What is Mazesoba?
Mazesoba basically translates to “mixing noodles”. As there is no soup, the noodle’s texture key focus in this dish. Noodles for mazesoba has a firmer texture and is chewier than ramen noodles for it to hold the sauce not get soggy. Liken to al dente pasta I would say. Mazesoba Kokoro’s in-house soba is made daily with multi-grain flour. Mazesoba is a great summer alternative if you don’t want to sweat over a bowl of steaming bowl of ramen soup.

The Food: The Bowls
We ordered the Niku and the Tokyo bowls. The toppings are: seaweed flakes, chives. spring onion, ground saba fish and mince garlic. Niku has pork chashu and Tokyo is just the spicy mince pork. If you don’t like raw egg yolk as a topping, you can changed it to a soft boiled egg like my girlfriend did.

Visually, the bowl is very attractive. A bright orange egg yolk in the centre surrounded by different shades of green garnishes. Honestly, It reminds me of the Korean rice bowl – bibimbap.
The egg yolk was perfect for me. It thickened the sauce making it creamier and helped dampen the spiciness of the mince pork. The in-house noodles were very chewy and picked up the sauce nicely. The noodle sauce was a tad too salty for me even with all the garnishes and egg mixed in. I had to add a touch vinegar for the acidity to balance it out.
Near the end of the meal I inhaled my noodles and toppings but I still had so much sauce left over. Fear not, you get a “bowl” of rice (maybe only a cup worth..I wish they gave more. I love rice so much) to lap up the rest of the sauce. A finisher to fill you up if the noodles didn’t do their job.

After we were done eating, my girlfriend and I had check if there any remnants of seaweed stuck between our teeth. Our bonding time. Maybe awkward for those on their first date. Imagine yourself cracking up from a joke only for your date to see patches of nori on your teeth like an unkempt lawn.

No Extra Noodles
We were fortunate enough to be seated at the counter seat overlooking the kitchen. It gave me a chance to observe the kitchen operations. There is no extra noodle option on the menu which is a shame. It is probably because of the limited noodles they have or it just takes too long to cook. I watched the noodle guy set the timers and I clearly saw it said “8.30” 8 minutes 30 seconds (though their site claims 7 minutes). That’s a long time. I can imagine the kitchen backing up with orders of extra noodles. The noodle guy had an interesting tool too. He was not using chopsticks to stir the noodles like a normal human being. He used like a long wooden stick like a rolling pin to stir the noodles. Innovation. I’m curious how he figured that out.

Dessert
3 dessert available: Hokkaido creme cone, Hokkaido creme cup and Fuji-Cheese cup. I had to get the cone because looked exactly like my favourite Japanese soft-serve, the legendary Cremia because it probably is. The small print says Kokoro uses the “Nissei machine” which is the Cremia company. This could mean I don’t need to fly to Japan to get my Cremia fix.
The cone was great. Soft, creamy, milky, hit all the points for a decent soft serve. $5.99 for a hit. Now, I am comparing it to Cremia I had in Japan and I was a little disappointed. Maybe its psychological but it just didnt taste as good. It did not feel as rich and creamy. It just tasted better in Japan. It is hard to explain until you have tried Cremia. Definitely recommend to try it when you are in Japan. Your soft serve standards will be forever changed like mine was. For the price, you probably would want to hit up chatime or something for desserts.

The Menu
Kokoro is not short of choices. There are at least 9 different mazesoba bowls, 5 soup ramen, rice bowls and appetizers available to choose from. The price is slightly higher than some other ramen shops but not enough that it will turn you off. The menu does a good job in educating the customer in explaining what is a mazesoba and the toppings with lots of visual aids.

Vibe
The restaurant is definitely spacious with a lot of seating. Surreal art paintings on the walls really gets you thinking.
If you frequent Japanese restaurants you are probably familiar with the phrase “Irrashaimase” and how they can’t get enough of saying it. If so, then you are in for a treat. This place will be screaming “Irrashaimase” probably every 5 minutes. I felt bad for the host at the door. When a customer gets seated he had to initiate the yelling ritual and then the waiting/kitchen staff will yell back in unison. I’m sure the host had no voice at the end of his shift. It maybe annoying at first but you will leave the restaurant knowing you have mastered saying “IRRASHAIMASE!”.

Service
My servers were friendly but a bit awkward. I did mess up my order by being too wordy and it took the server a while to process what I said. Not a good start to the meal. Aiya.

