Yep, I know but it's a reliable choice in Japan if you don't want to play ramen roulette thinking that a place might be good. I'm all about trying new places but there's a few chains in Japan that taste amazing every time.

There is the option to add noodles too...The cute Japanese waitresses kneel down for your order which is extra points for me. :concentrate:

The best ramen I've had yet was some random place I stumbled upon with my gf somewhere in the middle of Happy Valley and Victoria Park in Hong Kong. We walked there from Tai Hang Road, down a long flight of stairs right beside Illumination Terrace, and it was in this area with a bunch of tire shops and other small restaurants. We were both pretty skeptical, but were overall very pleased with the quality of the food that exceeded anything we've had in Vancouver thus far.

Nice I'll have to check this place out once the weather cools down a bit :thumbs:

Taishoken is quite good too!

Menu: http://www.urbanspoon.com/cities/14/..._photos/451383

Sucks to hear that Santouka went downhill. A few years back when it first opened I gave it a try, I thought it was extremely good, maybe even better than the Santouka in Japan.

Vancouver then
https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...8_802426_o.jpg

VS

Tokyo
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.n...21372535_o.jpg

had my first bowl of ramen at santouka since coming back from tokyo

man.. nothing compares.

anyone know of any good UDON or SOBA places??

Santouka is still one of the best places to go to and the quality is definitely better than most places.

I guess people just go to Kintaro for the sheer size and price but not quality. Seriously, their pork is grey and boiled to shit, refrigerated then warmed slightly by the broth. The pork meat is dry and the fat:meet ratio is too much. Getting lean pork is just a dried up hunk of boiled pork.

Cold hard-boiled egg, cold corn, cold menma, cold toppings that all make the soup luke warm and gross. Makes it like microwaved food. Ugh.

Sad to say that Kintaro is the last place I'd go to for ramen.

oooooookkkk....

Just got back from Santouka.
The broth falls a bit short of the last time I went.
The aromatic elements were still present and well balanced.
But the viscosity felt thinner.
And I feel that the broth lacked bone boiling time.

The noodles were still spot on with bite.
The jowl was still amazing.

It's been a while since I went.
I'm not sure if I'm being skewed by this thread or my tastes have changed.
I feel the broth is just a bit more 1-dimensional than what I remember.

At $14 for the toroniku shio, it's a very expensive bowl of noodles.
But it still hits the spot.

Also, I tried their aji egg.
It's sort of sad they dare serve that egg just across the street from marutama. :concentrate:

I probably won't come back until I've hit up all the other shops first.

My current fave is jinya

Marutama and Satouka are also in my top 3 lol

I haven't gone back to G-Men since they moved.
What's the best they do?

The chef and servers at Yah Yah Ya Ramen are Japanese. The manager is Chinese, but is learning to speak Japanese lol. I know he is an honest and super friendly guy because we used to be co-workers at his last job.

https://www.facebook.com/richmondyahyahya

New place opened up in Richmond. It looks very customizable, with selections for noodles and broth, etc

Ramen Koika was disappointing.
Black Garlic Ramen, fatty pork, soft noodles

Broth was flavorful and was promising upon first taste
Noodles were chewy, but it wasn't amazing or special
pork was BLAND. really needed some seasoning
Egg was gross

so only the broth was decent.
I wouldn't return...

Went to Jinya last week.
Still love Kintaro and their portions though

This pretty much sums it up. I had the SHIO. The broth is flavourful but it was due to the onions and garlic and not because of the pork.

Still enjoy Hida Takayama the most. The guy knows me there and gives me his "special" ramen which is essentially more concentrated and how he made it when he first opened up but people complained it was too salty.. Theres a heavy pork and umami taste.

+1. Went yesterday and got the black garlic shoyu ramen. Very disappointed and will not return, especially when there are better ramen restaurants in downtown. Taishoken for the win.

Jia Jia Jia was absolutely delicious, I really loved their broth and their prices are not bad at all!

Oh man. That's exactly what I'm looking for!
Anything specific you ask for? Or he just recognizes you by sight?
How's the doneness? Do I have to ask for katame or do you think they come firm enough?

The old guy knows me by sight.. so I don't have to ask..

If you were to ask.. it might be hard since his English really sucks..

Ask for the "heavy broth" like the way you made it when you first opened, or try using simple terms like less watered down..

I suggest you only get the shio one because the other ones are too salty or just bad haha.

Noodle firmness was never an issue for me.. I ask for hard noodles if I ever get a choice at other places that let you choose.

Make sure you ask for the large bowl too.. theres different sizes and they all the same price.

I came across a take-out menu for Full Ramen (Fraser @ 160) in Surrey. Any opinions? It seems like it's the only ramen place that's east of the Port Mann.

This place is above average. When you ask for extra noodles it's like they give you 2x the amount of a regular bowl. My friend had the set meal with the pork on rice. I tried the rice and pork, it was amazing.

The cha shu was sliced and slightly cold but warmed by the broth and the noodles were a bit undercooked. The broth was flavorful. I would give the bowl of noodles 7/10

If I include the rice in the set with the bowl of noodles, it would get 1 point higher and sit at 8/10.

Anyone try Aji-Kura Ramen & Sushi on Victoria Dr./41st Ave.?

I went, ordered the shio.
Definitely not thick at all. Quite runny in fact, not rich like I was hoping for.
Not bad, but sort of weak in my opinion.

Next time I go back, I'll try asking for heavy broth.

Is there any other place that does tsukemen that isn't Santouka or Taishoken?