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Ezogiku Noodle Cafe is a Ramen lovers heaven. Huge servings and low prices make it a fave for the budget conscious.
Went there for a quick bite to eat and ordered the miso ramen and gyoza combo. Only received one slice of meat which I thought was a bit skimpy. The soup was very good and lots of veggies. Noodles were adequate and I would say the same quality as the ones you can get from the supermarket. Gyoza tasted Ok. Service was a bit slow and unorganized. Would not go back.
When I go to a place for the first time, I usually get the house special as a chance to let the chef "show me what they have" and wow me. They suggested the Miso Ramen, and boy was I surprised, but not in a good way.
The noodles were overcooked, soggy and had no 'bite' to them. They weren't dried noodles, but definitely not made on site, probably brought in frozen - a big 'no-no' for a so called Ramen place.
The broth had no depth whatsoever. It was very bland tasting, and needed more sharpness from onion, and ginger. I put in 4 tbsp of Chilli powder to wake it up, but nothing can save it. It was uninspired, just a scoop of Miso paste and some soy sauce basically. It was not braised for hrs using pork stock like it should be.
My ramen bowl was huge, but it was 50% sprouts and cabbage and carrots, not exactly top of the line veggies here. It was obvious that the place just wanted to provide me with cheap filler. Oh, the best part was that there was ONE, yes 1 piece of braised pork.
After visiting Japan several times, and seeing the front of house here was Japanese, I was excited because Japanese usually have high standards for food quality and precision. I dont know what went wrong here, its obvious whoever runs this place now just does so to make a buck, and not to make a great Ramen. Sure, they made $8 for my bowl of ramen and tip, but you lost me as a repeat customer, however I dont think anyone there really cares.
Why bother?
I ordered the Goma Miso Chicken Bowl without the gyoza combo, because they did not have vegetarian gyoza.
The bad points:
* Why no veggie gyoza?
* Chicken was disgusting. It was not chicken breast but the worst pieces with skin still on (ugh) that I would probably give to my dog.
* FULL of cabbage of course and about three beans. This is the worst cheapout ever, to bulk things up with a bunch of cabbage and bean sprouts.
* says it comes with veggies. So those three lonely beans were considered the veggies?
Some good points:
* Service was good. Girl was nice at the counter and food was served quickly.
* Flavoring was good, but all I could eat were about 5 pieces of decent chicken and the rice that sopped up the flavor.
Final thoughts:
In a town filled with Asian food, why don't you at least make the Asian food good? Use quality ingredients, real chicken breast, don't chinze and use a bunch of cabbage, use real vegetables. The beans were great - use more of those at least!
The last time I was here was a few months ago. So i am not sure how much it has changed. But this used to be a popular spot that I frequent for lunch. And I used to get the Miso Ramen with the Gyoza. The last ime i was here i noticed the topping getting skimpy. So it was mainly noodle with broth sprinkled with veggies and a few pieces of protein. This place used to be a fav place of mine. But times are a changing. And there are more options now. After reading the last couple of review, i will be on the alert for a return. Thanks.
So on June 20, 2008, I did some research and went to Ezogiku for Ramen after bad experience at Gyoza King.
I ordered Charshu Ramen for $7.69 and added gyoza for $1.50. The Ramen tasted ok, and fair amount of charsh as well with some veggies (bok-choy). There are 4 pieces of gyoza. They tasted just like those frozen ones you can buy at T&T, and the skin was broken....
I'm not a tough rater at all, just can't find a place that can satisfy me. I would come again if I ran out of choices, which I highly doubt that.
I've been to this place many years ago, and then sometime last year. I thought I'd give it a try and I must say that the shio ramen that I ordered was quite bland. Also the gyoza was very mushy and the filling didn't stick together. Doesn't seem authentic anymore. A shame really. Now I need to find another place to have a bowl of ramen.
I used to eat here years ago whenever I was in Vancouver. The ramen was excellent, and great value. But now they took a nose dive. The ramen just doesn't taste as good anymore...
Service can be quick or slow, it depends what time you get there.
Even though it doesn't taste as good, you'll be full for less than $10.
Decor is so-so... I prefer to see the chefs actually working like at Benkei or Kintaro.
This used to be my favorite place for soba in Vancouver (closely followed by Kintaro Ramen) and I ate there at least twice a month. Their teryaki chicken shoyu ramen was authentically Japanese and perfectly balanced.
I went there few weeks ago only to discover that they "improved" the menu. My guess is that the owner changed, but it does not really matter. They changed noodles, the changed soup base, the changed toppings. Now it tastes like a Japanese-style wonton soup without wontons and with instant noodles. And a crab stick. Yuck.
I used to love this place.. they had the best meat out of all other ramen places I tried.. but now I find that everything just tastes bland. i usually have the miso ramen.. the flavour is much too mild.. the meat is also flavourless.. what happened!! :( servers are nice and i sorta like how most seats are at the counter (although it calls for a lack of privacy). I honestly don't think I will be coming back, seeing as there are other ramen places in close proximity.
We used to go there a lot. Since their reopen, I notice the portion has gone smaller and I had a suspicion of change of ownership. It’s just not as good as it used to be.
Before, I would have no room for the tasty broth after eating the noodles, now, I can finish the noodles and drink all the broth. It’s not good value for the same price any more. And, what happened to the veggie noodles? I was having problem finding it on the menu. The veggie& chicken is the closest I can get some veggies, and the cubed chicken had no taste at all. I couldn’t eat it and had to pick it out. The broth is still good, but the portion is so inconsistent and the topping got stingy. My hubby ordered BBQ pork ramen and there was only half small baby bok choy besides the pork. What a shock to see how sparse the topping is now.
We are thinking about trying other noodle places on Robson.
For the second time (slow learner me)I tried the new reopened Ezogiku Noodle Cafe on Robson only because I had a card to claim and I thought they may have just had a short term problem. Prior to their closing I eat there with friends at least once a week. I had tried shortly after they reopened and I had found the food then to be terrible but I was a bit under the weather so I thought it was me. But today I went back with some friends and found out that the quality of the food is terrible. A friend who was just back from Honolulu where he had gone to the Ezogiku there and it was as before —great. If you read there counter card that now list all the additions that were included before you will read that the change is for a more traditional Ramen, —heifer dust. What they make taste like the stuff you get in a package maybe the tradition is to make Ramen taste like it was made in cellophane. The poor waitress was rushed off her feet, I am sure she thanked God when some customer tired of waiting drank their water then just left. The new design is good but not worth the visit. So much for improvements.
A fantastic place for lunch and huge portions of great noodles/udons etc. If you go for lunch, prepare to take an hour or more because it is SLOW. If you show up at 12:10, forget about getting a seat - packed! Go on off times, and the service is much better and a nice quiet place to enjoy a big bowl of various noodles! Mmmmmm...
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