Sherman's Food Adventures: Ramen Gaoh

Ramen Gaoh

As mentioned in my Ramen Raijin post, the ramen scene in Burnaby is getting serious.  What was only a few joints including Kamamarui, Kawawa and Hakkaku at one point, I didn't think I'd ever see the day with so many options.  Located within a stone's throw from Hakkaku, Ramen Goah has set up shop in the old Papa John's pizza location on Hastings at Willingdon.  Unlike many of the ramen joints in the GVRD, Ramen Goah offers up a signature ramen with 2 versions of miso (and a veggie one too).  We ended up checking it out on a weekday (where it was still very busy).

Another feature they have on their menu is their variety of Gyoza.  We ended up with a regular order as a combo to the ramen and also their Truffle Parmesan.  The gyoza itself was tender with a juicy pork filling.  Thin and lightly chewy, the dumpling skin had a nice mouth feel and bite.  As you can see, there was an aggressive sear on the bottom which was good for texture and flavour.  As much as the cheesy gyoza was interesting and flavourful, we much preferred the regular one.  Their Chicken Karaage was both good and bad on one plate.  We liked how the chicken thigh meat was juicy (like really running juices juicy), tender and seasoned.  Furthermore, the batter was crispy and decently light.  However, each piece was far too large which meant oil retention was high and the practicality of eating it was low.

For myself, I went for their featured Scorpion Ramen with spicy ground pork, chashu and gai lan.  I ended up with spice level 2 and numbness 2.  I thought the whole thing wasn't as spicy as I would've thought.  Maybe I needed 3 and 3?  Whatever the case, it was still pleasing to eat with the rich, almost creamy and spicy broth.  The noodles were al dente while the chashu was sufficiently fatty and tender.  To get to the ground pork, I had to drink quite a bit of the soup which was okay, but it was rather rich for me to finish it.  My son decided on the Red Miso broth and although it was advertised as more flavourful than the milder White Miso broth, it really wasn't.  There was the usual deep flavour that we find with red miso, but it wasn't as impactful as we would've hoped.  Despite this, it wasn't as if it was not good.  It was.

That leads into Viv's bowl of White Miso Ramen which was only slightly milder and more subtle than the red miso. It was lightly creamy where the noodles were al dente and the chashu was a meaty tender.  The egg was on point with a runny yolk.  I thought the miso ramens were good, but not exceptional.  Their real draw is the Scorpion Ramen as well as their gyozas.  A nice addition to the Burnaby North hood.

The Good:
- Spicy Scorpion Ramen
- Gyoza
- Okay pricing

The Bad:
- Miso ramen okay, but not exceptional
- Karaage good, but too big in size

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