Rating: ????????????????????
Price: ????????
Address: 501 Dunsmuir St, Vancouver, BC V6B 1Y4
Phone: 604-673-0918
I have been wanting to go to Ramen Gojiro for some time, they are famous for their fried chicken (karaage) ramen. I just happened to have a 2 days conference in the area, and I am glad to review this place.
Following the Vietnamese Pho, ramen shops have been opening up everywhere in Vancouver. Each has their own flavors and they attract different types of audience; however they share one similarity – the good ones all have line up during peak hours. I always go ramen at 11:30 to avoid disappointment for this reason.
This corner restaurant is unique, it seems it is operated by all female staff. I am not being sexist, I have not been to a all female operated Japanese restaurant. As a frequent ramen eater, I know “the drill” when going into the shop as the waitresses will give you almost no time to go through the menu ????. It’s a busy place, and the service is friendly, quick and with lots of smiles from everyone.
I order the spicy tsukemen, it’s a cold noodle dipping in hot concentrated broth. Since it comes with all the toppings (bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, karaage, seaweed, egg), to me it’s a great choice than ordering the toppings a la carte. The hot broth is concentrated, it’s very rich and have small diced chashu inside!! I have never felt so “deluxe” where I get to have all the toppings!!! Because it is spicy, it does get quite spicy at the end. I could ask them to dilute the broth, but I am just too full.
My colleagues order the spicy bakamori and regular ramen. When they come out, they look exactly like the pictures shown. The toppings are stack so high and they give you another bowl to eat. One thing to note is the noodle, it’s kind of a flat noodle like linguine. I know many people doesn’t like that but I find the noodle al dante, it has a very chewy texture. Everyone on the table enjoy their food, we agree that the broth is very flavorful, because they don’t offer lighter options, this place will not be ideal for those who like lighter broth such as Ya-Ya-Yah. We finish the meal with a almond pudding. The almond pudding is like dessert tofu with ginger sugar at the bottom. It also has a couple of goji as garnish. I think it pairs up the spicy noodle very well as it literally cools down my burning throat. It’s nice that they don’t make it too sweet, the bitterness of the matcha powder is a great combination.
At the end, we all feel full and fulfilling after the ramen and dessert. It is really a lot of food for moderate amount of money. Even the next day, we are talking about “fried chicken ramen” in the office and want to go again. ????
Ramen Gojiro is a ramen joint in Vancouver that offers fried chicken (karaage) ramen in addition to chashu. It is also the very few places that offers tsukemen. It doesn’t offer a lot of options so it might not please everyone, but those who like their noodle heavy taste would like this place. Although there will be a line up for sure, the food is well worth it if you are a ramen junkie.