This spring saw the arrival of Ramen Taka on Vancouver’s busy “Ramen Row.” Situated off Robson St on Bidwell in the West End, Ramen Taka opened their first location of the Hokkaido-style noodle soup shop outside of Japan right here in Vancouver, and now they’re prepping a second Metro Vancouver location.
Ramen Taka is heading into Richmond, at unit 2780 in the bustling Aberdeen Centre.
The 950 square-foot space is just a bit bigger than Taka’s Bidwell digs, and will offer seating for 30 customers, confirms a rep for Ramen Taka via e-mail.
Short for “Ramen Taka notsume,” the name comes from the hometown of owner Hideki Sasaki, Takasu in Hokkaido, Japan. In Ainu, an aboriginal Hokkaido language, Takasu essentially means “eagle resides,” and so, to play on this meaning, and the notion of drawing customers in, Sasaki’s ramen shops are named for the “eagle’s claw.”
Customers can expect the Richmond Ramen Taka to follow in the “Ainu” theme and Hokkaido tradition, and the decor will be inspired by patterns of clothing and household items used by native Hokkaido people.
The menu will be virtually identical in Richmond to Ramen Taka’s Vancouver outpost, with the addition of a “less salt” option.
Ramen Taka is known for their rich, fatty, pork-based broth. While other ramen styles call for a broth base that uses both chicken and pork (with a faster cook time), Taka’s long-simmering flavour-extracting process of using pork bones and seafood means an intense depth of flavour in bowls such as their signature Dragon’s Dewdrop Shoyu Ramen.
Their Miso ramen, also a popular choice, uses a special blend of miso along with the addition of fruit, for an extra tart-sweet note. Rather than either broth come out muddled, the end results are surprisingly clear and harmonious broths.
To keep with the Hokkaido tradition, your broth at Ramen Taka can be punctuated with the addition of lard (or a non-animal oil for their special vegan broth). This is because in Hokkaido, locals prefer to slurp from extremely hot bowls of soup; the extra fat seals in the heat.
Additionally, Taka stands out for their use of egg-free noodles that have a unique snap; this makes Taka well-suited to have created a vegan ramen for the Vancouver market. If you’re opting for meat, however, you’ll find the chashu (pork slice) thinner than you might be accustomed to; that’s because the lard in the broth is meant to balance and soften the meat.
Ramen Taka says they are aiming to open in Richmond at Aberdeen Centre in February 2019.
