the spicy as a mild if you don’t want the extra kick to your ramen. This ramen also has pork belly char-siu, kikurage, spicy bean sprouts, green onion, and japanese leek. Very nice broth and enjoyable. I’ve ordered this a few times and its pretty good.

You can also turn your ramen into a combo with a drink and a side item of your choice for an additional $3.75.

All of us went with the Cold Green Tea. It’s unlimited and can either be sweetened or unsweetened. I went with the unsweetened and everyone else ordered sweetened. Either way, it’s pretty good.

Curry Bowl comes in a small size and M thought it was awesome.

Chicken Karrage was what I ordered and it was pretty good as well. The batter is a bit different that other places, but it was super juicy and flavourful.

Takoyaki comes with 4 pieces with sauce. It’s pretty average and nothing spectacular.

Overall, it’s great to see they added a few more items to their menu and the combos are pretty great if you are a large eater. The prices are fair and you don’t have to travel to the other side of Robson Street for ramen.

We Rate Ramen Jinya:

Address:
270 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC V6B

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=270+Robson+Street+Vancouver,+BC+V6B&t=m&hnear=270+Robson+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V6B+0E7&z=16″]

In BBQ

Urban Belly: Pork Belly, Ramen, and Communal Tables

September 21, 2013

When I was vacationing in Chicago, I went to visit Urbanbelly near Logan Square. They are also recipients of a Michelin Bib Gourmands Chicago award in 2010. It basically means they are a quality restaurant with affordable price.

They don’t take reservations, but on a weekday lunch hour, there was no wait.

The counter is at the back, so you just line up and order. They have daily specials written on the wall.

You can find the rest of the regular items on their menu. The prices are quite decent with nothing over $13.

The interior is one large room with 4 communal tables. Better get cozy and meet some new friends.

Asian Squash and Bacon Dumplings ($7) comes with 4 pieces of the steamed dumplings. It has a predominantly squash filling. It is topped with bacon bits, orange slices and other things. It was pretty good and has a nice balance between the sweet oranges and the savoury dumpling.

Urbanbelly Ramen ($13) is made with a pho broth and has pork belly and shitake mushrooms. Its deep rich broth with layers of savoury flavours is quite delicious.

Phat Rice ($9) is a fried rice dish that combined all the other rice dishes into one. There was short rib, pork belly, pineapple, scallions, pea shoots, and Thai basil. I chose this dish because I was pretty indecisive of what to order….so this was the best option. It was pretty good.

Chinese Eggplant with Thai Basil came complimentary because we waited a long time for the Phat Rice. I loved the sauce that came with it.

At the end of the meal, they give you some Ginger Candy to round out the experience.

Overall, the food was pretty good and I would come again. The food is a bit only and rich, but that means its extra delicious.

We Rate Urban Belly:

Address:
3053 N California Ave
Chicago, IL

Website:
http://www.urbanbellychicago.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=3053+N+California+Ave,+Chicago,+IL+60618,+USA&sll=49.2399859,-122.95816940000002&sspn=0.1721632379598321,0.3516140337636478&t=m&hnear=3053+N+California+Ave,+Chicago,+Illinois+60618,+United+States&z=16 “]

In Chicago

Slurping Turtle: Ramen in Chicago

September 7, 2013

The Slurping Turtle is located in the River North area and is a few blocks away from Michigan Avenue. Their logo is pretty cute and I was craving some Japanese food. Even though I was on vacation, I have a crazy addiction for Japanese food.

Slurping Turtle was created to show guests Chef Takashi’s childhood culinary experiences in Japan, as it is reflected in their menu.

The interior has a long communal table through the centre of the restaurant, with some booth seating on the side. Lots of seating.

Duck Fat Fried Chicken ($9) is soy-sesame marinated chicken deep-fried in duck fat. The fried chicken was very very moist inside and sinfully delicious. The is even a slaw on the side to balance out the greasiness.

