You can download the this week’s  format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 5 – Japadog Eat Your Heart Out

Image cutline:The only word that can describe Zakkushi’s legendary chicken meatball aka Tsukune is … ‘YUM!’

If you ever wondered how the creators of Japadog got inspired into making their acclaimed street meat, look no further than your local Izakaya.

Fury: An Izakaya is a Japanese after-work drinking and unwinding destination that serves up small dishes in a communal atmosphere. Uncomplicated, fast, and fun.

Raj: When I lived in Japan, ultimately my coworkers and I lived for one thing – getting to the Izakaya for a dozen after-work bevies. Heck, most of our business entertaining was done in Izakayas.

Fury: You mean when the clients weren’t taking you to hostess bars, right?

Raj: … You mean… Karaoke bars…

Fury: I know you love public humiliation… anyways, back to Izakayas. There many types of Izakayas out there.  Yakitori, literally translated to “barbequed-bird” is essentially meat and vegetable skewers that are grilled to perfection over a charcoal grill.  Zakkushi’s topmost chefs take this whole charcoal grill business to a new level in their quick-paced open kitchen-bar.

Raj: If there’s one thing that Zakkushi is really known for, it’s their Tsukune (pronounced skoo-nay), a Japanese chicken meatball that’s grilled over intense heat generated from special charcoal imported from Japan. Retaining up to 1000 degrees of heat, even the charcoal in Japan has an outrageous work ethic!

Fury: They grill their chicken-ball skewers from raw as opposed to par- boiling them, resulting in a much juicier and more flavourful meatball.  A squeeze of Japanese mayo, a hit of seaweed, a two-litre bottle of Asahi’s “Bigboy” beer, and you’re ready to rock!

Editor: Raj and Fury also enjoyed the newly launched Kobe beef-ball skewers on their beer-fueled rampage that evening.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, entrepreneur, social media juggernaut and foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com and publishes a miscellany of musings at raj.jp and on twitter @tinhead. Melody Fury is the founder of Vancouver Food Tour.  Follow this YVR lifestyle ambassador on twitter @GourmetFury.

Indeed, it was a worthwhile adventure into the Land of the Sleeping Dragon right in the heart of Vancouver. The ‘Lion’s Head’ is a customary dish in Shanghai, which usually has pork as its main ingredient, and is normally boiled or steamed. There is also a Cantonese version of the dish, which makes use of beef instead of pork and is considered a dim sum dish. Another variant of this dish is made of pulverized fish instead of meat. This is definitely an appetizing dish which more than a billion people would never go wrong with.

You can download the this week’s  format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 4 – Raiders of the Lost Meatball

Image cutline: The leafy green vegetables surrounding this delicious meat-boulder represent the mane of the Lion’s Head.

The quest for Vancouver’s ultimate meatball has taken us to many foreign culinary lands and this episode is no exception.

Raj: Legend has it that there’s a mystical meatball known only as the “Lion’s Head” in the Far East.

Fury: Hailing from the heart of China, we dared to try this specialty at Shanghai Village on Cambie Street. Traditionally, the Lion’s Head is a dish comprised of several meatballs in a sizzling claypot.

Raj: What was initially just a quest for a new flavor played out like the most famous Indiana Jones scene ever!  Picture this: you’re in a booby-trap filled temple, and all of a sudden you’re running for your life to avoid being crushed by a two ton boulder.

Fury: To our amazement, Shanghai Village only serves one prolific meat-boulder.  You can’t stuff the whole ball into your mouth here!

Raj: Aside from the size, this was the first pork meatball we’ve tried on this journey.  It tastes like it’s infused with some sort of tea.

Fury: That would be the preserved cabbage that brings a touch of sweetness and smokiness to the mix.

Raj: And what about that mystery brown sauce that they slather on everything? What’s up with that?

Fury: Don’t diss it until you try it mixed into a bowl of steamy rice.  It’s the ultimate comfort staple, yo.

Editor: Fury and Raj completed this voyage unscathed and lived to write about it.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, entrepreneur, social media juggernaut and foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com and publishes a miscellany of musings at raj.jp and on twitter @tinhead. Melody Fury is the founder of Vancouver Food Tour.  Follow this YVR lifestyle ambassador on twitter @GourmetFury.

