Review Yah Yah Ya Ramen - Richmond

We were looking for a good Ramen place and found this location. It's in a strip mall with lots of parking. Small place. When u walk in there is a clipboard, add your name to the list. They work off that. No real hostess. Menu is on the wall by the table. Good selection and they have some combo deals you can get. We got 2 different Ramen, side dish of bamboo, seaweed salad, some chicken appetizer, and some kimchi. All were excellent and my girlfriend really loved the seaweed salad. I saw her eyeing mine. We also ordered a pork donburi which was average, taste a little bland. Kitchen is fast and service good. Price is $$ and would go back. Suitable for dates, and small family. Over 4 people and not sure they can accommodate a party that big.

This place has bizarre vibes. Service once you got it is friendly but the restaurant has this vibe of apathy. The onigiri was just a white rice ball with no stuffing. The karaage was pure average like the quality from an all you can eat buffet...rough... Not fine. The gyoza were like the ones you get frozen from T&T supermarket sold here at a premium. The black tonkatsu ramen was again.... Just average, not particularly tasty but edible. Shio Ramen was also average. The takoyaki tasted like the frozen ones you can buy and reheat. The peach soda was literally 70% ice and 30% drinkable liquid. The presentation however was decent. So overall...edible food but better options are out there.

Yummy!!! Service quick and friendly. Miso broth good balance. Not too thick. Noodles cooked perfectly with a little bite. Karaage on point.

Tasty classic Ramen flavor. Very fatty and good broth. The noodles were good but the egg wasn't amazing. The last time i went here i got curry ramen and it was really good.

They have options for customization for each bowl. I usually switch out the noodles for spinach noodles as they taste and feel better. The taste is consistent and good; never had a bad experience. I would say the broth isn't as flavourful as it could be, even at different richness, but that's just my preference. Service is good. The entrance is very small, though. When it gets busy, people usually wait outside. The wait can be long on the weekends so be prepared. Overall, it is a satisfying meal. A good place to eat with your family.

I came here for lunch recently and tried their Shoyu Ramen with thin noodles. Overall, the soup is flavourful and the ramen is good and it’s a pretty good value.

My fav go-to ramen place, love that it came all the way from Japan so its got the validity of being authentic. Love that they don't just serve ramen but also tsukemen, tantanmen(?) and mazesoba, their triple combo deal is nice, I always get that, I'm digging their strawberry soda actually, their ramen is great and I love their small beef bowl.

Decent tsukumen. I am not a big fan of the dipping broth as it was quite sharp and lacked body, but the ramen noodle, charsiew and egg was absolutely delicious. I would definitely come back but would try the soup ramen next time. It was pretty busy at even 4pm so come early.

Great tasting ramen, gyoza and spicy chashu rice 🍜 fast service and excellent staff. My niece's go-to ramen shop 😋😋😋

Awful experience today and received poor customer service resulted in us leaving and never coming back. The restaurant was full so we followed their seating workflow: add name and the number of people to their waitlist. We did just that and waited patiently in the corner by the door for a table. A group walked into the restaurant without putting their name down and got sat down right away! I confronted them about it and their response was “oh we thought they were you, you will get the next table when it frees up.” That was unacceptable and mind you, we must put down the number of people to the party on the waitlist. I understand you can get names wrong, but how can you the number of people in the party wrong. By then we already waited 15 minutes and decided to leave and go somewhere else. We come here on a regular basis for lunch break, almost weekly in fact, starting from when they first opened up, but after today we will never return.

Clean place, great service and awesome food... what more could you ask for!

My favorite ramen place! I use this place to compare the other ramens and their egg is.. Wow.

Authentic great ramen place. I think this is the best ramen in Richmond by far.

One of the best ramen I've had. Broth is so flavorful.

Best ramen in Richmond. That is all. Stupid Facebook stop making me write longer then I need to.

The Best spicy miso Ramen, always cooked perfect, great service.

Service is always excellent and the ramen is very authentic.

Great Place, Great Ramen. Hands down every time we come here!

Good good good

Shio ramen: The shio is the most simple so you can really determine if the broth is good or not.<br/> I think we’ve found our new to go ramen place! The ramen was delicious – rich, creamy, and very flavourful. It was the perfect bowl of comforting ramen that nurtured your soul.