Tonkotsu ($14) has homemade thin ramen noodles, silky pork broth, braised pork shoulder, pickled mustard greens, and other veggies. It’s a huge bowl and very popular among customers.

Roasted Garlic Ramen ($14) has homemade wheat ramen noodles, clams, mussels, garlic oil, and veggies. There are a lot of clams and mussels, which is pretty great. After eating this, I was really really full.

Overall, it’s a pretty cute place to come get a bowl of noodles for lunch. The ramen was good, but it wasn’t as authentic as you would find in Japan. The interior is very nice but for a $14 ramen, it was a bit expensive.

We Rate Slurping Turtle:

Address:
116 W Hubbard St
Chicago, IL

Website:
http://www.slurpingturtle.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=116+W+Hubbard+St,+Chicago,+IL+60654,+USA&sll=49.2399859,-122.95816940000002&sspn=0.1721632379598321,0.3516140337636478&t=m&dg=opt&hnear=116+W+Hubbard+St,+Chicago,+Illinois+60654,+United+States&z=16″]

In Four Beakers

Yusho: Sunday Noodles in Chicago

August 31, 2013

We were near Logan Square and headed to Yusho for their Sunday Noodle set meal. My aunt saw them featured on TV, so we went. Owner and Executive Chef Metthias Merges created Yusho using influences from his trip to Japan and you can see it in the decor and the menu.

The interior looks pretty amazing!! Everything is breathtaking and there is so much to look at.

The back room has a nice feeling as well. Lots of natural light make you think like you’re eating outside.

Awesome machine!!

Only on Sunday, the noodle set meal is $20 and you get a beverage, a choice of noodle and a dessert.

Chicken Skin ($5.50) is topped with Japanese mustard, garlic, and togarashi. It’s really nice and crunchy with the sweet and savoury toppings. Highly recommended.

We get a choice of their draught cocktail or home-made soda. A majority of us got the strawberry soda and it was pretty great. I can’t remember what the draught cocktail was but it was also pretty good. Not too alcoholic.

Logan Poser Ramen has a crispy pig’s tail (not actually a pig tail), hen egg, nori, cucumber, and bonito flakes.

Maitake Mushroom Ramen is served with the broth and noodles separate from the toppings. The other items in this ramen is angry red ball, tofu, umeboshi, and a hen egg.

Grilled Shrimp Ramen has a skewer of grilled shrimp, bonito, kimchi, and bamboo shoots. The kimchi added a nice acidity and crunch to the dish.

The soft serve ice cream has hibiscus, thai basil, tamarind, and sancho pepper crunch. It’s a crazy unique soft serve with strange flavours.

Overall, the ramen was pretty decent but it’s a nice spin on the traditional ramen dishes. It was a good set meal and enjoyable.

We Rate Yusho:

Address:
2853 N. Kedzie Ave
Chicago, IL

Website:
http://yusho-chicago.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://www.google.ca/maps?q=2853+N+Kedzie+Ave,+Chicago,+IL+60618,+USA&sll=49.2399859,-122.95816940000002&sspn=0.1721632379598321,0.3516140337636478&t=m&dg=opt&hnear=2853+N+Kedzie+Ave,+Chicago,+Illinois+60618,+United+States&z=16 “]

In Canadian

Dishcrawl Vancouver: Exploring the West End

July 1, 2013

Dishcrawl Vancouver invited me to their event focused on West End restaurants. We went to 4 different restaurants in one night, but the catch is that we only knew the first location but the other 3 are a mystery. They try to showcase the best restaurants in this area within walking distance of each other.

There was about 25 people on this particular tour and we headed to Ap Gu Jung, Hida Takayama Ramen, Forage and Capstone Tea & Fondue.

Ap Gu Jung

AP Gu Jung was our first stop. It’s a Korean restaurant located on Robson Street. This place has been here forever. I remember coming here in high school.

The interior has 2 floors and kinda looks like a western pub rather than a korean restaurant because of the playoffs playing on the big screen, jerseys, and a drum kit.