And this was one error that allowed us to come across something wonderful. After peeling off the layers that has wrapped Bin 942 with the false impression of being just another hyped-up tapas bar, the secret that lay within was discovered . . . and what a satisfying discovery it was.

You can download the this week’s  format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 3 – Uncovering the Secret Recipe

Image cutline: Bin 942’s secret recipe is the essence of simplicity – patience, a whole lotta onions and a dash of port make the best base for extremely juicy meatballs.

Up until recently, we deemed Gord Martin’s menus at his infamous Bin Restaurants as simply glorified tapas items, dished up to the late-night wine bar crowd.  Not the most discerning clique from our standpoint, that is, until we ­­sampled their meatballs.

F: Personally, Bin has always been a wine-forward establishment for me, with their dolled-up bar food served as an amenity.  This is a spot where truffle oil is not a subtle enhancement, but merely a liberally used condiment on every other menu item.

R: You know, Fury, itwas really worth checking out Bin 942 to take a peek at what’s under all that sass.

F: When we peeled off the superficial layers, we were surprised to discover the labour intensive secret behind the balls’ extreme juiciness.  There’s actually no slight of hand going on here.

R: That Gord guy has some serious patience.  I mean making the base of his meatballs by caramelizing a potful of onions for hours? What type of maniac does that?

F: Sometimes subtlety is the best approach – like the dash of port to coax out the onion’s complex sweetness.

R: Just throw in the meat and we’ve got some good good balls.  In the esteemed words of Glenn Quagmire, the best summation would be “giggitygiggity, alright!”

Editor: To their horror, Raj and Fury later discovered that there was truffle in the accompanying Pinot Noir sauce. They weren’t able to escape it.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, entrepreneur, social media juggernaut and foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com and publishes a miscellany of musings at raj.jp and on twitter @tinhead. Melody Fury is the founder of Vancouver Food Tour.  Follow this YVR lifestyle ambassador on twitter @GourmetFury.

You can download the this week’s  format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 2 – Meatballs Cure Monday Blues

Image cutline: Italian hitmen have rough Mondays too, we’ve figured out the secret to how they unwind.

We’re sitting at Uva Wine Bar unwinding after a hard day at work and we catch wind that the neighbouring Cibo Trattoria has their ritual Meatball Monday on – it seems we can’t escape it! Everything we’ve been eating lately has been in ball form, even the desserts!

M: And he means everything – from the main course down to the luscious hazelnut semi-freddo with house-made honeycomb that I still have dreams about.

R: Let’s not get ahead of ourselves ‘lil lady, this one’s about meatballs and on Monday, Cibo is the place to be for a nourishing plate with all the fixings and a glass of wine that won’t break the bank.

M: Their meatballs were extremely tender and melded beautifully with the creamy white bean base. The best part was scooping up the saucy mess with the garlicky, thick-cut bruschetta.

R: Definitely not your average meatballs – or at least not the type that you’d stick a toothpick into. Leave that to the Swedes. This is a more refined, elegant yet hearty meatball that your Italian mama would be proud to serve you.

M: After slaving away at the office on the toughest day of the week, head to Cibo Trattoria for their meatballs – it’ll help you fuggedaboutit.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, entrepreneur, social media juggernaut and foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com and publishes a miscellany of musings at raj.jp and on twitter @tinhead. Melody Fury is the founder of Vancouver Food Tour and a freelance food writer by day, cocktail ninja by night.  Follow this YVR lifestyle ambassador on twitter @GourmetFury .

Glowbal’s meatballs are neither rogue nor served with spaghetti, they’re served in style.

Various cultures all throughout the world have their own versions of the meatball, either as a part of a dish or simply served as a dish itself. The unassuming meatball is made up of ground meat and other ingredients such as breadcrumbs, minced onions, and spices, which would then be rolled up into a ball before being fried, steamed, baked, or braised with a bit of sauce. The Austrian call it the fleischaibchen, the Belgians have their ballekes, to the Greeks it is known as the keftedes, and its called the polpette to the Italians. Whichever way you call it, it’s still a meatball – plain and simple . . . well, probably not so plain and simple in the case of the Glowbal Restaurant Group, which has transformed a simple everyday meal into a dish worthy of praise.

You can download the this week’s PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 1 – Three meatballs … and a secret one too

Image cutline: Traittoria serves up the ever elusive lamb-based secret meatball only to those in the know. You didn’t hear about it from us, ok?

