While I’ve covered most of my Seattle trip, I’m still catching up on the Vancouver portion of it. The day we arrived, it was cold and rainy (surprise!), and a hot steaming bowl of ramen at Motomachi Shokudo was a perfect way to start off our visit.

Motomachi Shokudo is the popular Kintaro Ramen‘s newer kin. The main difference between the two is their broth. Where Kintaro uses the more traditional pork base for its soups, Motomachi uses chicken. Not only that, but organic ingredients also make their way on to the menu. We took our places around the central bar and got down to it.

Spicy Miso Ramen with Organic Chicken I enjoy spicy noodles, so I ordered this (along with a soft egg in the back there) to see how it would fare. Despite not being made in-house (apparently they’re shipped in from Nippon Trends in San Jose), I liked the taste and texture of the noodles. While the broth was decent, I think I prefer pork broth overall. Not that I didn’t wolf back my order anyway. It was good, warmed me from the inside, and was satisfying.

Bamboo-Charcoal Dark Miso Ramen was a really interesting menu item. The soup was dark and cloudy, but it didn’t quite add anything for me flavour-wise. Glad to have tried it through. For any of you video game nerds, this also reminded us of the Black Ramen in The World Ends With You.

We had also ordered gyoza and a couple salads, but really, you’re not going to Motomachi for them. Next time, I’ll order the BBQ Pork Ramen – chunks of char siu are always welcome. Or try a straight comparison and head on to Kintaro right after to see if the pork broth really IS better. Of note, while we had been easily able to snag spots, this well-decorated space was packed by the time we left, with people waiting outside.

  • Motomachi Shokudo 740 Denman Street, Vancouver
  • Menu

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