Yah Yah Ya ramen has been a ramen spot that Grayson and I have been frequenting lately. There are a few Yah Yah Ya ramen locations in the Metro Vancouver area but it is originally a chain from Japan. Since it came from Japan, Grayson and I expected a quality bowl of ramen noodles. Yah Yah Ya Mazesoba

Yah Yah Ya Ramen in Richmond is located in the strip mall at Capstan and Sexsmith. This is not the worst of the Richmond strip mall parking fiascos but I can see during the busiest times, you may be moved to commit murder. We had 2 triple sets which consisted of soup, drink, and side. For one side, we chose the Onigiri (rice ball with Bonito flakes). Not bad. It fulfilled our rice craving and was salty and tasty. A little bit of seaweed wrap got us started on a 3-day laver binge which has not been a bad thing. The other side was Karaage Chicken which we found to be tender inside while crispy and hot on the outside. Just what you hope for! No dipping sauce with this. For the main soup, I chose Tsukemen which came with dipping soup on the side. I'm not sure of the allure of this arrangement. It was everything that is typical ramen with the broth on the side. The result was noodles that were kind of sticking together. We just poured the broth over the noodles! Marie had the Shoyu Ramen. Exactly the same as the Tsukemen but in one bowl. Am I confused here? One thing that we definitely noticed was that the dipping soup was far richer and tastier than the broth in the combined Shoyu. Interesting, right? That should tell you that the right thing to do is order with the dipping soup! Still, all was delicious and our ramen cravings were stilled for the moment! As always, we managed to avoid the line ups by arriving unfashionably early. By the time we left (Sunday lunchtime) the wait had begun. Not a huge place but so friendly and comfortable enough

There's a huge line for this restaurant- we waited around 20 minutes in total. You write your name down on a sheet of paper at the front. The waitress told us to order while we were waiting, which definitely sped up the process. The layout of the restaurant is very Japanese style, which I enjoyed. In particular, I liked the little booths they sat us down in. <br/><br/>The Shio ramen itself was very very average, if not, below average. I ordered normal chicken flavour and hard noodles. I enjoyed the egg and the pork was decent, however, the noodles were too soft for my liking and the broth didn't have enough flavour. In addition, I was hoping for slightly larger serving sizes. Hence, I was a bit disappointed.

Awful experience today and received poor customer service resulted in us leaving and never coming back. The restaurant was full so we followed their seating workflow: add name and the number of people to their waitlist. We did just that and waited patiently in the corner by the door for a table. <br/>A group walked into the restaurant without putting their name down and got sat down right away! I confronted them about it and their response was “oh we thought they were you, you will get the next table when it frees up.” That was unacceptable and mind you, we must put down the number of people to the party on the waitlist. I understand you can get names wrong, but how can you the number of people in the party wrong.<br/>By then we already waited 15 minutes and decided to leave and go somewhere else. We come here on a regular basis for lunch break, almost weekly in fact, starting from when they first opened up, but after today we will never return.

One of my go to's for ramen in Richmond. It is a small joint and they accept no reservations..sign in sheet system only and they only seat whole parties. Expect a wait during weekends and during prime meal times. <br/><br/>Like how you choose the tenderness of noodles, strength of broth and amount of oil in your broth. Broth is flavourful and chasu is tender. Egg can be overcooked sometimes though. Gyoza is lightly pan fried and has good flavours. <br/><br/>Can get super stuffy on a hot summer day. Need to crank the air conditioning.

This is prolly my favourite ramen shop in Richmond. I come here once a week especially in the colder months. My go to is the black sesame tonkatsu ramen. And i usually order the chasu rice bowl set. Very affordable and authentic!

The only thing I would complain about is that it closes too early. Other than that, the food and staff were great. A great deal for downtown.

As the first Japanese meal we had after our trip to Japan, although the dining experience was very different from the ones in Japan,  the ramen noodle bowls were quite decent at Yah Yah Ya. The ramen shops, especially the ones owned and operated by Japanese,  are actually quite good in Vancouver, as taking pride of what they are doing and keep up with the quality is always part of their culture.  However,  the small items like mentaiko or onigiri, were not nearly close to what we had in Japan. Those are definitely the must-try things when you travel to Japan!

First time trying this place. The restaurant gets super busy after 12pm for lunch. We were there just after 11:30am with few tables available. I usually order miso type soup base from other restaurants, but decided to try shiyo ramen since the menu says it's the popular one.<br/><br/>The noodles were just okay. There's just wasn't enough flavour. My little one didn't like it too much either so not the best we've had. Next time, we'll try other soup types.

