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Japanese Ramen Noodle (Tokyo style with chicken soop) and Okonomiyaki only. Very simple but inexpensive.
We have been very hesitant to come here, situated where it is and looking like it does, we figured it was just another place run by Vietnamese or Chinese. But finally we decided to give it a go.
Hey, real Japanese patron at a table. And the dude behind the counter seemed to be Japanese (the guess is Hokkaido actually). Pictures plastered all over the wall with the menu items. They even have a couple of summer special for cold noodles. Things were looking up!
Oh boy, that was about the peak.
The dude, I shall call him "Old", seemed indifferent to us. No greeting, no instructions, no nothing. We just sat ourselves down while he ignored us for several minutes. At least he didn't seem unfriendly, so we cut him some slack. I saw another guy shuffling around the back, I shall call him "Older". Yeah, this place is run by Old & Older. The music seems to fit, it's like I've been dropped back in 1960's Japan in some tiny, insignificant village in the countryside.
Considering we were the only ones who had active orders going, and just 1 other person by the time we ordered, service is sloooooooooow. Okay, so I guess Old 'n Older aren't exactly spring chickens, but still...it was getting a bit ridiculous considering we just ordered a unagi set (roll & nigiri style), cold noodles and okonomiyaki.
The unagi roll was not good. Ingredient quality? Okay, except the rice was totally the wrong type, even ignoring the fact it wasn't properly seasoned. It was a medium or long grain rice. Assembly technique was epic fail.
The cold noodles took forever to come and ... well, we wondered why. All the ingredients should've been able to be sliced, from scratch, in about 2 minutes. It wasn't even great. If I had prepared this at home, I wouldn't be impressed with myself. Maybe if a 5 year old child did it. Again. quality of ingredients, okay, passable, but execution. Ugh.
Last up was the okonomiyaki, which we ordered "Italian" style. They actually make the Hiroshima style I think (yes, many different styles). Here's the kicker, it was actually good. Really good, better than the ones I've had at Clubhouse. I really can't complain about it. Presentation good, ingredients, taste are good, nice balance of all flavours. Good size, good price. And yeah, we've had okonomiyaki in Japan.
I'm so torn. The sushi and noodles were ridiculously bad. You can get better stuff from Fujiya. Heck, I've had better stuff from Thrifty Food's out in Port Moody! On the other hand, the okonomiyaki is good, really quite good. If this was all we ate, I would've given it a big thumbs up. As it stands, what can I say?
Oh well, I might give it another shot, but I would stick with the okonomiyaki and maybe try the hot ramen, but stay away from anything resembling sushi.
I really have to wonder WHY? What's the point? The younger of "Old 'n Older" is easily pushing well past 60, both should've been already retired. So if you're going to bother running a joint at this age, why do such a bad job? No skill, but especially no passion whatsoever.
I discovered this place when I was walking by. At first I thought it was a sushi place but then I noticed that they also serve ramen! My fave!
I decided to try this place even though it didn't look too appealing but it's their pictures that attracted me to go in.
The place is small and looked incomplete. Minimum decor. Just 3-4 tables.
The server/owner and cook is Japanese so I was at ease. I ordered the MIso Ramen and it was quite yummy. The taste was authentic, tasty and light. The table next to me ordered a veggie ramen. I could hear the cook chopping the veggies so I knew it's gonna be fresh and not frozen.
For $6 including tax, I think it's a deal!
Would come again.
Recommended.
Since I arrived at Vancouver, I have never found any decent okonomiyaki around town, so I was not expecting much when I came in the store around 3PM, thinking that it's gonna be a stomach filler like all other ones available in Vancouver.
Wrong.
The storefront is not appealing, and so is the interior. It has some nice looking combos that I couldnt try since I had my lunch already. Ordered an Pork Okonomiyaki and Chicken Yakitori. The store owner was Japanese for sure, but didnt smile much.