Final Thoughts
If you are a noodle fan but not in the mood for ramen why not try Mazesoba. Kokoro offers an interesting alternative to Vancouver’s ramen scene. Spacious location with plenty of seating so it is a decent place to go in big groups. The food is tasty but personally I didn’t get that satisfied feeling like I do when I crush a bowl of ramen. Taking someone on a date? I will be wary of eating mazesoba as the seaweed and chives tend to get stuck all over your teeth and lips. Toothpicks are available. Slightly pricier than some ramen shops and the desserts is kind of steep but not a deal breaker.

Where: 551 Seymour St, Vancouver, BC V6B 3H6 11am-10pm
http://menyakokoro.com/

Extra: Chinese version of Mazesoba
The concept of Mazesoba is a not a new one in Chinese cuisine. ‘Gan Mian‘ literally Dry noodles (though it is not actually dry) is a common street food all over China and it comes in many forms. There is zha-jiang-mian ( 炸醬 麵 Soybean paste noodle) has a thick brown soybean sauce cooked with ground meat (usual pork or beef) is with garnished with julienne cucumbers and carrots. The soybean sauces’ saltiness can be intense for most and the toppings can vary across China. The Korean version of zha-jiang-mian – Jjajangmyun (자장면 ) has a sweeter and darker brown like black beanpaste sauce. Other well known dry noodle dish; dan-dan-mian (擔擔麵 ) – thin white noodles with spicy sauce, top with a garnish of peanuts. Sometimes peanut butter is added. It’s like eating peanut-butter-sandwich-noodle. Yi-mian ( 伊麵) the Cantonese style egg noodle dish topped with saucey stir-fried veg or seafood. You know you’re balling if you get the lobster egg noodles. You can get this bright yellow noodle dish in any dimsum place. This is a only but a handful of varieties. Try and explore when you visit a Chinese eatery

When you want some Japanese style fried stuff and love the idea of unlimited rice.

I actually visited Saku with a friend back in February so this is a late post. I haven’t been keeping up my blog because I am just a lazy arse. Apologies.

What is Saku?
“Saku” the Japanese equivalent of the sound “crunch” in English. I thought it was a cute name. Specializing in ‘tonkatsu’ (fried Pork cutlet that is similar to the German schnitzel) the name is so fitting.
Beside from Saboten in Richmond, Saku is the only place I know that sells specifically just tonkatsu. Other Japanese restaurants do sell katsu-don (fried cutlet rice bowls), what made this special? When you specialize in one thing it means you are pretty good at it right?

Why here?
Who doesn’t like fried food? The fried pork cutlet with rice is such a comforting combination. The unlimited rice, salad and miso soup is a major plus. Udon is also on the menu.

The Food
To test this place out ordering the original pork cutlet is a must. My go choice whenever I eat katsus; Fried cutlet stuffed with mozzarella cheese stuff. I love cheese and wanted to test the how good their cheese katsu is. When ordering I asked for the server’s recommendation for the best item on the menu. The server told me the original is always good and personally she found the cheese katsu a bit heavy which I took as a good sign.
In my opinion, it wasn’t heavy. It was cheesy, gooey exactly what you expect when you order cheese stuffed katsu. The cheese can be a bit filling for some so you wouldn’t need that refill of rice unless you are super hungry like I was.

The original rosu-katsu was crispy, light and the pork loin meat was tender. I would say a perfect katsu.
The set also comes with rice, miso pickles and a mini mortar for you to grind the sesame into a paste to mix with the katsu sauce for dipping. The in-house salads dressing were delicious and worked well with the cabbage salad. I only recall sesame and yuzu ponzu was in it. Remember to ask the server and jot it down next time.

Menu & Pricing
$17 for Rosu-katsu and $18 for Cheese katsu. Most sets on the menu is within that price range. On the pricier side but the unlimited refills makes sure you left full.

Service
Lunch service starts 11.30am-3.30pm. Dinner service starts at 5pm-10pm. We got seated promptly and the servers made sure our cup of hot tea was refilled as we sat outside. The heater outside didn’t really help against the freezing Feburary weather. The servers were friendly and attentive.

Decor and Seating
The decor goes for the minimalist approach of white walls and wood ceilings that you see in traditional Japanese restaurants but has a modern vibe to it. This article explains it all if you are interested knowing who are the designers behind it.
https://www.azuremagazine.com/article/saku-vancouver/

We arrived around 530pm that day. There was no line up but we had to sit outside on the patio as it was already full indoors (only 18 seats). Since it such a small place, make sure you arrived early and I don’t recommend if you are with a large group.

Final Thoughts
Tasty food, friendly service made a enjoyable experience. Seating is limited and leans more to pricier side but the unlimited sides made sure my belly left happy. I will like their udon next time I visit as there aren’t any good udon shops in Vancouver. Bukkake udon anyone? (Those who know, know).

Thanks for reading.