Very good ramen. I had the Black Tonkotsu Ramen with Mentaiko don set. The price is on the more expensive side for ramen, however the food quality is excellent. For the black tonkotsu ramen, I chose the thin noodle with heavy broth for a nice punch to the taste buds. I would come again.

Went here on a Friday night with some friends to try out this ramen place. I’d passed by here several times previously on the way to Richmond Sushi, but never tried it until now. I decided to try it this time at the recommendation of a Japanese exchange student I met. Gyoza – $5. I thought these gyoza were on the pricey side. They had a nice colour to them but otherwise they really weren’t memorable.

Yah Yah Ya is a overall a good ramen place. The staff are friendly and cheery, and the ambience is comfortable. I got the gyoza, which was actually really delicious. The gyoza bottoms were crispy and browned, and the rest of the wrapping was not too thick and starchy. The pork and veggie filling was really juicy which was nice. I also had the shoyu ramen with corn. I like that customers can choose soup base taste, noodle texture, and oil level- perfect for an increasingly health-conscious world! The soup was still a little too salty for my taste even when I ordered normal taste. The noodles were chewy and good though. The chashu was disappointing, if was way too bland. There are better ramen places in Richmond but Yah Yah Ya is still OK.

Authentic Japanese restaurant. I recommend getting the large option for the ramen! It's huge and will get the job done! Lots of customization like noodles hardness, broth richness, and amount of oil. If you're in Richmond this is the go to place.

Small place, friendly and enthusiastic servers. Simple menu where you choose the done-ness of the noodles, favor of the soup and amount of oil in the soup. Our choices were Shoyo medium flavor and oil, and Miso light flavor and oil, and soft noodles for both. Hot bowls of noodles arrived in about 10mins after we ordered. Both noodles were done just right but I wouldn't say it is softer than usual. The Shoyo flavor was much saltier than the Miso flavor soup. Personally I find the Miso broth much more delicate in flavor. Will go for that again next time.

Heard some good things about this place. Glad to have finally tried it! My friend recommended we go right at opening, as it isn't a huge restaurant and it fills up quickly. And she was right. A few already waiting before opening when we got there, and filled up within the half hr.<br/><br/>A tip from my Japanese coworker: if you're not sure what to get, go with the Shoyu ramen. You can easily judge how good (or bad) a ramen joint by their Shoyu. So that is what I chose. I like that you can choose the firmness of the noodles, and level of tastiness and oil. I chose soft noodles, normal tastiness and less oil.<br/><br/>I very much enjoyed it! No complaints at all about my order. Which I had gotten a large but I had to save room for dessert. Lol

Yah-Yah-Ya Ramen has been on my radar for quite some time now so I was excited to finally get the chance to check it out and get my ramen fix.

We had 4 people. <br/><br/>Next on the list after a 20 min wait, waitress gave our table for four to two people that were after us on the list. I was standing right in front of the lady....<br/><br/>So...yeah, who's up for downtown?

I previously gave this a 4 but changed to 3 after yesterday's meal. The broth was super salty even though we ordered the normal taste. The chasiu don wasn't as good as before either as the meat was really dry. This place has gone downhill.

Overall, they have a lot of room for growth, but I do see a future for them since they don’t have much competition here in Richmond. On a side note, on the other side of the mural was framed pictures of their three locations in Japan. “Yah Yah Ya” does seem like an interesting name, confusing at first, but quirky. In Japanese the characters are written out as “家”, which can mean store, shop, home, or more commonly; family. Which is somewhat how you feel from the service since our server came over to ask us how we thought of the ramen, and changes we would have liked. We gave our two cents in regards to the soup, menu clarifications and the chashu. She listened intently and even called out the head chef, which turned out to be one of the owners. No need to say, we had some good conversations and acquaintances that day.

The attention to detail from the choice of texture (hard, medium or soft) of the ramen, saltiness and spiciness of broth just makes this place so unique. I had the spicy miso ramen and onigiri combo. Comes with two pieces of onigiri, the rice was so full of flavour and not dry it had a bit of pork floss on the side which added a bit of crunch and the seawood was a good balancing flavour too. The broth was so flavourful with the pork bone taste and the ramen (I chose hard) became just a good amount of softness when left in the broth for awhile. Although dinner might get a bit crazy (expect to wait like 20 minutes or so) but well worth it!

Food: 5/5      Service: 4/5          Atmosphere: 4/5      Price: Avg.$20/person<br/>Return: Yes for sure!!!      Must try item(s): Miso Ramen<br/><br/>If you were a ramen lover, you should give it a try. The location of the ramen restaurant is in between the Richmond Sushi Restaurant and 2000 Super market. Personally, this is the best ramen restaurant in Vancouver. The taste of the broth and ramen were so good, I liked it so so so much. Same as other ramen restaurants, it offers combo for customers to choose. Such as ramen + goyza or ramen + salmon mini Don + macha. I picked the 2nd ones last time, and being honest I would prefer to try the ramen only, because the salmon mini don and the macha were not as good as I thought. In contrast, the ramen was so so so perfect. You can't go wrong! <br/><br/>Follow me if you liked my Food Research :D

Been here three times. Each time here its inconsistent. On the 3rd visit, the 2 pieces of Cha Siu they put in the bowl was literally a Quarter of a piece I got from the first visit... Terribly inconsistent, Will never return.

Yah Yah Ya Ramen Richmond リッチモンドでラーメン屋 家家家 opened awhile back but I never knew it existed until this past week. My colleagues suggested we try this place. Yah Yah Ya Ramen is located where Richmond Sushi used to be in Union Square next to Supermarket 2000, Top Chiu Chow Cuisine, Coco Hut and Pho Queen is located. I wanted to find somewhere in Richmond with consistency and good broth to fulfill those ramen cravings.

There are a lot of famous ramen joints in Downtown area but not the same case in Richmond.  There is only a few but they are not that tasty.  Yah Yah Ya Ramen is located next to Richmond Sushi in Union Square, Richmond; the same mall that we had Hainanese chicken last week.  I know Yah Yah Ya has been opened for quite a while already.  I still remember the day hubby and I wanted to go to the Taiwanese restaurant for lunch (former restaurant) then we realized that it was closed and replaced by Yah Yah Ya.  I WAS SO SAD and we did not go in.  Finally we decided to give it a try this ramen joint when I needed to pick a place for dinner in Richmond.MUST EAT:  SHOYU RAMEN & SALMON DON

Yah Yah Ya Ramen is a newer ramen joint in central Richmond (still less than a year old) that serves “iekei” style ramen. Iekei style ramen is characterized by its thick tonkotsu broth made by simmering pork and chicken bones and its wide, flat, noodles. The restaurant is an implant of a Japanese chain of ramen shops where the staff have been trained to cook and serve their bowls as authentically as possible. Since their grand opening last year their servings have been tweaked and their menu has changed to suit it’s Canadian audience (they only serve shoyu in Japan, but include Shio, Miso, and spicy varieties here).

This is one of the better ramen shops in the GVA. Not to often do you find a place that lets you pick the amount of oil, the richness of the broth and the texture of the noodle. Depth of flavor and texture of the noodles were perfect. Cash or debit only. <br/>

Dinner time. Came right when it opened for dinner so it wasn't too busy and service was prompt and friendly.<br/><br/>Had the Shoyu Ramen and Gyozas, both were tasted great, no problems at all~

What a catchy name for a restaurant!  It’s located in the Union Square strip mall where you can also find the Whatever Cafe.  YahYah Ya is near the far corner where you can find Richmond Sushi.  It took over the spot of a former Taiwanese noodle restaurant. We got in a couple of minutes after it opened at 11am on Sunday.  Looking around the restaurant we saw pictures proudly displayed of the same restaurants originating in Tokyo.  The restaurant was operated by Japanese people as we can hear them speaking their native language. Their menu is quite straight forward with the typical soup choices for the Ramen. We started with a half dozen Gyoza which are pan fried dumplings.  They were quite juicy, I think it is pork inside. We tried the regular Miso Ramen here: You can customize your ramen bowl by choosing the strength of the soup, tenderness of noodle and the fattiness of the meat.  We chose mid level for all options.  The noodles had a nice al dente like texture and the soup has a nice taste, not being too salty.  The noodles was a good fair portion but next time I would probably pay the extra $1 to get more ramen. This one is the spicy Ramen: The soup was not as spicy as we would have liked.  Compared to the regular Miso, the soup tasted a tad too bland, not nothing to panic about. In Japan, I remember the ramen restaurants would have fresh ground garlic on the table.  It’s not as common here unfortunately. Service was friendly and we did not have to wait too long for the food.  Prices were fair too.  We would have preferred that they serve tea instead of water like other places though. SFDD gives 3.25 out of 4 Delights. Posted by sanfan at

Best Shio Broth. Best Thick Noodle Texture.. - Best Shio broth I've tried in the Lower Mainland so far.<br/>- Best Thick Noodle texture (2nd is G-men) in the Lower Mainland so far.<br/>- One of my favourite, if not my current favourite ramen place in town.

