Hokkaido Ramen Santouka 山頭火

1690 Robson St
Vancouver, BC V6G 1C7
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After hearing all the good things about this new ramen restaurant, I finally gave it a try. As expected, the place was packed at around 8pm on a cold rainy weekend, I guess that's the perfect time to have noodle soup! Their soup bases feature tonkotsu (pork bone) so its creamy, light colored and nutritious. Overall, the ramen here is tasty (a bit too oily for me) but I wouldn't purposely come all the way out just to have this ramen though..

Miso Ramen ~ $8

The flavour of the miso ramen (compared to the shio ramen) is too salty. First spoon might be okay, but after eating the rest of the noodles it's way too salty – ironically 'shio' which means salt wasn't as salty by far. It's got a strong miso flavour so it differs from the miso ramen from Kintaro.

Shio Ramen & gyoza ~$9
I'd have to say this was a solid bowl of ramen, the pork (chasiu) was very tasty and had an appropriate amount of fat attached to it. The noodles are a bit stringy compared to what I'm used to. Unfortunately, the soup has a distinctive layer of oil on it which makes me not want to drink the soup.

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Hakone Sushi

80 Keefer Place (by Stadium/Tinseltown)
Vancouver, BC V6B 0C9
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Located just across the street from Tinseltown, this is the only sushi place near Chinatown. The restaurant is tiny and pretty busy during lunch time. I have to say the only things worth eating here are their california rolls and negitoro rolls. Their dynamite roll was appalling (sorry I don't have a photo of it right now) with soggy prawn tempura and mushy rice. I only came here to eat because there aren't any other sushi restaurants around that was walking distance from Chinatown. I probably won't come here unless I had a major craving for negitoro rolls...

Negitoro roll, salmon roll, miso soup ~ $8

The only thing I like from this place was the negitoro roll, its arranged in a flower shape! The salmon roll was expensive for what it was so I definitely won't order that again.

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Donburiya

#5-1329 Robson Street

Vancouver, BC

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This is a tiny take-out style restaurant situated where Ezogiku Noodle Cafe used to be. They serve a range of small- medium sized ramen bowls, rice bowls, and the usual sushi. I'm not sure exactly why people would come here since there are so many more proper, quality ramen restaurants in the area. I wasn't impressed by their offerings, but I was craving some takoyaki so that's what I ordered. I probably won't come here again unless I was desperate for food and all the other places are too crowded.

Takoyaki 10pcs ~$6

Your standard size/flavour of takoyaki. It didn't have the extra condiments such as seaweed flecks or bonito flakes.

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Benkei Ramen Noodle Shop (弁慶 ラメン)

1741 Robson St
Vancouver, BC V6G1C9
Tel: (604) 688-6980
Fax: (604) 681-6633

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I tried this place one month after it opened in January 2008. They got our orders mixed up, the broth was SUPER OILY, and didn't have any taste besides being overly salty. The meats were super fatty and thinly sliced. Gyoza's were laughable. The only thing that was good was the barbeque pork onigiri flavoured with soy sauce. Ever since that experience, I've avoided coming back because it was so horrible .

So now, 2 years later, I've returned to see if its any good... I'll have to say its alright, but I probably won't go back again.. unless other people I'm with want to try it. I find their broth to be a bit on the overly-oily side.

Shio Tonkotsu Ramen ~ $7

This is their more popular flavour, and it tastes quite smooth. On their menu, it says this flavour being good for women's skin because its got a lot of collagen (from the pork bone). The taste of this tonkotsu ramen comes second to the one from Kenzo Ramen.

Shoyu Ramen ~$7

The soup broth was slightly saltier than what I would like it would be. Their Chashu was good! Their bamboo shoot didn't taste as well with the noodles. The green onions tasted good in it.

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Bon Crepe

1238 - 1240 Robson St (Part of Konbiniya, Downtown)

Vancouver, BC V6E 1C1

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This store specializes in Japanese-style crepes with mochi texture. It used to be located inside Parker Place in Richmond, and then moved to downtown Robson street in recent years. It's probably accessible to a wider variety of customers since moving. There is this nice Japanese man who prepares the crepes everyday since each is made-to-order. They recently started selling soft-serve ice cream at about $2 or something per cone. The ice cream tastes different than say Dairy Queen or McDonald's in that it reminds me of marshmallows.

Banana & Chocolate Crepe $3.77

This is safe bet for a crepe, you can't go wrong with banana and chocolate.

Strawberry Shortcake Crepe ~$4

Very light and yummy. There's an actual cake in there with real fresh strawberries! I like their whipped cream, it doesn't melt as easily. Perfect dessert after a meal :) This flavour is actually only available for a limited time.

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Deli Nippon

3913 Knight Street

Vancouver, BC V5N 3L8

Tel: (604) 568-6101

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Japanese Healthy Food. All their prices already include tax and they're unfortunately CLOSED ON MONDAYS!! Their location is a bit hidden because it blends in with the rest of the shops on that small block. The food is exceptional from this little deli. Their service is good considering it's only the owner and one more person in the back making all the food. Their tea is very very tasty! I could drink it all day Pricing is great also since you pay only $7-$8 (depending which okonomiyaki you get) for a 10 inch. I definitely recommend this place if you want great unfranchised local Japanese food.

Italian Okonomiyaki $8.50
bacon, cheese, egg, noodles, bonito flakes
This is a good dish to share between 3-4 people. Traditionally, okonomiyaki should be with pork, but this looked more interesting. I mean, how can you not like bacon and cheese?! I thought it would be too rich and crazy but it turned out sooo good! The combination of bacon, cheese and egg is good and made the okonomiyaki smell amazing! like a feast for your nostrils. TRY IT!

Miso Ramen $6

This could very well be the most affordable bowl of ramen in the lower mainland. The miso tastes good and healthy, not covered in oil or overly salty. The texture of the noodles are not al-dente so most people will find it too soft. I personally Iike softer noodles so this fits my preferences. :)

Miso Ramen with Gyoza $7

Their menu has a lot of combinations, this being one of them where you can add gyoza — good ones!

Shoyu Ramen $5.50

Simple and tasty, more on the saltier side but that's usually expected of shoyu (soy sauce) flavour. This time the noodles were a lot firmer too. I really like the pork slices because they were a generous size and had an appropriate amount of fat on them. I like how the seaweed it comes with is separately served (I put it into the bowl for the photo).

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Chicco Coffee & Dessert Bar

1504 Robson St (Downtown)

Tel: (604) 633-1286

Map | Website

I like the atmosphere and decor, feels very quaint and homey. All their desserts are around $4 to $7. They also have gelato, coffee, and cake. The cups they use to put the desserts in are handmade and it appears you can buy them here too. I order the Cream Anmitsu the most often. You can get stamp card in which they'll give you stamp every time you order drinks.

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Black Sesame Anmitsu ~ $5

Black Sesame Ice Cream w/ Red Bean Paste Anmitsu

Very yummy! The waffle piece at the top is a nice touch. Black Sesame ice cream is not very common so its nice that they've got it here :) I like the combination of the grass jelly, anmitsu (not very sweet themselves) with the red bean, and ice cream.

Cream Anmitsu ~$6

Delicious mix of sweet flavours make this a yummy treat. The red bean paste with vanilla and green tea ice cream combined with a blob of anmitsu (white mochi) is simply irresistible! There's shortcake at the bottom layer and it adds a whole new dimension to this dessert.

Green Tea Parfait ~$6

This is quite similar to the Cream Anmitsu except for its addition of green tea mousse cake on the top. Yum yum yum!!

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