Where:1773 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC, V6G 1C9

Wai do I eat here? : I love their creamy chicken broth, generous portion of meat and chewy noodles. Great place to get a ramen fix with a reasonable price.

Back in London, I worked as a ramen chef at a ramen restaurant that boasts to be one of the best in the city. Tasting testing bowl after bowl of tonkotsu ramen and whipping the water off the noodles like a gunslinger everyday molded me into the ramen snob I am today. So, I like to think I have some knowledge. Check the YouTube link below to see how to drain noodles. Imagine me as the first guy lols.

My Ramen Philosophy
A bowl of ramen’s soul is the broth/soup. The noodles is the body that carries the soul and the toppings is the make up that draws you in.
Pushing past the toppings and noodles you need to start first by diving into the soul.
If you want to know if the ramen place is good, you taste the soup first. It is the first gate the bowl leads you through to flavour heaven!! – oh how cliche of me.
If the broth is weak, but you have the best noodles and toppings it will be meaningless. It is a delicate balance, if one compenent is a subpar then the bowl suffers.
If you find a bowl that hit all three marks it will be so tasty that your clothes explode off. Food Wars anyone? Maybe not, but you will feel unbelievable joy.

Wai I Like This Place
Most ramen spots in Vancouver specializes in pork tonkotsu broth which can leave you feeling heavy and bloated. Like eating a nice greasy burger. You super satisfied but wish it didn’t leave you feeling like crap. Oh well, no regrets right?
I find Marutama’s chicken broth satisfying without the greasy heaviness. The stand alone egg floating in the centre of the ramen bowl is very cute.

Marutama makes their noodles in house. You can see their noodle machine right at the entrance. If you’re lucky, when queuing outside you can watch the noodle making process while you wait.

You order the hardness of noodles to your liking. I always get the hard “al dente” and the girlfriend fancies the soft noodles. You can order extra noodles if you are not feeling full and they offer extra soup too. I can’t think of any other ramen shop that tops up your soup.

Ordering and Price
Their Original costs $9.75 which is relatively cheap. When eating ramen it’s not complete with a ‘ajitsuke tamago’ – the gooey soft boiled egg marinated in soy sauce.
If you are a first timer I suggest getting their Tamago ramen to test them out. If you are a meat lover, get the chashu-tamago.

The Food
My recent visit with my girlfriend, I got the Zenbu ramen ($18.75) which basically has every meat as a topping because I was super hungry. My girlfriend got the Tamago-ramen and we also got the chashu-gohan (pork belly rice bowl) on the side. You know we were hungry.

The generous piece of chashu pork was lean and not too salty. The pork belly was very soft and melts in your mouth. The seaweed garnish has a delicate savoury taste. The marinated egg was perfectly cooked with a soft centre.
The soup is creamy, not overly salty and you really taste the chicken. I thought I could taste a hint of celery but I might be trying to hard to guess the ingredients.

The rice bowl is hard to eff up. Marinated pork with sauted onions and spring onions and a kimchi topping. Not much to say, tastes exactly how you imagine it.

As much as I love the chashu and pork belly, the toppings overpowered the subtle flavours of the chicken broth.
My hunger was satisfied but I felt disappointed that I could not enjoy the bowl of ramen fully because the broth lost its’ signature flavours that I loved.
Fortunately, I got finish the rest of my girlfriend’s simpler Tamago-ramen (hehe) so I got to enjoy the tasty chicken broth in the end. I actually enjoyed her half eaten bowl more than my own.

Next time I’ll probably dial it down and get the chashu-tamago.

Decor & Seating
I like the signature polished wood-themed decor. It’s like a typical ramen-ya you see in Japan. Tables are spaced out enough that it doesn’t feel cramped. You can sit at the bar where you can watch the ramen chefs do their thing.
Little baskets are next to the table to put your bags and belongings.
This place is not the best place for big group (5 or more). You might have a hard time getting a table to accommodate you all. There is only one big table and it’s normally a communal table. It could take a while till everyone leaves to free it up.
If you going solo or 4 peeps you should get a table fairly quick during busy time.

Service
Service is fast and the staff are attentive. Ramen is a fast food so the food arrives quick. If you had to wait outside for a table, you can check the out the menu first so you can order immediately when you get seated.

Final Thoughts
One of my go to places for ramen hope you go try. There are spicy options Aka-ramen and veggie topping option who don’t want the meat (why would you?).
Unfortunately, there is no vegetarian/vegan/gluten free ramen option. THEY DON’T ACCEPT CASH TRANSACTIONS! Card only guys.

Thanks for reading.

Where: Marutama: 780 Bidwell Street, Vancouver, BC, V6G 2J6

P.S Different draining noodle techniques – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3hqgpybUo8