One of my favourite ramen places in Vancouver. The tonkotsu shio ramen I had was delicious and reasonably priced as well. Been here a few times in the past and will definitely come back.
Great little ramen spot with lots of options and good quantity. I had the spicy miso and it was all around good. The egg was a little over cooked. Definitely want to try some of the other ramen, such as the tonkontsu and the black garlic. Also the smoked chasu sounds good too.
Eat Sleep Eat Repeat
+3.5
Word of mouth puts Koika amongst the top ramen joints in the west side and after taking down a couple bowls here I can see why. My first visit I had the chicken tomago ramen with their signature smoked chashu. I have to say it was one of the best bowls I've had in Vancouver, the broth was rich and bursting with chicken flavour, the smokey chashu was over the top and it came with 2 delicious eggs. My second visit I had the triple black tonkotsu with no add ons. The broth was good but it was nothing special, the chicken was much better; however, I enjoyed the steamed spinach topping, not something you typically find in ramen but it should be. The service here is good and food comes fast, just what you would expect from a ramen joint. I definitely appreciate the variety of ramen types offered here, but the chicken tomago will be my go-to from now on.
You shouldn't have to worry about a line here unlike other spots(santouka..) both times I visited mid-afternoon on Saturday and there were only a few other customers. The restaurant is set up with a few smaller tables as well as bar-type seating so best not to bring large groups.
“Ramen Koika” is home to the only ramen challenge in the city. Here, the goal is to finish one of their “Big Bowls” of ramen in under 10 minutes. Also making it the only challenge that you have to undertake in such short amount of time. And when you layer on the fact that it is served piping hot, we went in knowing we had a slim chance of winning. However, there are apparently six individuals who have attempted and succeeded in their challenge, and the seventh we witnessed during our stay. A victory earned them their photo on the restaurant’s wall, the challenge for free, and a gift certificate for another bowl on the house during their next visit.
They always have fun promotions going on, came in here during the summer for their tsukemen (cold noodle) ramen promo, and they have some sort of Trick-or-Treat promo going on right now? They also have a variety of ramen compared to other places around the area. Food wise, it's pretty ok!! Not the absolute best, but its still very yummy. Enjoyed the food here. It also didn't give me the runs. 4/5 stars.
YUMMM! Decided to try this spot after passing my it many times, and dragged my boyfriend in even tho he doesn't like ramen. I ordered the panfried gyoza to share, the spicy Queens Ramen with shredded pork for him, and the kimchi ramen for myself. Both broths were on point with big portions and the Gyoza was tasty. Also, for someone that disliked ramen, he ate it all ;p
Ramen Koika is located on Davie Street opened by Caleb Lee. He traveled to Japan to learn how to make ramen in Chiba, Tokyo and Osaka. Did you know he also was a banker before getting into the restaurant industry? Vancouver Sun has a pretty good article talking about it how they began their journey into creating Ramen Koika.
I find that with some of the ramen, it has a lot of toppings that didn't add too much flavour to the ramen. Perhaps it's just a style that wasn't what I liked at Ramen Koika. My personal preference for ramen is very rich and fatty with less amount of toppings.
It's good that they offer more options than just ramen, so if you are with friends that don't want ramen, they can find other types of items on their menu.
Ramen Koika has been on my list of restaurants to try since forever... finally got a chance to try it!
I got drawn to this place from their spicy ramen challenge thing that have. But being it was my first time, thought I wouldn't go so extreme yet.
I got the Shoyu Ramen with soft noodles and Lean Cha-shu. My boyfriend got the Black Ramen with hard noodles and Fatty Cha-shu. Both broths were quite flavorful. Their eggs are perfection. I always add corn to my ramen, which they give a more generous portion than other ramen places. There wasn't much difference between the soft and hard noodles.
Overall, I really enjoyed it! My next challenge will be their spicy ramen!
May 29, 2016
Met up another foodie friend of ours for dinner. I've been craving Tsukemen, so that's why we came here. We were here around 8PM, the place wasn't very busy.
Ugly Onigiri - Very plain. I like how it had lots of seaweed flakes and seasame on top. The rice was warm. The tuna inside tasted like it was from a can.
Pork Gyoza - Homemade. Full of pork. Never had a gyoza so meaty before. It was delicious.
Tokyo Tsukemen - I got the spicy option as the lady said it wasn't too spicy. Mind you, I love spicy, but my stomach gets upset easily nowadays. It came with a big plate of ramen noodles made fresh in the house. I ate it pretty quickly. I even order extra noodles for $3 extra. It was 10 minutes wait, but it was worth it to me.
Service - Pretty good. Lady checked up on us a few times. Very nice. She even heated my dipping sauce back up for my extra noodles.
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