We started off with 4 dishes of banchan, which are complimentary side dishes. There is seaweed, kimchi, broccoli, and potatoes.

On the plate they sampled:

Seafood Pancake
Kimchi Pancake
Chicken Skewers
Pork on Fire
Traditional Beef BBQ
Rice

For people with dietary restrictions, they got some different items. The portions here were pretty good since there were 3 more restaurants to go to. A lot of people couldn’t finish in time, so they did have to pack it to go. We definitely needed more than 40 minutes here.

Hida Takayama Ramen

Hida Takayama Ramen is located inside the Robson Public Market on the 2nd floor. I thought I went to all the ramen places in town, but I was wrong. This ramen joint is very hidden. The prices seem quite fair as it is all under $10.

The owner – Mike Asaoka is very charismatic about the ramen he makes and uses the best ingredients.

Hida Chuka Ramen was one of my favorites. It was simple and representative of some ramen you would find in Japan. The broth is chicken based and flavoured with soy sauce.

White Sesame Ramen was very rich and thick . We ate everything else, but it was hard to drink the broth.

Sweet and Spicy Ramen was ok, but not one of my favorites.

I didn’t fall in love with any of the particular ramen, but I found it very interesting how if you come here on a normal day, the price of the small and the large are EXACTLY the SAME prices. You can get huge bowl of noodles for about $7.

Forage

Our third stop of the night is Forage. I was quite excited about this place because they do have some killer food.

We were welcomed by Chef Wittaker who took us through the farm-to-table concept at forage and let us know what we would be eating.

Nettle gnocchi and brown butter is served in a cast iron pan. The texture of the gnocchi were like little pillows of mashed potatoes.

Foraged and cultivated mushrooms is topped with Okanagan goat cheese and comes with grilled caraway rye bread. I have an addiction for mushrooms, so I polished this dish. Yum Yum!

The Flatbread has pancetta, morel mushrooms, onion béchamel, and Jersey blue cheese. It was thin, crispy and very enjoyable.

Capstone Tea & Fondue

I haven’t been back to Captone in a few years after a bad experience. It’s been a few years and that experience has always stuck in my mind. It was good to see that they rebranded and hopefully this dining experience would be good.

We were given small personal pots of Dark Chocolate Fondue and some assorted items for dipping.

In the bowl were fruit, banana bread, cheesecake, cookies, macrons, and ice cream balls. Don’t leave the ice cream balls till the very end since they will melt. With the hot weather in Vancouver, its best to just gobble them up right away.

It was a nice end of the meal.

By the end of the night, we were all full and ready to have food coma. This is my second Dishcrawl and I still have the same thoughts about these types of events. It’s not an event for everyone. $60 is a little bit steep if you’re a picky eater. Even though they do accomodate dietary restrictions, you may not like certain types of cuisines.

On the bright side, you do get to explore 4 restaurants in one night and are great for indecisive people. Do look out for coupon codes since there are a few floating around for each Dishcrawl tour.

To check out DishCrawl Vancouver: www.dishcrawl.com/vancouver/

In Four Beakers

Marutama Ramen: Ramen with Chicken Broth

June 19, 2013

It’s been a few weeks since Marutama Ramen opened and I’ve been there at least 4 or 5 times. Some may think I’m a little bit addicted, but I am just in love with the yummy seaweed and their gooey eggs. I mostly came with friends to introduce them to this new place. With so many ramen places on Robson street, it’s sometimes hard to decipher whats good and whats not.

The differentiator for Marutama Ramen is that they make their noodles in-house, they use chicken broth for their soup, the yummy gooey egg, and the seaweed.

Hot Green Tea isn’t free, but I can’t recall what the price was. It’s just a pre-purchased green tea packet that comes in hot water in this pot. Nothing fancy.

Kakuni ($5.75) is braised pork belly. It comes with 3 pieces.

From the 2 different visits here, I found the consistency of their kakuni to be very different. The first time I ordered it, it was super fatty and melt in your mouth, but the second time, it was more lean. Perhaps you can ask them for lean of fatty kakuni.

