This is Plant Curious set up a pop-up discount for Vegan Shoku, which would only last for two weeks! On our last visit, we noticed ramen on the menu and determined that we would return to give it a try. There is no time like the present!
We made the trek to Kerrisdale to take advantage of the 40% off dinner items up to a maximum of $25. Nice!
We came for the ramen but wanted to try a couple more items from the rather lengthy menu starting with the Vegan Spam Teriyaki Roll. I didn't dislike spam before I became vegan, but I always worried about what I may have been eating. With the vegan version, we know we are not eating mystery animal bits. The taste was surprisingly like the canned meat but was crispy thanks to a thin tempura coating. With the Teriyaki sauce added, this was a great roll!
Next up was the Crunch Roll, which was essentially a deep-fried California Roll! I still can't figure out the pearls even after getting an explanation from our server. Strawberry-ish with an interesting berry-like skin. I ate all the garnish on this plate!
I hate to disparage what has become a breakthrough vegan joint in Vancouver, but the soup was just not the best we've had. The Chicken Ramen had very tasty chicken, which could have been seitan, and we loved it. I got my tofu for the day and there were other nice additions, but the butternut squash broth was a little low on flavour. Could it have just been a matter of salt? We did add some soy sauce and that helped
The other ramen that we chose was the Tempura Ramen. Same problem with the somewhat bland broth (we like the idea of butternut squash broth but it needs to be tweaked). The noodles of course, suffered the fate of needing salt as well but we liked the texture and there was a decent amount in the bowl. This one came with a side dish of 2 vegan shrimp and 2 yam tempura, which we took the liberty of dipping in the ramen. Very nice!
VS offers a few desserts, including the Mango Mousse Cake, This was very tasty and featured different textures and components. The drizzle in the photo was not chocolate as you may guess but was more of a soy sauce savoury kind of thing. It made an interesting contrast to the sweet cake but I really can't decide if this was an intentional thing or a mistake!
Despite the less-than-stellar ramen, we still love this place as one of the most creative and enjoyable vegan places in Metro Vancouver. The staff were once again so friendly and helpful. We'll be back!
Feel free to search this blog for tales of our first visit.
Food 4 out of 5
Vegan Options 5 out of 5
Comfort 4 out of 5
Service 5 out of 5
Vallue 4 out of 5
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