The slow start to the sunny season has me turned upside down and I’m craving comfort food.  A plateful of meatballs, slathered in a tangy tomato sauce seems fitting for the occasion.  This craving brings on a new quest – to investigate Vancouver’s meatball scene. No, I’m not talking about the municipal government and the new bike lanes, in this case the term meatball actually refers to the food we’ll be eating on this quest and not some politicians. With this notable task at hand, it only made sense to bring on Melody Fury, my co-conspirator to give me insight on the finer points of said meatballs.

R: Glowbal Restaurant in Yaletown is known as a destination for meatballs in Vancouver.  They have five sister restaurants, four of which offer their own variety of meatball; we had no option but to make this the starting point.

M:  We were straight ballin’ out of control.  Raj and I chased five types of meatballs each with double the glasses of champagne in one afternoon.

R: No matter which Glowbal Restaurant we went to, balls were everywhere.

M:  What was once just rustic fare made with meat scraps and day-old bread, the Glowbal Restaurant Group has revamped the meatball into their lux, signature dish.

I was initially skeptical of whether Wagyu beef was overkill for the humble meatball.  After trying their over-the-top rendition (which they automatically serve to every rockstar, VIP and supermodel that rolls through) I instinctively paired the balls with an extravagant sparkling wine.

R: If there’s any place to start a meatball quest, it’s gotta be Glowbal with Italian Kitchen, Society, and Trattoria in tow.

While only selected properties serve meatballs at this time of year, serious ball-lovers should seek out the secret spicy lamb meatball at one of their sister restaurants.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, entrepreneur, social media juggernaut and foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com and publishes a miscellany of musings at raj.jp and on twitter @tinhead. Melody Fury is the founder of Vancouver Food Tour and a freelance food writer by day, cocktail ninja by night.  Follow this YVR lifestyle ambassador on twitter @GourmetFury .

Ramen Quest – the search for Vancouver’s hidden Japanese Ramen.

You can download the this week’s PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 6– Pièce de résistance

Image cutline: The Spicy Miso Ramen at MotomachiShokudo starts off with an innocuous chicken soup base and is built to perfection with two distinct miso pastes, loads of vegetables and a more delicate noodle than what you’d expect at other ramen shops.

A hand-scrawled note recently landed on my desk indicating that I was to then meet an unnamed informant at a relatively new ramen shop on Denman Street. A new Ramen Quest feature, I thought, and I was up to the challenge!

I started to do my research and my stomach dropped – queries that came to mind included, “what type of madman opens up a restaurant in direct competition half a block away from his original restaurant?” I’m sure that there were answers if the questions were to be phrased correctly, but then if I failed to be unentertaining, perhaps in this situation, it would be curtains for me. I decided to get my affairs in order and inform friends and family of my plans.

Fast forward to entering the place, I was greeted by two relatively sharp looking secret agent types dressed completely in black including black berets. I’m thinking to myself, uh oh – MI6 or Mossad or hired assassins?! Thankfully, they were brandishing gyoza, not guns and I was immediately put at ease when they showed me to a well-lit table in the center of the restaurant. Seated there was a man known only as Taku-san and it became immediately clear that he was willing to answer any question I put forth.

As we chatted, I learned that although Motomachi Shokudo and sister restaurant Kintaro share some ingredients from time to time, Taku-san’s people pride themselves on serving up ramen with a smooth chicken soup base composed of mostly organic ingredients. The original Tokyo-style ramen, he proclaimed. It’s lighter than and not as rich as the popular pork soup based ramen that are de rigeur at other shops.

Upon concluding our discussion, the meal they served to me was something else – Butchigiri Gyoza which was a winner by a long shot and the Spicy (Kara) Miso Ramen served with a ton of vegetables for good health which proved to be the pièce de résistance. With fond memories of this meal and other previous quests, I thought to myself, “another meal enjoyed – another quest done, and so far no price on my head. A good day indeed.”

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media juggernaut and part foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com, publishes a miscellany of his musings at raj.jp and can be found on twitter with the username ‘tinhead.’

Ramen Quest – the search for Vancouver’s hidden Japanese Ramen.

You can download the this week’s PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 5 – Sit Down and Take Notice

Image cutline: When it comes to Ramen, Oru doesn’t mess around – from noodle to broth, their Ramen is just the tip of the iceberg.