Marutama Tamago Ramen ($10.50) is the top seller. This time I ordered it with a spicy broth. The spicy broth is indeed spicy, so do watch out. If you love spicy food, then you must get it spicy. The ramen contains the soft-boiled flavored egg, aosa seaweed, green onions, 2 pieces of chashu, and handmade noodles in a rich chicken broth.

Marutama Aosa Ramen ($13.25) comes with 2 pieces of chashu, green onions and lots of the seaweed. Their seaweed is really good.

Marutama Zenbu Ramen ($18) has the works. It has slices of chashu, kakuni, aosa seaweed, and the egg. M ordered this since it had everything. He did enjoy it but it was quite expensive.

It’s all about that yummy egg. Their chicken broth ramen doesn’t particularly appeal to some people, but I really like it since it makes the broth more light and not so rich compared to pork based broths.

We rate Marutama Ramen:

Address:
780 Bidwell
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.japanesenoodle.com/

In Four Beakers

Marutama Ramen: Newest Ramen Restaurant in Vancouver

May 15, 2013

Marutama Ramen opened up in Vancouver on May 5th, 2013. They have been around for about 10 years and since then it’s been opening up shops around the world. There are several location in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and now in Vancouver!

All their noodles are handmade in the shop and you can definitely tell the difference between the other ramen shops in town. I first noticed this restaurant when TaiwaneseGirl began bombarding me with messages to go eat here. It’s only been open for a bit over 1 week and she’s been there at least 3 times.

There’s not too many seats, so it can get busy during peak hours. In their first week, they’ve been so busy that they are starting to run out of food before their closing hours. I actually went again today but they were all sold out by 9pm.

Complementary cold tea arrives as you wait for your meal.

Dashimaki ($7) is a Japanese Omelette cut up into 6 square pieces. This is a popular item that tends to be sold out too. It’s sweetened egg. I didn’t particularly like this as I never liked the idea of sweet savory foods. Probably a childhood thing. Some people love this, but it wasn’t for me.

Marutama Tamago Ramen ($10.50) is a must! It’s their top-selling item. It contains the soft-boiled flavored egg, aosa seaweed, green onions, 2 pieces of chashu, and handmade noodles in a rich chicken broth. You can choose mild or spicy broth. Other ramen places use pork broth, but I love their chicken broth.

It’s not a large portion, but it tastes quite healthy and not too rich. If you are a big eater, you might want to add an extra portion of noodles. I liked their noodles since they are thin and takes us more broth as you eat it.

Highly recommended!

Out of all the ramen places I’ve been to so far, this is by far the best egg I’ve ever eaten.

Overall, it’s become one of my favorite spots in town for ramen. The quality of their ingredients is great and that egg is so addictive. I have a feeling this place is going to get quite busy once people figure out that this place has amazing eggs in their ramen.

We rate Marutama Ramen:

Address:
780 Bidwell
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.japanesenoodle.com/

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In Chinatown

Harvest Community Foods: Mouth Watering Ramen

February 17, 2013

Harvest Community Foods is located at the edge of Chinatown. They are a neighbourhood grocery store and eatery. I’ve heard they had a killer ramen from a coworker, so I just had to come here during lunch to check it out. I’ve already been here 3 times during my lunch break.

They sell a lot of local and organic produce here. You will find Earnest Ice Cream, Beta 5 Chocolates, and many many other products.

Their chairs are old school, it reminded me of the desks from my high school. I thought I would never see that again. There’s not too many seats, so coming in super large groups are probably not ideal.

Ramen with pork shoulder, candied bacon, egg, and radish ($9.95)

This isn’t your typical bowl of ramen you would find. You can’t compare it to Kintaro or Santouka since it’s not remotely the same. I liked this dish because of the candied bacon and the pork shoulder. The pork shoulder is so tender and flavourul that is beautifully falls apart. The egg was perfectly cooked so the yolk is a golden yellow and gooey. You definitely should try this.

