eco-tofu

Do you mean MOTOMACHI SHOKUDO? It is owned by the Kintaro chef and offers a "healthier" alternative with only chicken-based broths, which might explain your reaction. I haven't been yet but have read several good reviews which commented not only on the quality of the soup and noodles but also on the attractive decor. ← that sounds right. we went there with our japanese teacher (from tokyo) who apparently avoids most japanese restaurants in vancouver for fear of extreme disappointment (she hasn't been to Kintaro yet either), but she gave this ramen her approval. The decor is quite nice, all the staff are kind, courteous and pleasant. Its quite a small space, but we've somehow timed our visits right so we haven't ever had to wait.

My friends and I have been slowly and steadily pitting XLB vs. XLB, dimsum vs. dimsum, etc. vs. etc. (we have "battles" as opposed to smackdown's but the idea is the same) in Vancouver. Unfortunately, we never tend to try many more than 1 or 2 places as official contenders (graduate school is bad for restaurant battling). For XLB, I'd suggest trying City Temple of Shanghai restaurant on Main and 22nd-ish. They do a quite serviceable XLB, and is a more manageable size than at The Place (we still like The Place just a tiny bit better though). We tried it before trying The Place (this was back in October). Here's a description I wrote up of what we had: City Temple of Shanghai Chinese Restaurant We ordered: chicken w/wine sauce, crispy shell prawns shanghai style, xiao long bao, juicy pan fried pork buns, spicy string beans, fried rice cake shanghai style. Chicken w/ Wine Sauce. This was really good. It looks like a typical chinese cold chicken, but the flavor was intense with a chinese rice wine. Like sake marinated chicken. Super flavorful, moist and delicious. Crispy Shell Prawns Shanghai Style. These were also good. I'm not sure what the sauce is that they use when cooking things "Shanghai Style", something soy based and faintly sweet, it sort of melds flavors together. The prawns were nicely cooked, crispy skin with tender shrimp inside, their flavor was still able to shine through the sauce. Xiao Long Bao. These were very good. The trick to XLB is the wrapping. It must be strong enough to hold together when you pick it up with your chopsticks without puncturing and leaking the soup, however, can't be too chewy; the more delicate the better. Its a fine balance that must be achieved, and these handle pretty admirably (just faintly too thick, but better than leaking). The soup and the pork filling were also quite good, but not as overwhelmingly flavorful that I know XLB are capable of. I would have liked a more intense vinegar and more ginger more finely chopped in the dipping dish; something to help bring out the rich pork flavors of the dumpling and soup. Overall though, these XLB outperform those I've had at dimsum in Vancouver thus far. Juicy Pan Fried Pork Buns. These are essentially like the pan fried gyoza version XLB. For fried gyoza, I think they are quite good, I mean, they have the soup inside which automatically makes them better. However, in contrast to the XLB, they're all thick-skinned and oilier from the pan frying than XLB... Still, quite tasty. Spicy String Beans. These were alright. The fat pieces of green bean packed a lot of natural sweetness, but I felt they lacked the crisp crunch, either from being cooked a tad long or from being a little old. Also, they didn't really pack much spice. Definitely had better elsewhere. Fried Rice Cake Shanghai Style. Nice chewy thin-sliced rounds of rice cake, cooked with small strips of pork and chopped napa cabbage in that "Shanghai Style" sauce. Here the flavor melding rendered everything a little bland. I do really like the chewiness of the rice cake pieces though, but a pretty boring dish. So, the XLB battle is off to a pretty good start. City Temple of Shanghai Chinese Restaurant has some other dishes that were quite nice and has XLB worth a repeat visit for (I rate the XLB a 7/10 on the international XLB scale*.). Thus, there's definitely still room for others in Vancouver to prove their xiao long bao reign supreme. For dimsum, I'm a pretty big fan of Kirin. Red Star on Granville (a couple blocks from The Place) is also quite good, and they have egg tarts (I grew up eating dimsum every week, and as a kid, egg tarts established themselves as a dimsum standard for me). Kirin doesn't have egg tarts.... but pretty much delicious everything else. * I lived in Taipei for almost 2 years. all XLB is scored against Din Tai Feng.

