Menya

A recent trend in Vancouver restaurants that has proven wildly successful is the ramen joint. Ramen, the traditional noodle of Japan, bears little resemblance in taste or form to the noodle staples of other nearby cultures. Vancouver has enough of a Japanese native population that it has seen one after another ramen joint appear in the last few years.

Unlike other types of food, for some reason there are no inauthentic ramen joints. By definition, if it's a ramen joint, it's authentic, at least here. Sushi joints here are a more uneven proposition, often being run by people with no interest in the craft. Ramen joints at least are a safe visit. You know that you'll be getting the real thing, created by someone who learned the craft in Japan.

I learned while on a brief visit to Tokyo many years ago that every ramen joint in Japan has their own secret recipe. I had a blast going around sampling all the different types of ramen. The recent proliferation of ramen joints in Vancouver allows you to have the authentic ramen-hopping experience minus the expensive plane ticket.

The kingpin of Vancouver ramen joints is Kintaro, at the corner of Denman and Robson. A veritable colony of ramen joints have mushroomed up in the immediate vicinity of Kintaro in the last few years. At present I count three others that started up over the last two years within a block of Kintaro (Motomachi, Benkei and Hokkaido, in that order), not to mention several Izakayas (Kingyo, Hapa, Guu, Gyoza King) and a hibachi joint (Zakkushi). A quick Google search reveals at least half a dozen here and there further on the outskirts of town. (There used to be one way out in Port Coquitlam, but I'm not sure it's still there after all these years.) I've never been so spoiled when it comes to Japanese food.

Menya at 491 West Broadway is one of the most recent entrants in the ramen race. Ramen tends to range between about $7 and $9, somewhat steep for a bowl of noodles. You can get a big bowl of pho at one of the dozens of pho joints throughout the city for a few bucks less, and it will be a considerably healthier meal. Ramen tends to be comparabily higher in sodium and fat.

Menya is not exempt from that gripe. I sampled their miso ramen today for lunch ($7.50), and it was typically competent in its production, with a few minus points. The pork on top was cold. It warmed up eventually when dunked in the broth, but still. Not enough picked bamboo shoots, too many sprouts - the same could be said of most of the ramen joints here. Broth good but not extraordinary. By no means a bad ramen. A very passable ramen. I prefer this tonkotsu miso ramen to that of Kintaro, famous for their big vats of boiling pork bone used to make the monstrously fatty dashi in their ramen. Kintaro comes in three fatty levels, and Menya miso ramen ranks about at the lower of the three. Imagine the heart-clogging monstrosity that is 'fat' Kintaro ramen.

Menya has three other varieties of ramen. The abbreviated selection is typical. Ramen joints focus on a few things, and do them well consistently.

They have a few curveballs on the menu - so-called "Jah-Jah-Men" and "Tan-Tan-Men", which are presumably mods of the mandarin dishes zha jiang mian and dan dan mian. I sampled the Jah-Jah-Men, and it was quite passable despite bearing little resemblance to the original recipe.

A perfunctory udon dish and soba dish top off the brief menu. The sides are mostly typical with the exception of karashi takana, a small bowl of picked collard-like greens spiced up with red pepper. It was delectable, a refreshing change from the usual sides, and one of the best dishes of bitter greens I've ever had. At $1.50, it was a reasonable way of rounding off the meal in Korean style with a few bites of sides between bites of main. Although in an ideal world every ramen joint would include a side or two alongside the ramen, considering such a hefty pricetag for a bowl of noodles.

Menya has proven reliably popular, as have every one of the ramen joints that have opened up in Kintaro's wake. Menya's small but craftily designed space seems filled every day around the lunch hour. The benches made of massive polished tree stumps are a nice touch that give the space a unique character. Each ramen joint is a pleasure to visit because they put so much thought into designing their tiny spaces in a way that cleverly convinces you that being packed elbow to elbow at the same table with perfect strangers is part of the package - key to authenticity - not an uncomfortable invasion of personal space.

In short, Menya is a very decent ramen joint that is as reliable as any of the others in town. Don't expect anything out of the ordinary, just competently made ramen, and you won't be disappointed.