Udon with sake kazu chicken, watercress and shiitake ($8.95)

I didn’t really like this dish since the chicken was very dry and tough. I would probably just stick with the ramen…unless you are a vegetarian because they have some other vegan and vegetarian options.

Harvest Community Foods isn’t a place for everyone. If you are looking for 100% authentic Japanese noodles, you won’t find it here. It caters to a different crowd if you know what I mean. If you are in search of local, organic produce, you can find it here at Harvest Community Foods.

We Rate Harvest Community Foods:

Address:
243 Union Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.harvestunion.ca/

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In Causeway Bay

Hakata Ippudo: Limited Summer Edition Noodles in Hong Kong

August 11, 2012

Hong Kong has 3 Ippudo locations and today I visited Hakata Ippudo across from Times Square. It is very popular and sometimes there can be long line ups during peak hours. Of all the ramen places in the world, this chain is definitely my favorite.

After going to Ippudo HK, I knew it was a great place to take Naomi out for some lunch!

Since it was about 11:30am, the restaurant was pretty empty, but it usually gets busy around 1pm when people go out for lunch. To our surprise, they were offering a limited time only summer dishes. It looked cool, so we ordered the 2 featured items.

Hakata Cold Ramen ($78 HKD) was really good! You mix this all up and it’s very easy to share. I would highly recommend this dish to anyone! This fish roe on top definitely adds a lot of flavour and character into the dish.

Hakata Tsukemen ($78 HKD – Small) comes with the sauce in one bowl and then the cold noodles, egg and seaweed in another bowl. You simply grab some noodles and dip it into the broth. Very delicious. They even had instructions on how to eat this dish.

Hakata Style Rice Dish is topped with cold Hakata roe, BBQ pork, seaweed, and egg. It was ok, but not very good compared to the ramen.

Overall, the ramen dishes were pretty good! You can’t really go wrong with either the Summer menu items or the original items. I’ll definitely be back for more!

Words of Wisdom:

Come around 11:30am when they open for no lines
Any ramen is delicious
Located across from Times Square
Causeway Bay MTR Exit A

We Rate Hakata Ippudo:

Address:
2/F, 8 Russell Street,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Website:
http://www.ippudo.com.hk/en/hakata.html

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In Four Beakers

Ippudo HK: Killer Ramen Across the World

July 23, 2012

Ippudo is a world famous chain ramen store. It was started by Shigemi Kawahara over 20 years ago in a small restaurant with only 10 seats in Fukuoka. Since 1985, it has expanded to New York, Hong Kong, Singapore and even Korea. What makes their ramen so delicious is their slow-cooked pork bone soup with the combination of toppings.

As my parents had something to do at Tsim Sha Tsui, so I suggested we try this place for lunch. It wasn’t too long of a line up, but they do have a digital ticketing machine for people to put down their name, telephone and # in their party. If there is a long line up, you can just stroll around the 2 malls as you wait.

The kitchen has an open concept, so you can see the chefs at work creating your noodles. The interior isn’t too large, but the turnover should be quite fast.

You get chopsticks, a spoon and a spoon holder. Pretty cool stuff.

Ippudo Gyoza Dumplings comes in five pieces and is very popular item in Ippudo Japan. the dumplings were quite small, but it has a good amount of flavour! It wasn’t the best dimpling I’ve had, but it was decent.

Ippudo BBQ Pork Bun just comes with one bun. It is cut in half and contains slices of BBQ Pork and lettuce. The bun is very popular at Ippudo NY and thus they offer it at Ippudo HK.

I did not particularly love this bun. It was ok, but nothing special.

Akamaru Shinaji has a rich tonkotsu flavour with slices of pork, egg, green onions with fragrant oil and miso. A majority of the family at the table ordered this item. They enjoyed it but felt it was a tad salty.

Ippudo Karaka has a tonkotsu soup, miso, minced pork and spicy oil. I loved it, it wasn’t too spicy but it was enough to tickle your taste buds. I would recommend this if you like spicy.

