Tag Archives: ramen

The Ramenman

Disclaimer: *This was a complimentary meal. This post was not edited or written for monetary compensation, and are solely my opinions and observations.

I was kindly invited by Loopp Media to their food tasting event at The Ramenman in the West End. I was super excited because I LOVE ramen!

The restaurant is a small, modern hipsterish decor with one long wooden table and two small tables at the back for two seats each. We sat at the long table on metal stools. With space being limited, hooks are available under the table for your bags and coats. As soon as we walked in, we noticed the heat and humidity. And although the Edison incandescent lightbulbs looked great, it likely added to the heat. They seem to have an AC mounted to the back wall, but it didn’t seem to be on.

The menu is simple, with 4 selection of ramen to choose from. Their broth are based on chicken, rather than the usual pork. This was great, because I love chicken out of all meats, and I often end up ordering chicken ramen at other places anyways. The use of chicken as broth comes from Kansai (the western side of Japan like Osaka, Kyoto, etc), but they also have 100% vegetarian broth as well.

I ordered the Chicken x Clams $11.75 where you have the choice of pork, chicken or both for the meat (not soup). I of course, chose chicken.

I also had a side order of Pork Scallop Gyoza $4.75 (4 pieces). They were authentic Japanese style, crispy flat on one side while the pleats side is softer. I have never had scallops in my gyoza, so that was a pleasant surprise of the mixture. It went really well with the pork and the sauce mix was really good. I had read several older reviews where people were wishing the place served gyoza, but now they’ve added to the menu! And it’s a good thing they did!

The ramen arrived in a bowl that’s traditionally known in Japan with the Chinese design/pattern on them. Ah, slightly nostalgic…The spoons was humongous! Sorry, I must say this 「デカッ！」(huge!)

I haven’t had clams in my ramen before, so that was new. However, my friend told me of Chinese noodle soups that were similar to these, and he said it even tasted similar to them. The noodles were al dente, which unfortunately, I’m not a fan of. However the firmness wasn’t as hard as the other ramen places in town, so I didn’t notice it as much. The lightness of the soup was enjoyable. The thick but soft chunks of chicken were cold so I dipped them under the noodles to warm them up, and took off some of the fatty parts. However, it was super soft and wasn’t like chicken that I’ve ever had before. It also had some finely diced red onions for extra flavour.

My friend also ordered the Chicken x Clams but with pork pieces. The first thing you noticed was how pink the meat was. Unlike other chasu in ramen that are usually beige to brown, this was more like ham. This doesn’t mean that it’s not cooked! It’s a method called sous vide (from French meaning “under vacuum” where the food is sealed in airtight bags and then placed in a water bath or in a temperature-controlled steam environment. The result of cooking longer and at lower temperatures than usual cooking, is the meat being cooked evenly, while retaining moisture and flavour. With many people inquiring about the ‘raw’ meat, I suggest explaining it on the menu, and actually featuring it as one of their USP (Unique Selling Points). Sorry, my marketing brain is intruding here, lol,

For his side order, he had Karrage $4. I had a piece, and it was super hot and juicy inside, with a crispy, crunchy outer layer. The spicy sauce gave it a nice punch. The meat was marinated to perfection. Thumbs up!

Service was prompt and satisfactory. Would return!

Owner Jun giving us the superhero pose

Taste: Price for Value:

Atmosphere: Service:
Location:

Ramen Butcher

Leave a reply

Located in the heart of Chinatown, my friend who had recently gone to check out the restaurant wanted to go again, so the five of us went for a super late lunch at 3pm. I was expecting a lineup, but to our luck, we had a big table to our self. The decor was modern, hipster and a mix of art and Japanese culture. On a warm day, the inside was a bit too warm. It would have been nice to have the windows open, or the door left open a crack to have some ventilation.

The menu was more than I expected. Usually, ramen-ya were quite simple in their menu selection so you knew what to get right away, but I was indecisive. Finally, I decided that I wanted something light and refreshing, so I ordered the Tori (chicken) $9.95.

My friend said that they have some special offers everyday, and this time their sandwich board in front said that by following them on Instagram gets you free Cha-shu (slices of pork). My friend did, so he had cha-shu on his ramen which were fatty and thick.

The presentation is really nice. Care is put in for placement, and reminds me of ramen in Japan. The broth was light, but really good. The noodle was a bit too al dente, once again. I wonder if I can ask them to cook a little longer next time… that’s what I should start doing when I go out for ramen, rather than trying to eat something I don’t want when I’m paying for it. Maybe even for 30 seconds longer. The chicken meatball was a pleasant surprise. It was good meat with garlic and herbs. Very tasty!

The great thing about this ramen-ya which I have not yet seen anywhere else in Vancouver, is the free seconds. The system is known as kae-dama (替え玉), where customers who have finished their noodles can request a “refill” to be put into their remaining soup. But that means you can’t drink your soup one the first bowl because they only give you extra noodles – not soup. The ‘kaedama’ was small, but good enough. This time, the noodles were even harder, and more difficult to eat.

Overall, the taste was fantastic but I seriously need to ask them to ‘over’ cook next time. There was a bit of confusion as the two of us wanted the kaedama, and I thought my friend ordered to the staff, but they brought us the bill instead. When they returned, they only had one kaedama for my friend, and not for me. But other than that, it was good. Average pricing as well. Will be back!

Taste: Price for Value:

Atmosphere: Service:
Location:

Taishoken

Leave a reply

The place was packed. We had to line up for about 20 minutes in the cold outside. There were 5 of us, so a little tricky seating us in a small-midsize restaurant with limited space. They were playing hip-hop music.

I ordered their signature bowl, Tsukemen $11.95 You have the choice of shoulder, belly or both. I chose the lean one – shoulder, and to be served warm. I was surprised to see the contents in Japanese (romaji)…who will know what it is if they don’t understand Japanese? It has 2 slices of pork chashu, negi (green onions), memma (flavoured bamboo shoots), aji-tama (flavoured egg), and nori (seaweed). For the broth, you have the option to get the original (which I got), spicy and karamiso (spicy miso).

1 friend ordered the Tonkotsu $9.95. He liked the noodles, but wasn’t all that impressed by the broth. He liked Danbo’s broth more which we had tried a week earlier.

Another was brave to try out the Tomato Cheese $12.75, and the other 2 had the Tsukemen as well. My friend with the Tomato Cheese was not happy. We all had a bite and it tasted like tomato pasta or pizza. It wasn’t at all Japanese like, and it didn’t really go well with the pasta-tomato like sauce. And tofu in a bowl of ramen? Friend’s rating: 2/5

My broth was rather lukewarm. I told the others which was their first time trying a tsukemen ramen that the broth was usually quite concentrated and salty since you were suppose to dip a bit and not ‘dump’ all the noodles in it for a long period of time.

It was a bit embarrassing to find that, that was not the case. I ended up putting all the noodles into the soup bowl. It lacked a richness to it. It was ok, but would not order it again. My rating: 3/5

I also ordered a Okonomi Gyoza $4.50 to try out with everyone. Luckily, it had 5 pieces. It was interesting…just bonito and okonomi sauce on gyoza. (If you order the side sides with a ramen bowl – which I suppose most would be having a ramen, the side orders are only $3.50)

Service was satisfactory. I would like to try something simple, like the Torigara next time to try out a ramen in a soup base before I conclude my final decision on the place. That means I’ll be back!

Taste: Price for Value:

Atmosphere: Service:
Location: