My Ramen Education

I eat a lot. Thai, Italian, Indian, Mexican - doesn't matter, I'll eat it. Ramen, on the other hand, scares me. It comes with a soup spoon and chopsticks, which in my case is like dancing with two left feet. I don't eat it very elegantly and, most of the time, I don't even know what I'm eating. Then comes the broth - tonkotsu, miso, shio, shoyu and curry - which causes me anxiety since I have no idea what they all mean and what their flavour profiles should be. I have decided that that ends here. "I ain't scared of no ramen!" - is what I hope to tell myself by the end of the year. What better place to re-start my ramen journey than Vancouver! Yes, yes, Japan would be better but baby steps here.

I tried to pick a place that wasn't too busy, but that had good reviews. On a Friday night, that wasn't happening so we just popped into Danbo Ramen on Robson Street. This place apparently serves Fukuoka-style ramen, which I learned is a city on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Me thinks I need a geography lesson as well. Sigh. On to the menu!

Okay, so Danbo Ramen is all about customizing your ramen (noodle thickness and firmness, thickness of broth, amount of lard, spice level and toppings). Oh god, I am sweating profusely. I just want someone to pick for me!!!! I tried to let the waitress guide me and settled on the Classic Rekka Ramen (tonkotsu pork broth) with classic thin noodles, standard firmness, standard broth and a little lard, topped with a soft-boiled egg. Aaaaand..... breathe! Rekka ramen is a bit spicy as shichimi togarashi powder is added to the dish. What is that you ask? Tell you I will young Padawan. It is a powder made from chillies, dried orange peel, peppercorns, sesame seeds, dried ginger and seaweed.

We also got some gyoza because gyoza is life! Actually, the gyoza was just okay. Sorry.

After about 15 minutes, it was game time. I was determined to coordinate my soup sipping and noodle slurping with minimum embarrassment even though I felt everyone was staring at me. Okay, here goes.

First the broth: whoa, flavourtown. Spicy for sure but just the right amount with almost a creamy consistency. The noodles were super thin and on the firmer side; I read somewhere that they serve a smaller portion of the noodles in each bowl because the noodles lose their elasticity in the hot broth so you can order an additional serving of noodles. Let me tell you this, I was stuffed after devouring this. I definitely wanted more of the tender braised pork belly and that perfectly cooked egg, but I'm glad I didn't cave. I would have had to unbutton my pants (no shame in that), but I had high-wasted panties on so perhaps the people next to me would have cared. TMI? C'mon, we are all friends here!

Oh I almost forgot, my dinner date had the Miso Chashu-men, which comes with extra pieces of the pork belly. The broth was significantly less spicy, more salty, lighter and earthier than my broth. I liked them both for different reasons, but today, the spicy broth won.

Bottom line, I survived. My slurping skills still need to improve and that will only get better the more ramen I eat. Vancouver, I see your ramen game is strong. Challenge accepted.