Hida Takayama Ramen in Vancouver: Review

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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