Yakitori was alright, but Okonomiyaki, oh man, this is the closest resembelence of real Japanese Okonomiyaki, imho. Decent size, decent appearance, decent taste, couldn't even finish the whole thing.
I will definitely come back to try other stuff next time, including the combos with appealing prices attaches, and, more okonomiyaki for sure.
Went to this restaurant for a gathering with a few friends, due to one's strong suggestion that this restaurant has very good Okonomiyaki.
Food:
We had 3 Okonomiyaki, which were all very good, although they tasted relatively the same with some minor ingredient changes inside. ($7.50-10, decent sized portion for everyone to have a slice)
Cold noodles were average, and sushi was sub-par, perhaps on-par with a halfway decent all you can eat restaurant.
Service:
Service was "EXTREMELY" Slow, with all our food taking about an hour to get to the table, although with how old the people are working there, I can see why this happened.
I didn't see any sort of wait staff? And patrons even got up to serve themselves.
Our water was never refilled by anyone. If you need any sort of service, you have to ring a bell on the counter, and even then they take their time to help you out.
Value:
They have some sort of card you can punch stamps in to get a free dish when it gets full.
8 People eating cost aprx $40 inc tax/tip. Can 8 people really eat for $40? Apparently they can. You might need to spend more to actually get full though.
Ambiance:
many dishes and pictures with prices plastered across the wall. Music from perhaps the 50s or the 60s playing on. 3-4 tables only, super small place. They can barely serve that many tables anyway. No wonder they give discounts on ordering the day before.
Final Thoughts:
if you have a lot of time, don't like to spend too much, and want some ok-ish food and like random hole-in-the-wall places, then definitely give this a shot.
As a Canadian of Japanese decedents and expatriate to Japan, this place makes me feel as if in an inexpensive Ramen-ya, Ogikubo or Shinijuku, Tokyo. There are many Japanese Ramen noodle shops in Vancouver now but their soup is all based on Pork and very thick. Here we can tast chicken based very tasty and light Tokyo's style ramen. Also okonomi yaki was superb. If you like Japanese ramen with chicken soup, this is the place in Vancouver. The price is sooo inexpensive.
Had visited this place once before because of the recommendations and was definately worth a return visit.
Service: Although it was a small restaurant, the waiter greets very promptly. He recommended the daily special which was a good deal on sushi, although I wanted my ramen.
Food: Ordered the chashu shoyu ramen which was very delicious. The broth itself was very clear and tasty, no sign of MSG. The noodles were very consistently chewy with 5 thick cut (not thin) slices of chashu. All in all it was very satisfying but the only thing wasn't good was the soup wasn't extremely hot, it was in between lukewarm to not quite boil.
Value: This is the place for ramen that offers bang for the buck. Total cost was $7 plus $1 tip.
Verdict: The waiter came over and offered japanese burn rice tea and it was very tasty. Menu with nothing over $10, i'll be a regular and will try their sushi in the future. 9.5 out of 10
I've been to this place to eat-in once around the time it opened, but from time to time I go back and order things out. I love the okonomiyaki - really good. I have to say that it's the only okonomiyaki I've eaten, but still. The ramen is not too expensive, but you can definately get more bang for your buck at different ramen places - cause the bowls are kind of small and there's not a lot of ingredients to it. Sushi sucks - the california roll has too much mayo and I do not understand having a salmon avacado roll - it doesn't taste very good at all. Salmon was not all that fresh either. The rice was not rolled tightly enough. The gyoza is small, but pretty good actually. That's all I've tried here. Great service though!! I'm always greeted with a smile and leave with them smiling.
This is a small, diner-like place.
Food was good. Miso ramen w pork was nicely flavored and nice size bowl -not too big or too small.
Gyoza x3 was nicely pan-fried just like mom's.
Great deal for $7.
Server was pleasant and quick. Tea refills were prompt.
Food arrived quickly too.
I'll be back to try more of the menu.
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