After just over two years dishing up bowls of steaming hot noodles in a shop off Robson Street, Ramen Taka has announced they will be closing down their Vancouver location.
Ramen Taka - short for Ramen Taka notsume - revealed on their social media Monday that their restaurant at 841 Bidwell will shutter at the end of August due to the "ongoing Covid-19 pandemic situation."
Takanotsume, which launched in early 2018, serves ramen in the style of Japan's Asahikawa Hokkaido. Ramen from this region is known for its slightly oily shoyu broth. Actually, ramen is such a big deal in this area that not only is there a "Ramen Village" of eight ramen shops in Asahikawa, but they are also situated near a ramen shrine.
Vancouver's Ramen Taka - in the city's own "Ramen Row" situated on and around Robson Street - was the first outpost of the restaurant outside of Japan.
By the end of their first year of serving ramen in Vancouver, Ramen Taka announced their second Metro location, this time in Richmond at Aberdeen Centre.
According to Ramen Taka, their Richmond location will be staying open, promising the outpost "is going to be much better than ever."
Ramen Taka is known for their rich, fatty, pork-based broth. While other ramen styles call for a broth base that uses both chicken and pork (with a faster cook time), Taka's long-simmering flavour-extracting process of using pork bones and seafood means an intense depth of flavour in bowls such as their signature Dragon’s Dewdrop Shoyu Ramen.
To keep with the Hokkaido tradition, your broth at Ramen Taka can be punctuated with the addition of lard (or a non-animal oil for their special vegan broth). This is because in Hokkaido, locals prefer to slurp from extremely hot bowls of soup; the extra fat seals in the heat.
Ramen Taka is also home to one of Vancouver's biggest food challenges, the Giga Ramen challenge. If you step up to the plate (or bowl, as it so happens) you are tasked with trying to take down an epic portion of ramen the size of five bowls combined.
You'll have until the end of August to slurp some noodles at Ramen Taka on Bidwell in Vancouver, then Richmond's Aberdeen Centre will be your option.
Here's Ramen Taka's closing announcement in full:
