Menya Japanese Noodle: Nagahama Ramen

Menya Japanese Noodle Restaurant is a small restaurant at the corner of Broadway St. and Yukon St. 

Menya Japanese Noodle Restaurant

We arrived at the restaurant for dinner and they weren't very busy at all so we were quickly seated and served tea. The outside of the restaurant made it seem boring and plain, but when I entered, they're actually quite cute and unique. They have long benches along the wall as well as stools (for sitting, not poop), which gave it a kind of street-eat feeling.

Menya Japanese Noodle

I ordered what seemed to be their most popular and the specialty, the Nagahama ramen. The description states that it is "authentic tonkotsu ramen" with pork bone soup and Menya special soy sauce.

Nagahama Ramen $6.95

The ramen came with two pieces of pork (cha shu), sliced ear clouds, bamboo shoots, green onion, and pickled ginger. You have the choice of adding extra toppings such as egg, corn, seaweed, etc. Obviously I cannot say if it's authentic or not as I've never been to Japan to eat the "real" stuff.

Nagahama ramen $6.95

I've been to a handful of Japanese ramen restaurants in Vancouver but I haven't had enough to say which place is my favourite because they've all tasted similar. (Read my post on Santouka ramen.) The type of ramen usually depends on which region it is from and this was my first time having Nagahama ramen and I found that it tasted the a lot different from the ones in downtown. The taste was much milder and less saltier, and I might even say bland. You can choose the thickness of the noodles and I just chose normal. They weren't as chewy and I thought, they were OK. 

Crispy Gyoza

I heard that their gyoza are one of the bests, but I'm not sure if I can agree with that. The presentation was definitely unique as they were all served "upside down" and slightly being stuck to each other. They were tasty, but I wouldn't say the best. 

There's also the option of adding extra noodles for $1.50 and I should have done that because I went home and ate a second dinner. A regular-sized bowl of ramen noodles was definitely not that filling! Like Marulilu Cafe's Japanese breakfast, Menya's food are also relatively plain and not overly salty (like most ramen). So if you don't like strong spices and want something that is lighter than typical ramen, then Menya is your choice!