I was lucky enough to have lunch with some very special people earlier today at my favorite ramen spot, Motomachi Shokudo. For the uninitiated, Motomachi is the younger, more polished & creative sibling of Kintaro Ramen, which is located mere footsteps away on Denman Street in the West End. Both are owned by Daiji Matsubara and each have their own identity. Kintaro has been a West End favorite for years and Motomachi Shokudo has already received love from VIA and our friends over at Vancouver Slop, not once, but twice in the past.
In addition to their excellent, modern takes on classic ramen flavours, they've been offering a limited-edition "Summer Special Ramen" of late. This particular dish is served cold with a small amount of shoyu broth, but is quite different from the popular Hiyashi Chuka cold ramen dishes that have more of vinegary bite. The "Summer Special Ramen" features thick flour & seaweed noodles topped with an amazing combination of sweet & spicy sliced beef, poached organic egg, cucumber, nori (seaweed), green onion, naruto, wasabi, citrus sauce and much more. You mix it all up and enjoy the party in your mouth. I've been doing this once every couple of weeks all summer long!
Note: If you have an aversion to extremely slimy textures, I would recommend you substitute the grated taro potato for wakame seaweed, which they are more than happy to do. This action may drastically affect your enjoyment of the dish. I was given this same warning by the waitress the first time I tried it. Consider yourself warned.
Much to my chagrin, TODAY IS THE LAST DAY they will be offering the "Summer Special Ramen!" Sorry for the eleventh-hour late notice - I just realized this today. If you haven't made dinner plans yet, or even if you have, you may want to consider making your way over to Motomachi to give this a try before it's gone!
