Menya Japanese Noodle on West Broadway and Yukon

When we had to deal with -7 °C temperatures last week, the rest of Canada was laughing at us whiners in Vancouver. Much of Canada was way colder with some cities at -30 °C. Whether it is -30 °C or -7 °C, it is freezing. To think of it, it is still not winter yet.

It was supposed to have some flurries last night — it didn’t. We have everything primed for snowfall except for one small detail, moisture.

One thing came to our mind each time we encounter freezing weather. At this time of the year, Suanne will agree to anything that has hot soup. I have a feeling that for the next few months, we are going to have blog posts of Pho, Ramen, Hot Pots and such.

It was Suanne’s choice to have Ramen. She likes Ramen a lot. We had been to Kintaro which claimed to have the best ramen in North America. It was good but Suanne does not like the lines, the small outlet and the rush you feel eating there. I understand. You can’t really slurp each bite of the ramen at your leisure there when there are people milling around waiting for a table.

Ramen purists will be disappointed with this. The favourite Ramen place that our family like the best is Ajisen Ramen. LOL! We really do. They have a nice variety of ramen. OK, let me put it this way to placate the Ramen purists … they have a nice variety of “ramen”.

This time we went to Menya which is located at the corner of Broadway and Yukon.

Menya is very Japanese. The moment we walked in, we were greeted enthusiastically in Japanese. That is one of many aspects of the Japanese culture we admire so much. Despite so much similarity to the Chinese culture, sometimes I wonder why in the area of restaurant service it is like night and day. The difference is so stark that I think I would be stunned if I get that kind of greeting and service in a Chinese restaurant of this size.

Menya has that rustic feel to it. The chairs are made of tree stumps. I am beginning to notice that tables too. I think I see this in several Japanese restaurants before. They have a little drawer underneath it and a hook by the side. Suanne and I figured that this is a common feature in Japanese restaurant tables where space is a premium and as such the drawer is a practical way save real estate on the table top. As for hooks, it is too low for jackets for sure. We think it is to hang ladies handbags. Are we right?

The menu is small and simple. It is just a 1 pager with seven choices of ramen. On tip though, pay attention to the Specials written on chalk board. Every now and then they have something new not on the menu.

That’s what I did. I ordered the Tan-Tan Men off the chalk board. This is $8.50. It is cooked in pork broth with spicy red chili oil. It is more spicy than it looks. One would normally associate spiciness with red. It is topped with ground pork and vegetables.

Taste-wise, it is dominated by the sesame paste. The soup is rich which is alright but we both did not think it is something we would order next time round. It is just too rich and too much sesame paste that we personally do not quite like.

I should have gone with my initial choice of Menya Shoyu Ramen.

Suanne went with the safer choice. She had … More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Menya Japanese Noodle on West Broadway and Yukon (506 words)

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Post tags: Japanese, Restaurant Review, Vancouver