Nice little ramen shop. I always enjoy coming here good portion great value, friendly service, and generally not such a long line, I recommend.

Bad. Poor. Disappointed.. This is my second visit and the service is T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E.<br/><br/>- No tea/water was served until I requested for it fifteen minutes after we were seated. <br/>- Completely forgot about our order. There were six tables seated after us and some even finished their food before our first bowl of ramen has arrived. I've requested the waitress to follow-up on the order twice in an interval of 15 mins and kept saying the food will be arriving soon but it took me the third time to ask them before they realized they missed the order. <br/><br/>Ramen was only so-so and the gyoza was a little under-cooked. <br/><br/>Disappointed because the reviews seem fairly positive.

I went there 5 since they opened and I think the first 2 times were the best. It all went downhill after, noodles were okay, but the soup base started to taste like diluted with added salt. It was salty with no more depth as it used to be. The meat was still good while they started to care less about their eggs (over cooked or served with the yolk in chunks falling out the white and stuffed back together) service has since went downhill too especially if I were there on a weekend compared to a weeknight. Location is great but I will need to reconsider about coming here or just go back to downtown where I normally have my ramen fix

The famous Liu's is replaces by this ramen joint. Flavorful but too much oil added in the 'normal' level of oiliness of ramen. Left my throat feeling uncomfortable after the meal.. Perhaps select the 'light' oiliness option next time? Operated by Japanese people

Amazing new ramen place in town!. This place is head-to-head with the already top-earning ramen dojo in Richmond<br/> > G-men. <br/><br/>Yah yah's Shoyu Ramen is very scrumptious. I must remember to choose the "Normal" taste next time though as the "Heavy" taste was too..well, heavy.

Best ramen in Richmond. It was good for considered it was located in Richmond. Decent portions and pretty cheap ($9.5/bowl and $13.5 for a set with a small rice bowl). Additional toppings were $1.5. You get to pick your noodles (hard, normal, soft), soup (heavy, normal, light), and oil (more, normal, less). The miso was way too salty, maybe because it was also in heavy soup. They said their No 1 was shoyu and they were right. It was the lightest and the least salty of all. Chashu was very tender and juicy. Each bowl also comes with 1/2 an egg. I thought this place might be empty but people seem to know there was a new ramen place here. They occasionally have lineups too. This place is located right next to Richmond Sushi. At first, I was a little hesitated thinking it might be the same owner as the Richmond Sushi. My only little complaint would be the service. Most ramen places were known for its Japanese style of service (but not really in this place). Both of the servers were disappeared when we wanted our bills and then waiting for change. At one point I felt they did that on purpose because they wanted to keep our change. Anyways, I would still come here instead of Nan Chu for it their Chinese style Ramen.

I once heard from somewhere that Vancouver has as much Ramen restaurants as its bubble tea cafes. This is definitely not the case for Richmond, however. Richmond only has a couple Japanese restaurants specialized in ramen, and none of them is good : (  So when Yah Yah Yah opened I went so excitedly hoping it will be my future ramen spot, but that was not the case. SHO SAD.

A new Japanese-run ramen joint is in town and its name incurs laughter and confusion.  Yah-Yah-Ya Ramen serves noodles “Yokohama Style” and it already has a presence in Tokyo.  However, the neat part is that they emphasize the ability to customize parts of your ramen.

