Restaurant: Q Go Ramen
Cuisine: Japanese/Ramen/Noodles
Last visited: October 29, 2010
Location: Vancouver, BC (Fairview)
Address: 1443 West Broadway
Price Range: $10 or less
1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!
Food: 3.5
Service: 3.5
Ambiance: 2.5
Overall: 3.5
Additional comments:
- Japanese owned & operated
- Very limited menu
- Specializes in ramen
- Busy for lunch
- Fast/Casual
- Cheap eats/Budget friendly
- Clean/Comfortable
- Free edamame
- Vegetarian option
- Chicken stock option
- Cash only
- Meter parking
- Lunch/Dinner
**Recommendations: Miso Ramen with egg and the chashu from the Shio Ramen… if you want to be less high maintenance just get the Miso Ramen with an egg
Q Go Ramen in Vancouver, BC specializes in a very limited menu consisting of 4 types of Japanese ramen soup noodle bowls including: Shio, Miso, Shoyo and Vegetarian. Considering the fact that I am loyal to Ramen Santouka and that almost no ramen in Vancouver can impress me after that one… Q-Go Ramen actually didn’t do a bad job. I can’t say I was really feeling the restaurant even before I entered and I made sure I set my expectations up for disappointment, however my assumptions were wrong. It’s not Ramen Santouka, but it is one of the better ramen places if you order the right things. The ramen was actually decent, it’s a very big portion, it’s reasonably priced, most the ramen toppings are included, and they’re generous with them as well.
I liked it better than Kintaro because it’s not nearly as greasy and I’m also just not a Kintaro fan really. I liked it a tad more than Benkei Ramen and I think I like G-Men Ramen Shop better if I can recall properly. I still haven’t tried all the ramen places, so I’m basing my opinions based on the ones I have listed.
On the table:
Complimentary Edamame
- WHAT?! Yes! A couple months ago I tweeted how every Japanese restaurant should give free edamame as an appetizer. This is the first time I’ve come across the much appreciated gesture.
- My theory is that edamame should be like peanuts at a bar, tortilla chips at Mexican, and papdums at Indian… FREE.
Shio Ramen – 3/6
- Tonkotsu broth enhanced with salt flavouring served with boiled egg, marinated chashu, arage kikurage fungus (woodear mushrooms), bean sprouts, and green onion $7.50
- Shio is the original flavour. Order this if you want to see what a ramen place can really do and how good it really is.
- It came with 2 slices of chashu with your choice of fatty or lean. The marinated chashu was actually quite delicious. It was very tender and very well flavoured with a nice salty and intense pork flavour. It was more flavorful than the broth.
- The broth was just okay and it wasn’t that flavourful. It wasn’t too salty, but it didn’t have that intense pork flavour where the pork bones are just infused and roasted into the stock. It had some fatty floating pieces in it which makes it “authentic” and it wasn’t too much or too greasy which was good.
- The arage kikurage fungus (woodear mushrooms) are crunchy and jelly like and they taste slightly woody in flavour.
**Miso Ramen – 4/6
- Tonkotsu broth enriched with Miso flavouring served with chashu, bean sprouts, corn and green onion $7.95 (+$.50 for half boiled egg)
- If you can request the chashu, the BBQ pork, to be the “Shio chashu” it’s way better.
- The broth is really hot and the ingredients were plentiful and I also scored some bamboo shoots which weren’t listed in the ingredients.
- The miso broth is creamier and has way more flavour than the Shio ramen. It has a heavier taste and it’s just more potent, stronger, somewhat saltier, and sweeter.
- The egg is perfect with a soft and creamy egg yolk centre.
- I love how they give you a ton of ingredients and the bowls seem larger than most ramen places.
- I ordered the lean and it came with 2 slices. The chashu in the Miso Ramen was quite tender, but it had no flavour especially when you tried it back to back with the chashu from the Shio Ramen.
- It shred apart quite well and the texture was actually not bad and the pieces were quite decent in size. Considering my high expectations for Japanese chashu after Ramen Santouka, I was pleasantly surprised.
- The ramen noodles aren’t really the “proper” Japanese ramen noodles. They’re not as chewy in texture and they weren’t cooked properly because they were a bit inconsistent. They do give you a whole lot of noodles though, it’s just some of the bites are softer than other
[geotag]
I wonder what the 9-5 reference is for… Hmmmmm….
Anyway, I see that you are still extremely loyal to Santouka and have developed a dislike to Kintaro. So… When do you go to Motomachi Shokudo for another Robson/Denman corner ramen assessment? 🙂
@KimHo – ? 9-5 reference?
Motomachi… yes I must try that place. To be honest I never really chose to go to ramen, but it’s a default choice. I never crave it, but while eating it I am reminded of how much I actually enjoy it.
Too bad the noodles weren’t as chewy as ramen should be. Tonkatsu broth at Kintaro is too strong because they don’t twice cook the pork and pork bones, so if the broth at Q Go isn’t too strong, that’s what happened. The movie Tampopo is a must see(a widow decides to open the best ramen shop and goes on a journey to fulfill her dreams). The owner of Kintaro made so much money on it that he opened up Motomachi down the street; it’s claim to fame is it’s Organic soup broth, less greasy and more refined than Kintaro; but be forewarned…don’t go in a dress, wear pants and a warm top(fleece, wool sweater,etc., etc.) ‘cos it’s barely heated; it gets really chilly in there.
It reads outside “Kyu Go Ramen”, which translates in to “9 5 Ramen”. 😉
I definitely agree with you about Kintaro. I don’t know what all the fuss is about, it is way too greasy and worth all that hype (and lining up). I would definitely just go down a few doors and eat at Motomachi, by far the best ramen I think so far. The egg at this Q place looks like it’s done right, kudos for that! The last time I went to G-men, my egg was a failure it ruined my opinion of this place…anyways, now is the time for ramen, when it’s cold and rainy outside:)
@Bow – thanks Bow! I have been always meaning to try Motomachi and I always get distracted. Will put it as a priority ramen spot to check out. Thanks!
@KimHio – ooohh… yeah… I don’t get it either then. But then again lots of Asian translations and names of restaurants don’t make sense. Talk about lost in translation.
@vivian – Check out Santouka! Let me know what you think! I have REALLY got to try Motomachi now!
Santouka is great too, I’ve only had their pork cheeks which are to die for, haven’t tried their other flavored ramen yet. I still prefer motomachi, the atmosphere, service, quality, taste and the fact that all their ingredients are organic is a huge plus!
I think whether or not the noodles are al dente can make the difference in Ramen. It’s too bad this place didn’t seem to get the texture just right. I see every little single ingredient within a bowl of Ramen as being crucial to the overall taste. On a side note, I’m finding it a bit strange that there’s more and more Ramen restaurants opening along Broadway recently after the opening of Menya. Could it be the second coming of Ramen in Vancouver?
@jer oh really? I better check out the competition! Although it seems like Motomachi is a favourite… I should hit that first. It’s nice to have some ramen places OUTSIDE of downtown Vancouver. Thanks for commenting Jer!
Exactly what I was gonna say Mijune it’s great to have decent ramen places outside of downtown as well.
@John – For sure! Easier parking… by that I also mean FREE lol
@John – well if you look on side streets 🙂