If there’s ever a place that will make you sit up and notice the food, it’s Oru. The restaurant’s concept is simple – serve home cooking from various Asian countries in an attempt to one-up Grandma. Located in the recently-opened and beautifully designed Fairmont Pacific Rim Hotel, Chef David Wong has extraordinarily big shoes to step into. During the development of his menu, Wong made it clear that his staff need to impart their traditional generations’ past recipes and that his research would be carried out over home-cooked meals. The result is food that most anyone will have an opinion about – whether it’s two chefs under Wong’s command having to meet in the middle as to the consistency of their Adobo or visitors enjoying freshly made Naan bread, cooked in Oru’s very own Tandoor oven, that blows away variations available on Main Street’s Punjabi Market.

On one hand, the Chef’s lack of compromise on the quality may have something to do with the immense popularity of this restaurant, but on the other hand maybe he’s just that loveable of a guy and the various Grandmas who have helped Wong develop the menu may have just spilled their secrets. Either way, messing with grandma is a daunting task. I recall once challenging my mom in making an Indian meal. The resultant bruises on my psyche quickly taught that I can’t beat momma’s cooking so to Chef Wong, I wish him all the luck.

As for the Ramen, as in everything they serve at Oru, they did a ton of research to come up with the recipe. It’s a Shoyu Ramen which is much lighter than all the others I’ve reviewed thus far and they’ve gone all the way by making their own noodles – somewhat of an anomaly in the ramen business. Perhaps it’s not too lofty of a vision considering they’re selling dozens, not hundreds of bowls during the course of the day and given the quality that’s built in, it’s a worthwhile stop on the trip to ramen-discovery in Vancouver.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media juggernaut and part foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com, publishes a miscellany of his musings at raj.jp and can be found on twitter with the username ‘tinhead.’

In the business world, nothing beats expanding a business with franchising and in franchising, the name of the game is how good the product is. In the case of the Suntouka Japanese Ramen, the product is something to rave about. Billed as having the most authentic Japanese ramen in Vancouver, this is definitely a franchise you would want to invest your hard-earned moolah on.

Ramen Quest – the search for Vancouver’s hidden Japanese Ramen.

You can download the this week’s PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 4 – The New Kid in Town

Image cutline: Santouka purports to offer the most authentic ramen this side of Tokyo. Flavours include yummy, super yummy and for those searching for the real deal, oishii!

Imagine if Jimmy Pattison knocked on your door, told you that you should keep what you’re doing and he’d market and franchise your business. Pretty neat to be attached to such a juggernaut, don’t you think? Well, that’s essentially the case with the new Suntouka Japanese Ramen shop that recently opened on Robson Street slightly east of Bidwell.

Headquartered in Hokkaido, Japan, the Suntouka and Kamei companies struck a deal some years ago. Kamei, which derives over 4 billion in annual revenues from other ventures including those in the natural resource industry decided to become the company that oversees the franchising of Suntouka Ramen. The company which has stores in the U.S., Singapore, Hong Kong and now Canada, has ambitious plans to show locals what authentic Japanese Ramen is.

The restaurant has four varieties of the standard ramen – Shio Ramen (salt), Shoyu Ramen (soy-sauce), Miso Ramen (fermented soy bean paste) and Kara Miso Ramen (hot spices and fermented soy bean paste) and a number of specialty items and a single item on the menu that can be turned into a vegetarian dish, which is already head and shoulders ahead of the mere mortal ramen joint.

The Ramen that I chose for the purpose of this occasion was the plain Shio Ramen, served warm, not piping hot like other ramen I’ve tried. It was accompanied by braised pork slices topped with sesame seeds, bamboo shoots, green onions, wood ear mushrooms and a single pickled baby plum that is supposed to be nibbled on, one bite at a time during, the enjoyment of the meal. Although the first thing I devoured was that little pickle, it’s absence during the rest of the meal didn’t have any bearing on my absolute enjoyment of the dish from start to finish. I ate the soup to the last drop and will be coming back for more soon. Very soon.

As for the company known only as Kamei, congrats to them on a solid bet with Santouka.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media juggernaut and part foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com, publishes a miscellany of his musings at raj.jp and can be found on twitter with the username ‘tinhead.’

Some like it hot but this one’s definitely hotter.

Ramen Quest – the search for Vancouver’s hidden Japanese Ramen.

