Motomachi Shokudo - Vancouver, BC

It's a BEEYEWTEEFUL Saturday afternoon, Mr and I have gone to the Winter Farmer's Market, gotten some great local and organic sprouts, kale and eaten THE BEST ice cream sandwich from Earnest Ice Cream.  I don't like eggnog and I don't particularly care for rum but Earnest has spun it's magic and made it into the most DELISH ice cream sandwich I've had in a very long time.  We've had dessert already, so what's for lunch?

Christmas is coming fast so we figure we're already in Vancouver so might as well stay in Vancouver.  It's sunny out but super cold so we need something to warm our bones.  What better than a bowl of hot ramen?  Neither of us had even heard of Motomachi before but I remember seeing it down the street from a few other popular ramen places and thought, "might as well give it a try".  Let's go!

Small counter, concrete walls, wooden benches and enough space for 22 people max.  It reminds me of another ramen place just around the corner - simple, cozy but industrial at the same time.  People sit side-by-side right up to the next person, which quickly happens right when the place opens.  We were the first ones in but just 5 minutes later, there are 10 people seated.  We better eat quick and get out before it gets really busy!

Gyoza - $3.75

A little bit of crunch on the bottom, tasty pork with seasonings with a great thin wrapping.  I like that it comes with a dipping sauce so it tastes the way they designed it to taste - light soy with a hint of vinaigrette and a bit of oil...  delicious.  

Spicy Miso Ramen with Organic Chicken - $9.65

I LOVE this ramen and soup.  First, the ramen is cooked perfectly al dente and this bowl is just packed full of all sorts of goodies - peas, corn, green onions, bamboo shoots and so many more delicious veggies.  And then there's the soup...  oh the soup.  Rich in miso flavour and just spicy enough so that it gives you a bit of kick but you'd still be able to drink the whole bowl.  Surprisingly, the weakest part of this bowl was the chicken - I mean, it tastes good but since everything else is super awesome, I honestly didn't even know or care if there was chicken in the bowl.

Extra BBQ Pork Ramen with Shoyu Broth - $10.95

The soup is flavoured with soy sauce, chicken and pork, all resulting in something awesome.  It's got great depth of flavour and with that perfectly cooked ramen, this bowl of ramen is bringing Mr to tears.  Ok, so it didn't bring him to tears but it gave him that runny nose that can only come from slurping up hot delicious ramen and soup.  The pork of course was also very good - very tender and didn't have too much gristle.  Excellent.

It was the first time in a long time that we each love our dishes individually rather than thinking that either one was better.  There may be two other ramen places just around the corner who are already well-established but Motomachi Shokudo can hold its own - delicious ramen with even better soup.  I'd say it was just as good as their competitors around the corner so if you're ever in the mood for a change of venue or pace, just walk two blocks further and you'll still end up with a delicious bowl of steaming hot ramen noodles waiting for you.  Bon appetite!

Oinks:

• Great ramen noodles
• Cheap to moderate prices
• Friendly service

Doinks:

• Small place - not a lot of seats and you may be sitting right beside someone else
• Lineups during prime dining hours - but not nearly as long as other places