Help me! I think I must be addicted to ramen! After trying Taishoken’s satisfying tsukemen, I had to go back to try their standard bowl of miso ramen for comparison.
No doubt about it, that area between Chinatown and Gastown is still a bit rough. But now it’s becoming a foodie zone with Chambar, Bestie, Wildebeest, Pidgin, Bitter, The Abbey, Taishoken and Hai Phong’s new location near T&T all within walking distance of each other.
Regular, non-special Miso Ramen. Doesn’t come with egg and only has two slices of pork, versus the special one that comes with egg and two extra slices of pork. You can specify pork belly or loin 🙂 Belly for me, of course! Full menu available on this post.
Belly slices weren’t cooked as much as last time 🙁 so the fat layer was still springy instead of melty, which I prefer. Ah well. I think they’re still trying to nail their consistency. They need to hit their pork and soft-boiled eggs every time or else I’ll be sad 🙁
So they DO use the same noodles as the tsukemen. Nice change from Santouka’s thinner noodles. These have heft, chew and body. The bamboo shoots are tangy and crunchy, as they were last time. I really like them!
The soup deserves special mention. It’s a thick, glossy, almost goopy kind of soup. As Moyenchow mentioned to me, it’s like “demi-glace” 🙂 The thickness of the soup at Taishoken is definitely a feature, not a bug 😉 that might put some people off but I like it. I experimented by putting some of their vinegar, chili oil, chili powder and white pepper into the miso broth. Everything tasted good except the vinegar…it was a bit weird in the miso. I think it’d work better in the Shoyu or Spicy ramen.
If I had to choose miso ramen or tsukemen, I’d choose tsukemen. The extra richness in the soup, the taste of cold noodles and warm soup in your mouth, and the fun in dipping and eating just makes tsukemen a better overall experience for me. Still:
CRUSHED IT! I didn’t even need to thin it out with the jug ‘o broth that they provide. I drank it all, said “ahhhhh oishi”, then rushed off to my next foodie adventure 😉
Were you eating with Wicca or why are there no green onions?! It doesn’t come with green onions!?
The menu actually shows the miso ramen with NO green onions. I guess they thought it tastes better without? Even though all the other ramens include green onion… Sharp eyes! 🙂
You should have been there at the soft opening! The broth was off the scale with a savory depth and this scotch-like smokiness. Alas, it’s a little bit more normal now. I like the Tsukemen here a bit more than the offering at Santouka though. Not bad overall.