Noodle Nirvana: Metro Vancouver's Best Ramen Shops according to 7 articles

First published April 20, 2022 | Last updated February 3, 2024

Welcome to the ultimate ramen revelation in the heart of Vancouver! I'm a ramen enthusiast and want to try the best ramen shops in the city. This list is curated from insights shared by the 13 articles below.

• Daily Hive
• Curiocity
• Noms Magazine
• Populist
• Narcity
• Foodgressing
• 604now

A bowl of ramen from JINYA Ramen Bar

Tier 1: The Unanimous All-Star Ramen Shop

All seven articles included these three ramen shops on their list.

1. ☑️ JINYA Ramen Bar - January 23, 2022
2. ☑️ Marutama Ra-Men - December 1, 2023
3. ⬜ Ramen Danbo

Tier 2: The High Achievers

These ramen shops are recommended by 6 of the 7 articles.

1. ☑️ Hokkaido Ramen Santouka - October 29, 2023
2. ⬜ The Ramen Butcher

Tier 3: The Consistent Contenders

These ramen shops are recommended by 5 of the 7 articles.

1. ☑️ Kintaro Ramen - January 29, 2022
2. ⬜ Motomachi Shokudo
3. ☑️ Taishoken Ramen - February 1, 2024

Tier 4: Varied Favourites

These ramen shops are recommended by 3 of the 7 articles.

1. ☑️ Kinton Ramen - October 22, 2022
2. ☑️ Kokoro Tokyo Mazesoba - January 22, 2022
3. ☑️ Ramen Gojiro - January 16, 2024

Tier 5: Emerging Favourites

These ramen shops are recommended by 2 of the 7 articles.

1. ☑️ Benkei Ramen (closed) - October 7, 2022
2. ⬜ Harvest Community Foods
3. ⬜ Ramen Taka

Tier 6: Unique Experiences

These ramen shops are mentioned by 1 article.

1. ⬜ Akedo Showten Ramen + Gyoza
2. ⬜ G-men Ramen
3. ☑️ Gyo Para Gyoza & Ramen Bar - April 10, 2022
4. ☑️ Horin Ramen + Sake - February 2, 2024
5. ☑️ Menya Raizo - February 5, 2022
6. ⬜ Ramen Densetsu
7. ⬜ The Workshop Vegetarian Cafe
8. ⬜ Yah Yah Ya Ramen
9. ⬜ ZUBU Ramen

Almond Marzipan Cheesecake from Trees Cheesecake + Organic Coffee

Who is obsessed with cheesecake from Trees Cheesecake + Organic Coffee? We are! After enjoying our ramen at nearby Gyo Para, we enjoyed a slice of Almond Marzipan Cheesecake at the Trees Arbutus location.

Almond Marzipan Cheesecake

Almond Marzipan Cheesecake

I love their tables outside, and the street is definitely quieter than the West Broadway and Fir location. However, the Fir branch wins with friendlier service and cleaner bathroom.

For reference, below are some of the seasonal cheesecakes we have tried.

• Matcha Cheesecake last June 6, 2021
• Taro Cheesecake last June 26, 2021
• Mango Cheesecake last July 18, 2021
• Peanut Butter Cheesecake last September 11, 2021
• Pumpkin Cheesecake last October 10, 2021
• Banoffee Cheesecake last November 28, 2021 (no blog post)
• Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake last December 26, 2021
• Strawberry Cheesecake last February 15, 2022
• Coconut Dream Cheesecake last March 19, 2022

Lunch at Gyo Para Ramen & Gyoza Bar

Happy Sunday! After Palm Sunday Mass today, I am craving comforting ramen. It's that time of the month when I am in so much pain, and a bowl of ramen just makes things a bit better.

Premium Tonkotsu Ramen
Rich signature pork broth with chashu, half soft-boiled egg, kikurage (cloud ear mushrooms), ginger, green onions, nori, and garlic oil

Hubby ordered the Premium Tonkotsu Ramen while I had my usual Kara Miso Ramen.

Kara Miso Ramen
Spicy miso flavoured broth with chashu, half soft-boiled egg, bean sprouts, and chilli oil

Kara Miso Ramen with Medium Noodle Thickness

Original Gyoza
Homemade pan-fried pork dumplings

Karaage
Fried Chicken

Where is your favourite ramen place in Vancouver? Check out this post for the best ones in the city.

Dinner from Pearl Castle Cafe

Today, we're celebrating our only brother's birthday by having dinner delivered at home from Pearl Castle Cafe, then watching the Vancouver Whitecaps FC (spoiler alert: they lost 3-2 against the Portland Timbers).

Dinner from Pearl Castle Cafe

We ordered Kung Paw Chicken, spicy and non-spicy fried chicken nuggets, Taiwanese sausage, fried chicken thigh, fried pork chop, and pineapple shrimp fried rice.

The food was delicious. I can't wait to dine here and order the fried chicken nuggets (it rivals Redbeef), Taiwanese sausage, and fried chicken thighs. Yum!

Dinner at Sports Lounge in BC Place | Canada Women's National Team Celebration Tour

Happy Friday! We just arrived home from BC Place to celebrate Canada Women's National Team (#canwnt) and their achievements, specifically winning Gold in the summer Olympics.

It's a last-minute decision to watch the game today, and I am glad we did. We only have watched the Vancouver Whitecaps FC in person. Watching the National Team showed me the difference in quality between an excellent team and a (sorry 'Caps) mediocre team.

Canada Women's National Team VS Nigeria Women's National Team

There were 20,601 supporters in BC Place and many young football players in the stadium with their teammates cheering and just happy to watch their idols in person. I am pleased to see lots of parents support their kids.

Before the game and after the warm-up, there was a standing ovation when Christine Sinclair' was honoured for being the world's all-time leading scorer (yes, for both men and women). How amazing is that?

Before kick-off, there was a Gold Medal Celebration, and during halftime, there was a Hall of Fame Celebration. Canada won against Nigeria 2-nil. Yay!

After the game, Stephanie Labbé, the goalkeeper for the National Team, was celebrated as she retired by the end of this Celebration Tour.

We watched in Section 344, which is served by a Sports Lounge. Yes, there is a bar section where you can sit down and enjoy your meal. The angle is also perfect for watching the game.

Section 344 BC Place

Because it's a Friday and we're still in Holy Week, we chose two meals with no beef, pork, or chicken. Hubby had a delicious bowl of Macaroni and Cheese,   while I had a healthy Tuna Bowl but ordered French Fries early into the first half.

Oceanwise Tuna Bowl

Macaroni and Cheese

House Fries

It's a happy Friday food day.

View from Cambie Bridge
Above: Taken around 6:00 PM
Bottom: Taken around 10:00 PM

It's a happy Friday. We also walked to and from BC Place, which means more than 7 kilometres of brisk walking.

Grocery from Aling Mary's then Dinner at Hime Sushi

I am happy. We decided to walk 3 kilometres to the closest Filipino store today and visited Aling Mary's on Main Street. We left at 5:00 PM and arrived 15 minutes before they closed. The employees are obviously preparing to go, and fewer items are available.

We managed to grab banana chips, ube pandesal, Spanish bread, and piaya. I'm so excited to enjoy all this in the next few days.

Grocery from Aling Mary's

After grocery, we went to nearby Shoppers as part of our weekly grocery run. Then, we decided to have dinner at Hime Sushi.

We rarely find Okonomiyaki offered in Japanese restaurants we visited so far, which means we had to order it when we saw it. 

Okonomiyaki
Homemade veggie and seafood Japanese pancake

Hubby and I have also started calorie-counting again, so we requested only one thing each. I had the Golden Dragon Roll while he ordered the Deluxe Tempura.

Deluxe Tempura
5 pieces prawn, 9 pieces vegetables, and 2 pieces fish skewers

The fish skewer is the bomb! Everything on the deluxe tempura is good, but that fish skewer was the unexpected surprise. I love it.

Golden Dragon Roll
Inside: Prawn tempura, imitation crab meat, cucumber
Top: Seated salmon, deep-fried yam strings, unagi sauce, and house mayo

Golden Dragon Roll from Hime Sushi

We planned to take the bus home but decided to walk more than 3 kilometres with our heavy grocery bags. The walk felt short (even though it took us almost an hour) because we were discussing travel plans, our dream home, and we were amused by the things we saw during the walk back home. I am happy.

Mountain Views and Buildings in Downtown Vancouver taken in South Cambie

Lunch at Saku

We had errands to run around South Cambie and decided to grab lunch at Saku because there's no line.

Tokujgyo Rosu Katsu
Deep-fried premium pork cut loin

I ordered the Tokujgyo Rosu Katsu set, which comes with miso soup, katsu sauce, shredded cabbage salad, and white rice. The soup, salad, and rice are unlimited. I also ordered two add-ons: a bowl of their signature curry (amazing over rice) and deep-fried breaded chicken thigh.

The Tokujgyo Rosu Katsu is juicy and fatty.

Meanwhile, hubby ordered the Hire Katsu set.

Hire Katsu Set

I can't wait to come back here and order The Zenbu Katsu set. Unfortunately, it wasn't on the physical menu, but I saw it on their website. Additional comment: according to my husband, the Zenbu Katsu set was on the menu when we were there at the bottom. I just completely missed it.

After the food coma meal, we walked home.

Dinner from Dawson's Hot Dogs at BC Place | Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs Sporting Kansas City

Happy Saturday! It's the second home game of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC. This year, we will watch 12 of the 17 home games in BC Place, and I hope to try as much food as possible. We won! Woohoo! It's our first win of the season, and it's at home.

The Vancouver Whitecaps FC won against Sporting Kansas City!

We ordered from Dawson's Hot Dogs for our game-day dinner - I chose the Foot Long Hot Dog Supreme while hubby ordered the Foot Long Hot Dog.

Foot Long Hot Dog Supreme
Harvest meats, pork & beef wiener, house-made chilli, cheddar and mozzarella cheese

Foot Long Hot Dog
Harvest Meats and Pork & Beef Wiener

After ordering the hot dog, I purchased lemonade from Lemon Heaven, and when I came back, hubby said that our cashier was new and didn't know what goes on top of the Hot Dog Supreme. There's no long line, so it's okay.

After getting our hot dog, I was disappointed that the cheese was not melted. I think the cheese should go on top of the hotdog, then the house-made chilli on top to melt the cheese a bit.

I think BC Place is using the same hot dog from Costco. Our next home game is next Saturday, April 9, 2022.