Best Noodle House 2015

Best Noodle House winners of Vancouver Magazine’s 26th Annual Restaurant Awards

• Gold: Marutama Ra-men
• Silver (tie): Motomachi Shokudo
• Silver (tie): Hokkaido Ramen Santouka
• Honourable Mentions: Harvest Community Foods, Chef Hung’s Taiwanese Beef Noodle

 Given the long, intimate relationship between ramen noodles and pork stock, it speaks to the strong impression made by Marutama Ra-men that it handily claimed Gold this year. The first North American outpost of a Japanese chainlet (located in a former house at Bidwell and Robson), it builds its soup’s mild yet complex flavour from the feet and abdominal meat of chicken, with added saline punch from aosa seaweed. Pile on some cha-shu and a soft-boiled egg for a deeply satisfying meal that costs a hair over $10. Tied for Silver, Motomachi Shokudo and Hokkaido Ramen Santouka impressed with consistent quality and habit-forming house specialties, such as the former’s heady charcoal-miso ramen and the latter’s pork-cheek ramen, its generous toppings served on the side. Honourable Mentions: Harvest Community Foods, Chef Hung’s Taiwanese Beef Noodle