Newly opened in Vancouver (BC Canada) is Ramen Kounotori which takes over the space formerly occupied by Old Bird at 3950 Main Street.
They are locally owned and not an overseas brand. The owners have other successful restaurants in Metro Vancouver but they want to keep the concepts separate.
Ramen Kounotori offers a small and focused menu of 4 ramen options including: Tori Paitan (chicken-based broth); Kara Tori Paitan (chicken-based broth with some spiciness); Tori Shio (chicken and seafood broth); and Tori Shoyu (chicken and seafood broth blended with soy sauce).
All ramen bowls comed with pork and chicken chashu; a whole soft-boiled egg; wood ear mushrooms (kikurage); green onion and caramelized onion. 3 of the 4 bowls are priced $18.25 while one is priced (the spicy one) is priced at $19.25.
They also offer add-ons like pork or chicken chashu; soft-boiled eggs; wood ear mushrooms (kikurage); nori seaweed; green onion; caramelized onion; extra broth or noodles; and rice.
We tried 3/4 ramen options (Tori Paitan, Tori Shio, and Tori Shoyu) along with an extra side noodle.
Tori Paitan Ramen
Fresh creamy chicken broth
Tori Shio Ramen
Fresh chicken and seafood broth with sea salt.
Tori Shoyu Ramen
Fresh chicken and seafood broth blending with soy sauce in a process that takes 72 hours.
All the bowls we tried were delicious starting from the flavourful (but not heavy) ramen broth.
The Tori Paitan was particularly rich and creamy while the Tori Shio and Tori Shoyu had depth to the broth.
The pork and chicken chashu were very moist, tender and melt-in-your mouth. The pork chashu was perhaps a bit too tender as it fell apart already when I picked it up with the chopsticks.
Each bowl came with a whole ramen egg had a nice custardy, jammy egg yolk with umami flavor.
The wood ear mushrooms, green onions, seaweed added some texture. The noodles were al dente.
The bowls seem to be reasonable priced for what you get ($18-$19). I kind of felt like they offer more noodles than other places. Each bowl also came with a whole ramen egg unlike other places where it is an add-on or they offer a half ramen egg.
The service was reasonable. The kitchen is on the second level so the servers need to go up and down the stairs with the ramen bowls.
The minimalist space features a high ceiling, dining tables and seating around the bar.
Overall good experience, and I would recommend them!
Ramen Kounotori is located at 3950 Main Street, Vancouver BC.