My friends and I were curious about this place when we walked by on Monday. We actually went to the ramen place just past Kintaro on Denman (same side of the street, past the alley, closer to... Georgia). The name of which escapes me, but its the second time we've been there and I prefer it to Kintaro. Their charcoal-miso ramen is very good. Its full of flavor but (I think) avoids the heavy richness of Kintaro broth (even their light broth) which I think is both Kintaro's strength and weakness. They may even have the same owners as Kintaro... This place may have been talked about somewhere on here already, but I'd recommend it be added to everyone's ramen radar if it isn't already (sorry, I don't have photos). I look forward to trying Benkei for the full comparison, thanks for the pics and comments.

I was at Pho Thai Hoa over the summer and had similar service issues (but had no complaints about the food). There were 6 of us and we all ordered pho and shared some of their spring rolls (1 fried, 2 fresh). The spring rolls were all delicious, even (maybe especially?) the fried one, which isn't something I'm normally too keen on. The pho was also very good, the best I've had in Vancouver thus far even. I needed to ask for extra bean sprouts, basil, and lime, but that wasn't an issue. However... bringing the food out in an orderly fashion was an issue. Pho does not take notoriously long to prepare and serve (I mean, the rare beef cooks IN THE BOWL...). Yet, there were unbearably long lags between bowls being served; nearly 10 minutes between first and last... communication with our server was challenging, but not terrible. They also rolled up the blinds across the room after they served our soup and never came back to talk to us, so we just dealt with the evening sun shining in our eyes (wearing sunglasses indoors while eating pho does make you look cool though). I've always expected that a viatnamese place either does pho very well or all the other food very well, but never both. I thought Pho Thai Hoa was the rebuttal to that, but now perhaps not. I'll have to go back and try more of the non-pho items beyond spring rolls.

Some comments on my Zipang experience (our group focus was on non-sushi items with the goal of trying other japanese restaurants in the future with non-sushi focuses in a battle for our hearts): Everything I sampled was tasty. I had wakame sunomono, beef shortribs, beef sashimi, zaru soba, uni nigiri, and yuzu tobiko nigiri. All was very good, but nothing really blew me away. Wakame sunomono was pleasant, cool and refreshing; mostly rice vermicelli noodles, with a small pile of chopped seaweed and three cucumber slices swimming in rice vinegar. I was hoping for more seaweed, but the sunomono trend seems to be noodle heavy these days. Beef shortribs were also good, nicely charred and in a not-too-sweet soy glaze; some pieces were really fatty, while others were pure meatiness. I wished there was more balance between fat/meat, but the flavor was good. Beef Sashimi, barely seared, thin-sliced medallions sprinkled with fresh chopped garlic. Only had a couple bites, but nice tender beef with just the right zing of fresh garlic. Super simple, yet really tasty. Zaru soba, pile of firm buckwheat soba noodles sprinkled with dry seaweed, served with a small pitcher of cool, very light soy broth (?), plus a small dish with two piles, chopped green onion and wasabi. Very fun to eat dish, the infusion of the wasabi into the soy broth with soba noodles dunked in = mmm. Again, really simple dish, refreshing, light, and tasty. My friend ordered the black cod, which I didn't get a sample of, her only comment, "I wish I could have had the whole fish." Not specifically part of the non-sushi battle, but the uni was very good; rich and a little funky like a good cheese. Like a delicate, cool, ocean Tallegio (man alive, I love uni). The yuzu-infused tobiko was quite interesting; more yellow and very citrus-y just as the waitress described it, with even a faint bitterness flavor from the zest. It was good, but pretty overpowering of the light bursts of natural tobiko flavor. In all, a very nice experience and very reasonably priced. The food arrived from the kitchen in a somewhat haphazard order, but in a fairly steady stream of food, so I didn't mind. Zipang's offerings are much simpler than my (semi-distant & very distant) memories of Hapa Izakaya (Yew st.) or Guu (Gastown) dishes, which is both its charm and it's slight boringness. However, Zipang is definitely worth another visit for further exploration of the menu. (I remember loving Guu, need to make a return trip there sometime soon too.) * next week's outing, we're jumping genres: Battle #4: Chicken Wings, Contender: Phnom Penh

We are going to give Zipang a try for dinner tonight. I've heard good things, so am looking forward to sampling some things off their menu (soba et al.) I love somen too. I missed my normal dose of it at Seattle's Bonodori festival (sometimes a tad overcooked, but always so refreshing). Mmm, perfect for summer. I haven't spent nearly enough time sampling the fare in Richmond... its not so far, a short 98B-line away. I've already been thinking about some dimsum trips out there; so much to explore as a vancouver newbie! Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll comment back on Zipang if folks are interested. And hopefully try a few other places, then maybe even tackle it in my own kitchen.

