There's been a little change-up right off "Ramen Row" in Vancouver's West End, as longtime noodle shop Motomatchi Shokudo has closed up and re-opened, having re-branded as Tsukiya.
Motomatchi shuttered at the end of March, and within weeks had its doors open again at 740 Denman St. as the new Tsukiya concept, once again serving up steaming bowls of ramen.
"We specialize in home-made tonkotsu (pork bones broth) ramen featuring a rich, flavourful broth and specially made chewy noodles," touts Tsukiya on its website.
"To create our homemade tonkotsu broth we boil pork bones for nine hours to extract the maximum amount of flavour and richness," the restaurant describes. "We use seven different kinds of vegetables slowly cooked to incorporate them into the broth, adding sweetness and umami."
Fans of the beloved Motomatchi need not fret; the Tsukiya menu reflects little has changed besides the name. There are a shoyu and miso option for the pork broth base, along with the restaurant's enduring signature selection of "bamboo charcoal" broth, as well as a spicy and an "umami" base option.
Tsukiya also serves up gyoza and a side dish of chashu pork bits.
As Motomatchi, the noodle joint earned an honourable mention nod the last time Van Mag's Restaurant Awards had the ramen category, which was in 2019.
Tsukiya is open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday through Tuesday. Follow @tsukiya_tonkotsu_ramen on Instagram.
