Kokoro Tokyo Mazesoba: Japanese mixed noodles across the Vancouver Lower Mainland
Kokoro Tokyo Mazesoba is not a new restaurant to the Vancouver food scene. They now have 8 different locations across the Vancouver Lower Mainland (North and South Burnaby, Vancouver, Kitsilano, and even UBC).
What do they sell? They are known for their mazesoba which means mixed noodle or a soupless ramen (although they also have ramen on their menu).
I first visited the downtown location several years ago when they first opened and had an amazing first bite. However, this was short lived as I found the rest of the bowl to be incredibly greasy/oily and it didn’t sit well in my stomach ๐ฌ. I returned the next year with a takeout order and found the same problem persisted, so I decided to not eat here for several years.
Last year, I was told by my friend that the noodles are not as greasy as before so I decided to give it another chance. I ate here during Christmas break in 2023 to the new Metrotown/Station Square location.
The vibe
The Metrotown location was very busy when we arrived on a Friday night. For a table of 2, we waited around 20 minutes with no reservation. They have an online waitlist you can join when you enter the restaurant.
The inside is actually very cute. It has this train station theme with brick walls, street signs, and metal handle bars. It resembled something to a European restaurant in Japan if that means anything to anyone ๐ .
Overall, the space is large and can seat many people. They also have large tables for groups of 6+.
Food review
Here is everything we ate between 2 people. Prices are in CAD and rounded to the nearest dollar.
Spicy chicken karaage ($11)
I personally think $11-12 is expensive for a chicken karaage side dish, but I have to say I was pretty happy with this tapa. Despite how it looks in the photo, there was a decent portion of fried chicken on this plate for 2 people.
I was worried this dish would be too spicy, but it was actually a good level for me. The sauce they use is very similar to the “special” sauce you can find in Korean fried chicken joints (they call it yangnyeom sauce – it is sweet, sour and spicy).
Mentaiko cream mazesoba ($18)
Kelvin chooses the mentaiko cream mazesoba, which comes with mentaiko (pollack roe), slow-braised pork chasu, a runny egg yolk, seaweed flakes, spinach, green onion, minced garlic, Japanese cream sauce, grinded saba fish, sesame, and multi-grain noodles made in-house.
Mentaiko and cream sauce is a very popular combo and in this bowl of noodles, it still works nicely. I was worried it would be too creamy, but it was actually quite good. I find it actually less greasy than the bowl I got, which is the original mazesoba. The only thing is that I really didn’t taste any of that grinded saba fish so that could be completely removed for all I know.
Niku mazesoba ($17)
I order the OG classic, the niku mazesoba. Similar to the mentaiko cream one, this bowl of noodle comes with slow-braised pork chasu, minced meat (pork and beef), and the same ingredients as the mentaiko cream bowl (runny egg, green onion, sesame, noodles, etc.).
After you mix up all the ingredients, the bowl looks something like this:
I am happy to say that the noodles are definitely not as greasy as before.
This is actually a XL portion and you can now get free upgrades to XXL, but I strangely did not feel like this was a XL portion or even a large portion. It just felt like a regular portion to me. So now I am thinking that their new pricing strategy is kind of a lie. They say you get free size upgrade to XL or XXL, but actually the XL now is the same size as what their regular size used to be.
Either way, I am very full and cannot add my free bowl of rice to mix up the leftover yummy sauce.
Hokkaido cream cone ($8)
To end the night, I order the Hokkaido cream cone. It comes in a little stand of its own and presentation-wise, looks quite similar to the milky creamy ice cream cones you can find in Japan. Sadly, it just cannot taste as good as Japan.
It’s still yummy, although a bit melted. The milkiness is acceptable but I find the ones in Japan are even more milky (if you get what I mean ๐).
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: โญโญโญ
So after years… years of giving Kokoro Tokyo Mazesoba multiple chances, I have decided on a rating of 3 stars. This is combined from our 1 good experience this year, plus the previous 2-3 bad ones.
Let’s talk about our 1 good experience. The noodles were both tasty and less oily, but again the sizing kind of felt weird to me since they didn’t look or feel like a XL or XXL portion. The chicken and ice cream were both good. Generally, everything is decent. But I did find that it still did not settle well in my stomach later that night. Maybe there’s just something about my stomach and their sauce. Due to this, I just cannot give it 4 stars.
Service was pretty quick despite how busy the restaurant was.
Price-wise, I would consider it a cheap dinner because all the bowls are under $20 and if you get the XXL or the free small bowl of rice, you can potentially have some leftovers for lunch as well.
Sincerely, Loewe