Shiomaru Motoaji has lean slices of pork with thin Hakata-style noodles. It looks very simple, but the broth really speaks for itself. It’s very delicious and my little sister gobbled this all up!

I’ve been to the Ippudo NY in a few months ago, but I feel like this location was much more delicious. No matter where you are in the world, if there is an Ippudo in your city, go check it out. You might be pleasantly pleased by their taste.

Words of Wisdom:

Ramen is a must!
Tsim Tsa Tsui Subway exit L5

We Rate Ippudo HK:

Address:
Shop 210, Silvercord Tower, 30 Canton Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Website:
http://www.ippudo.com.hk/

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In East Village

Momofuku Noodle Bar: Ramen and Pork Buns in New York

July 1, 2012

Momofuku Noodle bar is a popular restaurant to have noodles and are known for some amazing pork buns. CanuckGirl and I went here for dinner and the place was packed! It was about 30 minutes for a table for 2.

This location is the first momofuku restaurant. It serves ramen and dishes that changes with the seasons.

There is a bar and also a lot of other seating in the back.

Pork Buns has pieces of fatty pork belly with hoisin, scallion, and cucumber.

The meat was very nice, but I wish the skim was crispy…that would put this item over the top! CanuckGirl thought it was good too, but a bit too fatty.

Momofuku Ramen has pork belly, pork shoulder, poached egg and some other items. Canuckgirl thought it was ok, but a bit salty.

Ginger Scallion Noodles has pickled shiitakes, cucumber, and cabbage. This bowl of noodles were quite big. I expected some broth to go with this, but it was mostly dry noodles. I was kinda disappointed with this item.

Overall, the noodles were decent and the pork buns were delicious. The wait is very long during peak dinner times, so be prepared to wait. The tables are very close together, so you won’t have any to deal with people everywhere. They try to pack a lot of people into this restaurant.

Words of Wisdom:

Pork buns a must
Long line ups
A tad expensive
No reservations

We Rate Momofuku Noodle Bar:

Address:
171 1st Ave
New York, NY

Website:
http://www.momofuku.com/

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In East Village

Ippudo: Ramen in New York with Huge Lines

June 28, 2012

Ippudo NY is the first overseas branch of the famous Japanese ramen chain. It was open in 2008. Ippudo was founded by Shigemi Kawahara in 1985 in the Daimyo District of Chuo Ward, in Fukuoka City. By the time Ippudo NY was opened, there were over 30 branches throughout Japan. By 2012, Kawahara had expanded his ramen empire to over 40 locations.

I arrived at 5pm for 1 person and the wait was already one hour! I wanted to give up at this point since that wait was ridiculous. Fortunately, CanuckGirl really wanted some noodles and they take same day reservations…so we made a reservation for 2 at 10pm.

The bar at the front of the restaurant has some nice decor.

There is even a wall of ramen bowls!

The East Village location features two dining rooms, a sake bar, an open kitchen for non-ramen dishes, and an open ramen bar. The noodles are made in-house in the basement.

It’s very dark inside, but it made for good ambiance.

Complementary tea is something I definitely needed on my travels.The servers were very good about refilling my cup.

Miso Ramen ($15) has soy bean paste flavored noodle in Tonkotsu (pork) based soup with pork chashu, cabbage, menma, ginger, and scallions. CanuckGirl did enjoy her ramen.

“The Kuro Kasane, or Kasane Black is a limited time special ramen at Ippudo NY. It has an authentic “Kasane” tonkotsu & chicken soup with noodles, topped with pork loin chashu, cabbage, sesame kikurage mushrooms, red pickled ginger, naruto, scallions, and fragrant “Black” garlic oil.

It was pretty good, but with the addition of the garlic oil and the broth, it was a bit salty for my liking. It’s still a pretty solid bowl of ramen.

Overall, the waits for a table are ridiculous, but if you make a reservation on the same day, you should have no issues at all. The prices are a bit high compared to what you would find in Vancouver, but you’re in NY, so be prepared to pay more.

Words of Wisdom: