We went to Taishoken on Rememberance day and we were glad we didn't drive as a lot of the roads were blocked due to the parade. When we got there, there was a lineup, but not too long. We got seated in probably around 15 mins. The place itself isn't very big. There were around 4 small tables with a big communal table and 5 seats at the bar. Taishoken is famous for their Tsukemen which is noodles and soup separated. I decided to get just the regular Shoyu Tonkatsu though as every ramen place has that and it would be easier to compare. Calvin got the Kimchi Tonkatsu Ramen. We get a choice of pork shoulder or pork belly for the chasiu. I chose half and half and Calvin chose pork belly because he likes his fat.
The soup was super rich. It tasted different than other soup base. There was an interesting after-taste which I couldn't seem to figure out what it was. The soup definitely had a good proportion of fat as you could tell with the oils in the soup. When I drank the soup, it seemed as though the soup and the oil kind of separated in my mouth. It was very interesting but I did like the soup. I really liked the noodles as well. It was very al dente and tasted like what ramen noodle should taste like. Between the pork shoulder and the pork belly, I would also pick the pork belly next time because there were more taste and because of the fat, the meat was softer. The pork shoulder still tasted better than the ones I've had in Vancouver before. It was marinaded well and the taste came through. It wasn't tough like rubber. The egg was pretty good too. It was boiled property with a soft yolk although the yolk wasn't oozing out.
Calvin did enjoy his kimchi noodle too especially when that day was super cold. The kimchi wasn't too overpowering or spicy that he couldn't taste the soup base. He really enjoyed his pork belly. It was done quite well.
The pork shoulder on the left and pork belly beside it. You can tell after one bite, the meat didn't look tough and hard to separate as the meat around bite mark was cut off nicely.
You can tell how clear the soup looked and that the oil sits above the soup base.
So I went back to Taishoken another day to try their famous Tsukemen. Tsukemen basically mean soup and noodles served separately. I ordered the original with cold noodles.
The soup was really rich, served with the noodles was perfect. I don't like that the soup is not hot enough though. From our friends who lived in Japan for a few years, he said the soup is supposed to be super hot and so the temperature would be perfect when you order old noodles.
The soup was too rich to drink on its own. The noodles was the right texture. It was very al dente and and the egg taste of the noodle tasted very wel with the soup.
I ordered the a pork shoulder and pork belly to see how each of them tasted. Without a doubt, the broth goes better with the pork belly.
In Japanese culture, you are supposed to finish the soup when you eat ramen as a sign of respect for chef. With tsukemen, the soup is too rich to finish. So you should ask for the unseasoned broth to finish drinking the soup. The unseasoned broth was also not hot enough so we didn't enjoy drinking the soup.
Overall, this is a really good noodle place and I think I'm in love with tsukemen. Just wish the soup is hot enough next time.
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