You can download the this week’s PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 3 – The Emperor’s Dish

Image cutline: The Sundubu Ramen at Sura is one of the tastiest ramens you’ll ever taste. Pair it with a Soju cocktail to quell the heat, either that or a fire extinguisher.

Michael Kim, the owner of SURA is certainly well known in the Korean community. I first met Kim a couple of years ago at his previous venture, Chung Dam Anh, a Japanese-Korean Izakaya-style speakeasy on Cardero Street just off Robson. If you weren’t in the ‘know,’ chances are you would have never entered through the doors of Chung Dam. Fast forward to today, Kim has opened an equally-mysterious restaurant on Robson Street slightly East of Cardero. You may have a hard time locating a sign on this block that says ‘SURA’ – the majority of their sign is written in Korean and has a small stamp and the word SURA in small letters on the side. Thankfully we’re not in the French Province which has draconian sign laws – or I’m sure by now they’d have lined up the proprietor and subpoenaed him senseless.

Back to the restaurant, it’s an elegant 70 seater that has a descriptive and informative English menu, serves up tasty Korean cuisine and also sports a nice Sake and Wine list. Very accessible. The Sundubu Ramen they list is a spicy soup endowed with soft tofu, your choice of seafood or beef and of course, ramen noodles. On the occasion of this review, I ordered the beef variety of the dish but have since eaten both. The soup is certainly spicier than any Japanese Ramen I’ve ever had but that’s what I’d say is to be expected with Korean cuisine. The noodles are plentiful and at just under ten bucks, given the ambience, the unlimited refills on the complimentary ‘banchan’ (side-dishes including Kimchee) and the superb quality of the ingredients, there’s as much value built in as there is burn-off-your-face heat.

Next time it will be Ramen first, Korean Bar-be-que next and we’ll wash it all down with their innocuous Soju-cocktails.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media juggernaut and part foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com, publishes a miscellany of his musings at raj.jp and can be found on twitter with the username ‘tinhead.’

Sorry to say Martin ole boy, I definitely know the destination. What can I expect to see on my journey, you say? Well, that’s another story.  In my continuing search for the hidden Ramen treasures of Vancouver, I had a wicked flashback on this stop of my quest.

“Hai, oiishi desu”

Ramen Quest – the search for Vancouver’s hidden Japanese Ramen.

You can download the this week’s PDF format HERE (or grab the full newspaper HERE,) or just keep reading (the unrated version) below.

Episode 2 – There’s goodness outside the centre of the universe too!

Image cutline: Menya’s Nagahama Ramen – the closest thing to Tokyo I’ve tasted in a long time. Next time I’ll have to try their special ramen, subject to change at the whim of the chef.

If you talk about Ramen to anyone who dines out on the delicious Japanese noodle-dish in Vancouver, inevitably, they’ll tell you that the best place to go is to the West End where there’s a plethora of shops that seem to be thriving with just that product on their menu. Of course, there’s got to be good Ramen outside of the centre of the universe! Similarly, it’s just plain wrong when someone pipes up on the idiot box and says that Toronto is the best city in Canada. What? It’s probably because there’s less syllables in Toronto or perhaps the orator just has his head shoved up his posterior – either way, there’s definitely goodness out in the real world, and I have set out to find it.

Hopping on the Canada line and stopping at City Hall, I crossed West Broadway and headed to Yukon Street where I found Menya Japanese Noodle restaurant, which somewhat resembles a clearcut forest given that most chairs are tree stumps and the whole interior is varnished wood. Their menu is simple – they have four different types of Ramen on the menu, a couple of alternatives and some sides. On the occasion of my visit, I tried the first thing on the list, the Nagahama Ramen, their authentic pork-bone ramen with a special soy sauce seasoning, accompanied by Gyoza (pork and cabbage dumplings) and a rice ball.

The first taste transported me back to Japan – a place of fond memories where I used to enjoy Ramen almost nightly while living in Tokyo. I remember regularly sitting at the counter and being served by a trio I affectionately named the Brain, Iceman and Spaz. I suddenly surfaced from my little day dream, when asked if my food was good. I nodded my head and sounded a quick “hai, oiishi desu” and went back to daydreaming.

Menya may not be situated in the heart of Vancouver or Tokyo, but it’s good enough to capture my heart.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media juggernaut and part foodie. He runs urbanmixer.com, publishes a miscellany of his musings at raj.jp and can be found on twitter with the username ‘tinhead.’