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.’

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

Episode 3 – Hey Amarena

If hearing the name ‘Amarena’ isn’t cause enough to get up and dance to a familiar and similarly named 90’s tune, the tale of this crème brulée will.

On a recent pilgrimage to France, seeking to discover the Country’s nascent cocktail culture, what consistently evaded me was a drink composed of the world’s finest sweet vermouth – the Italian made Antica Carpano. What I discovered was that the highly nationalistic French don’t necessarily look outside their borders for excellence, even if you are drinking at what’s supposed to be an authentic Italian spot.

When I heard that French pastry chef Thierry Busset from CinCin Ristorante was using Italian amarena cherries in his crème brulée, I thought of the move as an enlightened one. These wild cherries, soaked in amarena syrup using a secret 80 year old technique, have made them the most sought-after cherries in Europe, and for good reason: the small, dark, slightly sour cherries, grown mostly in Bologna and Modena resemble olives in texture and are addictive, delicious and bursting with flavour.

Back to the brulée, Chef Busset undoubtedly experimented long and hard to get the right mix – three halved amarena cherries, masterfully inserted into the dessert gives ample opportunity for all good things crème brulée to stand out – a crisp caramel crust, the perfectly consistent custard and the cherries, the sweet sweet cherries, will make for you to want to kick your chair back and yell “Hey Amarena!”

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Image cutline: Pastry Chef Thierry Busset’s Amarena Crème Brulée is so popular that he’s seeking to open up his very own bake shop on Alberni Street within the next year. The crème brulée will definitely be on the menu.

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Raj Taneja is part technologist, part entrepreneur, part social media thought leader 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.’