I think your friend might be slightly confused about the terms. Zaru soba can be any type of cold soba including buckwheat and cha soba (green tea soba). Unless you can find a place that makes handmade soba (none that I know of in Vancouver) and cha soba in particular, I would recommend just picking up the supplies at Fujiya (Japanese grocer) and making it yourself. Or in true Egullet fashion, you could try and make your own cha soba, which I've never attempted before. ← Cha soba, that makes sense... haha. I have just had my first crack at fresh pasta making last week... Maybe we'll go eat some first to set the bar, then give it a shot ourselves?

anywhere public transportationable; the stronger the recommendation, the further, more out-of-the-way we'd be willing to go . Another friend thinks he's tracked some down at Zipang on Main. I've seen Shiro's mentioned on here a few times, so I'll definitely let them know. Any word on Zipang? I've had cold soba before, but never zaru soba... what is it in zaru soba that gives it this rumored greenness? Seaweed?

A friend of mine was just asking me if I know a good place to find zaru soba. I'm still a bit too new to Vancouver to feel confident recommending a place. (Especially since I don't even think I've ever had it... a bit too much of a sushi/sashimi purist most of the time ). Thus, I turn to you all for guidance in my zaru soba quest.

I must have gone the wrong week... We were there earlier this week, and had as many misses as hits I think. It was my third time there so I know how great it can be (crispy-skinned suckling pig, where were you?). We had lots of different things, highlights being the venison (ridiculously flavorful), the cheese plate (it IS a good one), the foie with candied pumpkin, and desserts (coffee flan with chocolate base, fresh fruit tart). The misses had mostly to do with salt, with dishes being salted almost to a distraction; too many, "wow, that's salty" instead of "wow, that's tunalicious!" I have a pretty flexible tolerance for salt, but for some people at the table, my "wow, that's salty" was their "wow, I don't think I can eat that." We ordered both of the tuna courses; the cured tuna was salty (its cured tuna, what do you expect? I didn't expect it to be quite that salty, but fine, I can roll with it). The tuna with vanilla-infused oil I had had on a previous visit and had been delicious and mind-expanding; now maybe it's a bit of a one trick pony, I'm not sure (and it was a bit too salty)... for whatever reason, this time I just wasn't so taken with it. The calamari was fantastically tender, but a bit too salty. The duck was nicely cooked, but the sauce... a bit too salty. It was a pretty disheartening trend throughout. Ah well. The service was good, the rioja was great, I've always enjoyed eating in the downstairs room, and you all have been recently with positive results. I'll just have to chalk it up to a "chef was craving salt" sort of night, and try again another time.

Lunch: Paseo (not just sandwiches, but the beans!!) Tubs Subs (Cajun sandwich) Than Bros. (any with soft tendon), I like Pho Tran too, but their cream puff needs work. Dinner: Inn Bin (we come for their soup when we're sick: mandarin garlic chicken, hot & sour soup... every time) Yasuko's Teriyaki (close and fast, 1/2 chicken or the pork) Jade Garden (steamed fish... mmm) Later Than When I Should Be Eating: Le Pichet Dick's Jade Garden

Sandwiches are in my triumverate of perfect food (with sushi and soup) and this is a great list! Salumi, Paseo, Matt's in the Market... I also like that Rueben at Persimmon I also wanted to add Tubs Gourmet Subs, kind of a blue-collar place on Lake City Way. Not everything is great, so since we're hand-picking the sandwiches, I suggest the Cajun (and get it with hot bbq sauce on the side for dipping). This place doesn't do anything fancy, just a nicely put-together sandwich, perfect for the football fan/construction worker in all of us.