Vancouver Ramen Guide: Where to Find Some of the Best Bowls in the City
Vancouver offers an extraordinary culinary variety due to the many diverse communities that make the city vibrant. Japanese food is among the many delicious Asian cuisines represented and embraced in Vancouver. Japanese ramen has become beloved among diners, with an exciting array of restaurants that specialize in the comforting noodle soup.
Below is a sampler of 10 ramen spots for noodle slurping in Vancouver.
Ramen has been available and enjoyed in Vancouver for a long time. Considered to be one of the grandparents of the city’s ramen scene, Kintaro Ramen in the West End opened in 1999 and continues to serve authentic ramen in a cozy, unassuming setting. While they feature vegetable and vegetarian options, they are most known for their pork broth (e.g., shoyu, shio), which comes in rich, medium, and light form, and fatty or lean BBQ pork. They claim to have invented cheese ramen and cold ramen in the city.
KINTON RAMEN first became a part of Vancouver’s food scene in 2020 when it opened a location at the University of British Columbia. Since then, it’s opened three other locations (Robson, North Vancouver, and Marine Gateway). The chain, which encompasses Canada, the US, and Japan, was started in Toronto by KINKA FAMILY (a Japanese restaurant group). It specializes in chef- and ingredient-driven ramen, with selections such as pork original ramen, beef miso ramen, chicken spicy jalapeño ramen, and veggie shoyu ramen. Seasonal specialties enliven the menu, such as a burnt shoyu ramen (available until April 27, 2025).
Harvest Community Foods, sister establishment to Burdock & Co (MICHELIN-starred) and Bar Gobo (MICHELIN-recommended) is a locally-focused grocery store that also contains a noodle soup café. Their ramen is outstanding due to the quality of the ingredients. Diners have a choice between chicken broth ramen with sake chicken and a soy egg; or their popular ramen with squash and miso broth, yuzu radish, and sesame (vegan option available).
Only open a couple years, there is something delightful about Tatchan Noodle, a roaming noodle cart (yatai) that specializes in Okinawa soba, a noodle soup that hails from a specific Japanese prefecture. Tatchan’s menu is simple, starting with the classic with chicken broth, dried bonito, pork belly, green onion, kikurage, and red ginger. They also have a so-ki soba with pork bones, or a combo with pork bones and pork belly. Follow them on Instagram to find out their latest location.
There was much anticipation when the Tokyo-based AFURI came to British Columbia, first in Richmond and then on Main Street in Mount Pleasant. They are well known for the floral tang of their yuzu options, such as the yuzu shio with shio tare, chicken broth, chi-yu (chicken oil), menma (bamboo shoots), greens, chashu, egg, nori, yuzu, and thin noodles. Other soup offerings include a hazelnut tantan with spicy miso tare, hazelnut broth, miso cashews, bok choy, shiitake, leeks, chili oil, and thick noodles. Their tsukemen options are also really good (e.g., yuzu-tsuyu).
Seven locations strong across Metro Vancouver, Maruhachi Ra-men has been open over a decade, garnering acclaim for their introduction of tori-paitan (creamy chicken broth) to Vancouver. The chicken broth is made fresh daily, with a hint of aosa (sea lettuce) flavour. Menus vary depending on location but their signature bowls are available across locations. Their tamago ramen (available mild or spicy) comes with creamy chicken broth, a soft-boiled egg, pork shoulder chashu, aosa, green onion, and thin noodles; and their chashu tamago ramen is served with extra chashu. Other options include a veggie curry ramen at their West End location, and a shiro tsukemen at their Main Street GAIDEN location.
For those seeking a ramen bowl with a twist, consider visiting BEEST, which specializes in roast beef ramen (versus the pork and chicken broth found at other establishments). Their noodle soup option comes with deeply flavourful beef broth, noodles, 2 oz of roast beef, bamboo shoots, shredded leeks, and nori. Many diners opt for their mazemen, a soup-less version offered in flavours like shoyu, smoky miso, creamy, and shio. Diners choose the size of their noodle portion, as well how much roast beef they’d like. There’s also a vegan Impossible version. A side of broth is served for sipping in between noodle-eating.
Ramen Gojiro is the place for jiro- or gatsuri-style ramen. The restaurant is operated by the Menya Kouji Group, which also runs The Ramen Butcher in Chinatown. Get set for a jaw-dropping ramen experience since this style is characterized by mountains of noodles and toppings. The basic ramen allows diners to pick their topping (chicken karaage or chashu) and the richness of the broth. For those wanting to amp uptheir meal, they have the towering spicy bakamori ramen, which comes with more of everything, including more meat and noodles. Other options include yuzu shio ramen, tsukemen, and vegetarian ramen.
The line-ups at Ramen Danbo locations attests to the loyal following of this Japanese chain, which opened its first location in 2000 in Chikushino. They now have restaurants in Seattle, New York, and two in Vancouver (Kits and Robson Street). They craft a tonkotsu ramen, made in the Kyushi Hakata-style, showcasing a flavourful creamy broth, artisan noodles, and yakibuta chashu. Besides the classic version, they serve shio, miso, and negi-goma ramen. Diners can customize their bowls in a variety of ways, including noodle thickness, richness of broth, and amount of spicy karadare. The final step involves topping add-ons, such as a soft-boiled egg or pickled vegetables.
Ramen aficionados prize the ramen at Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, a chain that started in Asahikawa on Japan’s northern island, with three locations in Metro Vancouver (West Broadway, Robson Street, and Richmond). Santouka has restaurants all around the world (e.g., Singapore, Hong Kong), where people visit to enjoy the rich flavour and creaminess of their white tonkatsu broth, made from boiling pork bones for a couple of days. Their signature bowl is the shio ramen, topped with a red pickled plum. Other options include a spicy kara-miso ramen featuring three kinds of chili peppers, a vegetarian ramen that uses a soy milk base, and a shoyu tsuke-men.