the ramen blog & other goodies!

Well, we never were able to make it to Motomachi Shokudo, just a few doors down from Kintaro (and owned by the same people). There was just too much to see and eat, and too little time. (more…)

Most Vancouver ramen fans will probably agree that the top 3 ramenya are Benkei Ramen, Kintaro Ramen Noodle, and Motomachi Shokudo. There is no official Vancouver “ramen zone” or “ramen central,” but by concidence or by design, all three ramenya are located within a block of each other, near the corner of Robson and Denman Sts in Vancouver’s West End. (There’s even a Gyoza King a couple of blocks SE on Robson, which has an unspecified “ramen comma udon” on their menu.)

If you’re in Vancouver for the Olympics, Robson and Denman are a bit far from all the Olympic excitement happening on Howe, Granville, and Seymour, but even from the GE Ice Plaza/Robson Square, it only takes about a 30 min walk to satisfy your ramen craving.

And what’s this I spy…about half a block from and across the street Benkei’s Robson’s location… (more…)

I don’t often shill for web sites that sell instant ramen (though there are links off on the side for anyone in need), but this is a neat idea. It’s simple…and the picture above is pretty self-explanatory: you choose the size of the “Ramenbox,” fill it with your choice of instant ramen, pay a flat fee based on the Ramenbox size, and wait for the delivery guy! It looks like you can even earn free ramen by writing reviews and submitting pictures and videos.

To be honest, this might be less appealing to anyone who lives near an Asian supermarket. But if you don’t have any local sources for instant ramen, or you want to customize your own variety pack, or you just like the idea of coming home to a Ramenbox on your doorstep, check it out. Heck, this would be a great gift as well for any instant ramen fan.

I haven’t had a chance to try them out yet, but they were kind enough to offer our readers a 10% off coupon! Just use coupon code ramenramenramen when you check out.

Remember the ramen bath? Now you can bring your ramen bath accessories on your next visit. Soap up with Ramen Soap and wash up with a Cup Noodles Ramen Sponge: Takara Tomy is coming out with soap and sponges packaged as instant and cup ramen! They’ll only be available in Japan, so those of us stateside will probably need to settle for using a brick of instant ramen as a loofah…um…if you do, let us know how that works out…

via Akihabara News

Ramen isn’t just the 100-pack-for-a-dollar starving college dorm food you think it is. It’s a foodie obsession that’s increasingly popular and increasingly gourmet. Read all about the ramen “renaissance” by writer Lina Goldberg, writing for the popular webzine Splice Today. And no, I’m not just plugging it because this humble blog is mentioned…well, ok…maybe I am just a teeny tiny bit biased…

Ladies and gentlemen…I am a moron. Thanks to a brilliantly snafu’d server setting, I made it impossible for anyone who emailed me directly over the past few months to actually reach me. The Contact Form actually worked fine, so some of you may be scratching your head, thinking “but you did reply to me.” Well guess what? If you replied to my reply, I didn’t get it…until now.

So I offer my sincerest apologies to anyone who thought I was being even less responsive than my usual too-busy self. I think I’ve recovered all the emails, and I’ll reply to them ASAP. If you’ve emailed me in the past few months and you want to make extra sure I got it, please feel free to try again via the Contact Form for now. I should have this straightened out within a few days at most.