Vancouver, Canada (The Joy of Food) — Ramen Danbo is that place that makes you question life and determine that, until now, all the other ramen you’ve been eating is swill. Here, it is a special kind of ramen that exists perfectly in the moment, and then it disappears.
The original Danbo opened in 2000 in the town of Chikushino, located halfway between Kurume on the southern island of Kyushu and Hakata in the Fukuoka Prefecture, the epicenter of tonkotsu-style ramen. They focused on quality and taste and soon word spread, and so did they — all over Japan. The Robson store is one of four in North America (the others are in Seattle, Brooklyn, and a second in the Kitsilano area of Vancouver).
The ramen is build-your-own and customizable to the hilt. Aside from the exceptional taste of the broth, this is Danbo’s biggest claim to fame. You pick everything from noodle thickness and firmness to the amount of lard, richness, and spice in the broth.
If the thought of endless possibilities makes you run for the hills, just order ‘standard everything’ and call it a day. Usually, I advocate for the purveyor to dictate the vision for how their food should taste, but here, it’s kind of cool to granulize, particularly to control the lard. I went with a ‘light’ quantity of that, but you have up to an ‘extra rich’ on the Richter Scale. To quote the late, great Julia Child, “fat gives things flavor.” Over time, it can also cause a coronary.
An order of miso rekka ramen is superb and arrives with chashu (pork), scallions, and a dollop of the top-secret homemade karadare (spicy sauce). “Rekka ramen” means that an additional layer of Ichimi Togarashi gets added, a potent little powder of ground chili pepper that does its job to bring extra heat while not overpowering the flavor of the broth.
About that, Danbo’s broth is based on a starter tonkotsu pork broth and is savory without being salty or oily. The miso ramen builds on the base by using a blend of two types of traditional Japanese miso. Swirled within this are super fresh and firm thin noodles that have a nice texture and chew.
The locally sourced Yakibuta chashu pork has crisp and melt-in-your-mouth tender textures. Collectively, it’s umami heaven. I imagine this hot, rich bowl of happiness works well when Vancouver is sporting negative temperatures.
An order of chashu pork donburi brings more magical porky savoriness, served as a bowl of white rice topped with small chunks of tender pork belly. The braised chashu boasts even layers of meat and fat topped with fresh scallions and a savory sauce. This is a satisfying side dish and reinforces the high brought on by the ramen. Just when you don’t think it can get any better, it does.
The catch at reaching this ramen utopia is that you have to wait, but typical of ramen shops, the food here is efficiently served and the line moves quickly. You sit, slurp, pay, and leave.
This is easily the best ramen I’ve had up to now and sort of puts everything else in a lesser category. Yes folks, the ramen at the end of the pork-sprinkled rainbow is well worth waiting for.
Written by Joy
Thanks for reading. The Joy of Food blog celebrates eating well, traveling often, and living la dolce vita. San Diego, California is home base, but thoughts are from all over. Reviews and photos help to highlight wonderful (or not) food experiences from around the world.
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This ramen shop was probably the closest in style to the efficiency and flavor celebrated by the Japanese comedy, Tampopo.
I’ll have to watch that!
Tampopo was awesome! That’s cool you have found the best ramen. How many times did you visit to calibrate the ramen to your tastes?
I’ve only been once and I would get the exact same thing again in the future. 😀