Winter is coming, and if you’re a poor college student like me, Kraft dinner and cup noodles will never warm up your stomach like an endothermic bowl of ramen. After a couple weeks of rigorous studying, you deserve better. You deserve something that makes your wallet and your stomach equally happy.
Let me introduce to you these five ramen places in Vancouver that are socially buzzing and steaming up the city. You’ll thank me later.
1. Jinya Ramen
Apparently this ramen spot is very well known in the sparkling city of Los Angeles. There are occasional celebrity appearances at their Hollywood location because it’s that top-notch and Instagram-worthy. If you’re there for the ramen, you’ll definitely find yourself eating a filling bowl of flavours. As well, their gyoza side dish has been named best in Vancouver.
Go for the aesthetics, go for the noodles, or go for the Instagram likes. Either way, you’ll gain something after this visit.
2. Ramen Gojiro
When you walk into this ramen place, you instantly see heaping bowls of thick noodles and hear slurping noises. Ramen Gojiro takes on the jiro-style culture from Japan, aka gatsuri-style, ramen. Each bowl is packed with different toppings and noodles. You will for sure get your money’s worth and satisfy those warm noodle cravings.
3. Touhenboku Ramen
I tried this place last summer with my friend, and their menu is definitely one of the most interesting ones I’ve ever come across. This authentic ramen spot serves homemade broths (there are many choices) and freshly made noodles. I remember talking to one of the servers and he was explaining to me how they only serve natural ingredients and no preservatives at all.
4. Santouka
There isn’t one friend of mine that hasn’t said good things about this ramen spot. I keep hearing words like, “this place is the best” and “you’ve gotta try this place NOW” over and over. I wanted to see what the hype was, and if it actually lived up to the Santouka name. You should go try and tell me what you think, but I think it did.
5. Benkei Ramen
I might be a little biased here, but Benkei’s ramen is just so darn heavenly. My family friend owns this restaurant, but if I didn’t know her, I would still have fallen in love with their exquisite and incomparable homemade broth. Another one of their family favourites is the curry rice, and it always leaves me wondering how a dish so simple yet distinct could be possible.
All this ramen talk is getting my stomach churning in all sorts of feels. Winter may be coming, but your hunger doesn’t have to.