Ramen Gaoh

As I am fond of saying, there is little that approaches ramen on a cold rainy early spring day. We started the day with the idea of looking for cherry blossoms and ended up seeking warmth and shelter. We visited Ramen Gaoh before the circuit breaker shut down so don't be alarmed by the dine-in photos!

Located in Burnaby at Hastings and Willingdon, RG is related to Ramen Butcher so that assured us that we were in for something good. Don't forget to put your name on the list when you arrive. We've been to a few places with this system where there is no indication beyond your own intuition (or another person waiting and willing to tell you) that you need to do this. The wait was brief enough and we were seated socially distant from our neighbours.

We started with a Mini Cha-Tama Don. It is a rice bowl with some soft scrambled eggs and chashu. It was one of those legendary comforting dishes along the lines of oyakodon. It was served with some seaweed to sprinkle over the top. This was a very nice side dish.

We ordered one of our main dishes as a combo that came with gyoza and rice. The gyoza were tasty with a nice sear on one side and soft steaminess on the other.

I have become a Black Garlic Ramen guy and find it hard to resist when it is on the menu. This was rich and garlicky and definitely not for a first date. There was a decent amount of nicely seared chasu. The noodles here are house-made and have a very nice texture and chew. You aren't given a bunch of options (which drives me crazy) they just cook them correctly. This was an excellent bowl of soup.

Mharie has become fond of Tsukem. The noodles and broth come separately and you dip your noodles as you go along. Curiously, I don't see this on the online menu but I can assure you that they have it. What is more, it came with the Kaarage chicken option. There was a generous portion of really tasty chicken lot of noodles and bamboo shoots and nice rich broth. Another hit as far as we were concerned. 

There is not a lot of room here once pandemic limits are applied (a couple of tables out on the patio in addition to what you see here), and less now that take out and patio only rules apply. The servers were very nice and the kitchen seems efficient. There are a lot of menu options as far as ramen is concerned including some vegan choices.

Food                         4 out of 5

Comfort                    4 out of 5

Service                     4 1/2 out of 5

Value                        4 out of 5