Yayy glad to finally see another ramen joint in Richmond!! Ever since I read about Yah Yah Ya, I've been itching to try it out! Aside from Nan Chuu, the other options for ramen in Central Richmond are quite sparse! This place has only been open for a few weeks, so I was expecting it to be half empty but it was packed when I went for lunch!  I didn't have to wait for a seat though since I was by myself! Ohh, the perks of dining alone ;)  The mural was hand painted by one of the super talented waitresses! I especially love the painting of the ramen hehe! :D Shoyu Ramen 4/5 stars I ordered their ramen combo that comes with a negi-chashu don for a mere $13! On the menu it states that the combo comes with a "small" sized ramen, but when I got my order, it was the same size as the full size ramen hehe! Yay, talk about a deal! You can customize your noodles by noodle firmness, oil content, and saltiness! For my ramen I went with normal noodles, normal oil content, and heavy taste (haha I know

This is probably the best ramen place in Richmond. I heard from a friend that there's this new ramen place that opened. Being ramen lovers, Calvin and I had to go try it. Yah Yah Ya is located in the Union square mall, right beside Richmond Sushi. This place was only opened in July so we thought it would be empty but we were wrong. I think we waited around 20-30 mins for a table. The place isn't very big. There are probably around 10 tables.  You get to choose the type of noodle, the intensity of taste, the the amount of oil. Noodles: hard, normal soft Taste:  Heavy, normal, light Oil: More, Normal, Less Based on their menu, they also have the option of lean or fat chasiu but it wasn't available when we ordered. The ambience is nice and relaxing. I ordered my favourite Shoyu ramen and Calvin ordered his favourite Miso.  We ordered normal for everything. Below is the Shoyu. Miso Ramen. There was a lot of bean sprouts in the Miso. We both liked the Shoyu base better. The Shoyu has a stro

... flavor OK, but a tad lighter than I like (mind you we all chose the 'normal' taste with 'light' oil); chashu OK, decent marbliness, not dry nor too lean; noodles (as with the rest below,  could be a tad thicker and well, more flavorful)...

The Le Kei broth was awesome. It has the depth and complexity of a long simmered broth but tastes light and sweet. It’s been a while since I’ve encountered a soup so delicious all I wanted was to drink every last drop.

Hey Everyone, Recently checked out Yah Yah Ya Ramen, a new ramen place in Richmond (finally)! Usually I’d only go to GMen for ramen if I’m in Richmond, as the other restaurants aren’t very good in Richmond. I believe this place only opened up in the last few months, so there haven’t been too many posts on this yet. It is located to the right of Richmond Sushi in Union Square. Their interior is nicely decorated. They have a self sign in sheet for the waiting list! They even have an umbrella bag stand! This should be at every restaurant! There is a business card stand in the waiting area at the front. It seems this might be a Japanese thing, as I have seen a similar thing at the Sensha-Ya Hand Car Wash, whereas they have two bulletin boards that you can pin up your business card. I heard that this drawing of ramen on the wall was done by one of their waitresses! Cool chopstick pattern! We had a side table for some reason beside our bench seat. It probably acts as a storage compartment fo

The broth was too salty for me though and it really lacked richness even though I ordered it “normal” it just didn’t really taste like much besides salty. Maybe I need it to be heavy tasting and that’s how it is everywhere else and I’m used to it?

S got the Shoyu Ramen , which is their number one ramen. The menu is fairly simple with really only shoyu, miso, shio, or spicy miso to choose from. For each bowl of noodles, you can choose whether you want the noodles: hard, normal, or soft; the taste: heavy, normal, or light; and the oil: more, normal, or less. S went for hard noodles, with heavy taste and normal oil. The shoyu ramen came with chashu, toasted seaweed, spinach, and half a flavoured egg. He also added extra toasted seaweed. I enjoyed this broth a lot more than the miso. Even though he chose heavy taste, I found the broth to be much lighter than many ramen joints. It wasn’t as salty as I would’ve imagined. Miso Ramen For myself, I got the Miso Ramen , which came with chashu, bean sprouts, seaweed, and half a flavoured egg. I chose hard noodles, normal taste and normal oil. The noodles were cooked to al dente, but I found the broth to be quite average and slightly too salty. I would stick with their shoyu soup, which is what they are famous for. The chashu was soft and melted in your mouth. The portions are pretty good and you get a good amount of the toppings for the price. Pros: – Reasonable prices and portions – Service is friendly Co

