Ramen houses are opening up across Vancouver left, right, and centre, offering traditional and new takes on the classic Japanese noodle soup.
Here are six new, slurp-worthy ramen spots to check out in Vancouver.
Yah Yah Ya Ramen
After serving their Richmond clientele for over two yeas, Yah Yah Ya Ramen is gearing up to open a second location in downtown Vancouver. The yet-to-be-unveiled ramen joint will offer Yokohama le-kei style ramen. All ramen options will have the same le-kei broth base, which involves simmering pork bone, chicken bone, and veggies for 12 hours before adding soy, green onion, garlic, and chicken oil.
Address: 570 Robson Street, Vancouver
Touhenboku Ramen
Hailing from Toronto, Touhenboku Ramen is projected to open on Denman Street on August 12. The authentic ramen house (open for lunch and dinner) will serve homemade broth and fresh noodles, with all natural ingredients, no preservatives or (flavour) enhancers. For the summer months the restaurant will also offer a special traditional cold ramen dish topped with selected chashu, egg, crab meat, kikurage mushroom, green onion, and a homemade sweet and sour sauce.
Address: 854 Denman Street, Vancouver
Twitter: @TouhenbokuRamen
Koyuki Sapporo Ramen
Currently offering a dinner service, this casual sit-down eatery serves up comforting bowls of ramen, laden with noodles, slices of pork belly, menma (bamboo shoots), Japanese marinated soft boiled eggs, white leeks, miso paste, and more. Appealing to both meat eaters and vegetarians, this noodle-focused shop offers long-simmered pork bone, chicken, and vegetable-based broths.
Address: 795 Jervis Street, Vancouver
Phone: 604-695-9177
Men-no Kura House of Ramen
Bypass the line-ups at hot spots Hokkaido Ramen Santouka and Marutama Ra-men and slurp your way through steaming bowls of broth at this recently opened ramen house on Robson Street. The fast-casual West End eatery offers a range of tonkotsu (pork bone based broth) bowls, in addition to Tsukemen dipping ramen. Customers are encouraged to choose their preferred flavour of dipping soup, as well as cold or warm noodles.
Address: 1773 Robson Street, Vancouver
Phone: 778-379-5872
Natsumi Ramen
Natsumi had its soft opening on July 8, and continues to offer customers a variety of ramen eats, served with bouncy yellow noodles, that are guaranteed to hit the spot. Expect to find traditional tonkotsu, veggie laden ramen bowls, and more on the menu.
Address: 1179 Commercial Drive, Vancouver
Phone: 778-379-9536
Ramen Gojiro
Combining heaps of thick ramen noodles with loads of toppings, the menu is small but mighty at Ramen Gojiro. The restaurant takes its name from the style of ramen–jiro, or gatsuri-style, and they say they are the first in Canada to serve this over-the-top Japanese broth-y, noodle-y, slurpy good dish.
Address: 501 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver
Phone: 604-673-0918
Instagram: @ramengojiro