Six months ago, a new ramen shop opened up in Richmond but I didn't hear about it till recently when my brother went. He said they serve authentic ramen and even though the name of the restaurant was a little odd, he suggested I try it at least once. Meta Knight and I found a perfectly cold night to enjoy some delicious ramen. Yah Yah Ya Ramen is located next to Richmond Sushi and sadly replaced a restaurant I loved called Liu's Taiwanese Restaurant . The interior of this little ramen shop is super cute. It's not noisy like some other ramen shops in downtown where the waiters and waitresses yell a Japanese phrase to every person that enters and leaves. I for one actually like the quaint atmosphere because this is a restaurant I can comfortably bring my family to. They specialize in le-kei soup which is their version of the pork broth. In their broth they use pork bone, chicken bone, konbu,vegetables, and they let that simmer for at least 12 hours before serving. Their menu is really simple. There are only really four 'flavours' to choose from: Miso, Spicy Miso, Shio, and Shoyu. However, you get to further customize your choices by choosing Taste (heavy, normal, light), Noodle (soft, normal, hard), Oil (less, normal, heavy). We went with the Shoyu and Shio ($9.50) with Heavy Taste, Less Oil, and Normal Noodles. The noodles were perfectly al dente for us and I'm glad I didn't go with the hard noodles even though I usually like firmer noodles. While I LOVED my Shoyu with "Heavy Taste and Less Oil", Meta Knight didn't like the Shio with the same customizations. Since Shio means 'salt flavour', it was too salty for him. I say, if you get Shoyu, go with heavy taste but if you get Shio, get normal or light taste. The Chashu (pork) was melt-in-your-mouth and I was so glad they didn't skimp on the meat. Yah Yah Ya actually reminds me of Kintaro because of all the customizations and I absolutely loved their deep, dark, robust broth. I will be returning for sure! Service Ratin

Overall, I liked Yah Yah Ya ramen. It’s a nice addition to Richmond, which lacks good ramen places like downtown. Be prepare to wait as it is a tiny restaurant. However, the turnover is not bad. There are occasions that the waitresses makes mistake, not sure if it’s because they are relatively new or not. But hopefully they will get only better. The noodles and broth are great IMO. I think it’s safe to say this is on my good list of ramen joint! Price is also fair for what it is and competitive with other ramen joints in the lower mainland.

From the waitress who barely spoke English, I deduced that their grand opening was last Monday July 14th, 2014. Pretty fresh! It seems they’ve been active since early June, perhaps in soft opening phase. The menu is small and has the usual flavors, shoyu, shio, miso and spicy miso, from $9.50-$10.50. A basic amount of toppings is included with the option to add more, along with sides. Soft drinks for now, no alcohol license.

The chashu pork, while generous in portion, was pale gray in color, and lacked flavor. It was also too lean, even though we ordered the pork with fat, as compared to the “without fat” option. You can also customize your noodles to be soft, normal, or hard. I had no qualms about either the normal texture of my noodles, or the firmer texture of the noodles in the miso ramen I also sampled. (All bowls come with half of a flavored egg. In the miso ramen, wakame replaces the nori that’s found in the shoyu bowl, with bean sprouts added and spinach removed.) Other ordering options involve oil level (less oil, normal, or oily) and taste (light, normal, or thick).

Ben and I went out for lunch on a Saturday afternoon by ourselves again. We decided to give Yah Yah Ya Ramen another try. The last time we wanted to dine here, there was a line and the boys did not want to wait. Yah Yah Ya Ramen is a relatively new ramen restaurant is Richmond. From the Chinese characters, the name of the restaurant literally means family. When we arrived, there were several people at the waiting area. So, we expected to wait. But when we told the server, there was only the two of us, we got a table immediately. Perhaps, the poeple who were waiting were in larger group and needed a big table. We were lucky. The seating is tight and the table is quite small. Like most Japanese restaurants, the servers greeted customers when they come in and leave the restaurants. So, it’s a bit loud. The menu is just a two page menu. You can click on them to have a larger view. Ben ordered the Spicy Miso Ramen for $10.50. He opted for hard noodle, heavy taste and less oil (I think). His noodle came with chashu, bean sprouts, seaweed and 1/2 flavoured egg. The soup was tasty and rich. He really likes the hard noodle. I ordered the ramen set which is ramen plus a small bowl of Negi-Chashu Don. Since I picked the No. 1 Ramen which is Shoyu Ramen, my set is $13.00. It’s a dollar extra for Spicy Miso Ramen combo. The Shoyu Ramen consist of chashu, toasted seaweed, spinach and 1/2 flavoured egg. The soup is very rich. The first few slurps of the soup was very satisfying but after a while, it felt too rich. I did not finish the soup. But it was good ramen. The Negi Chashu Don (i.e. rice) was packed to the top. It was very tasty too. Yah Yah Ya accepts credit card. However, the server informed us that with effective Nov 2014 onwards, they only accept credit card if the bill is above $30.