Zubu: Japanese ramen in Burnaby
Zubu is a Japanese ramen joint with 3 locations across the Lower Mainland: Metrotown, Kitsilano and Pork Royal. Since Autumn has arrived and Vancouver is now Raincouver, we decide to check it out.
This review is based on an in-dining experience during COVID-19 at the Metrotown location.
Interior
I think the Metrotown location is really convenient – ample parking spots and quite a large space with a patio. Zubu’s Metrotown location took over what was previously another ramen restaurant named Jinya.
The interior hasn’t changed much at all from Jinya’s days. They still have the bar seating when you first come in and then the sit-down tables and chairs in the back. We were seated at the kitchen bar so we could see the kitchen cooks work.
Every table had plexiglass which gave them an excuse to seat us normally (not 6 feet distance) and fill every table if needed. I personally think they should still space customers out at 50% occupancy. All staff wore masks, even the cooks in the kitchen.
The style of the interior is trendy and has a very nice ambiance. I especially like their lit up plant wall in the back.
Food
We order 2 ramens, 1 appetizer and 1 dessert.
Appetizers
They have an extensive list of appetizers ranging from classic Japanese street eats like takoyaki (octopus balls) to temaki (hand roll sushi) and salads.
I’ve seen the temaki DIY platter before but it seems like you basically get a bunch of ingredients to make your own handrolls. I usually am not a fan of deconstructed anything (why would I pay to make my own food lol) but if you are interested in the platter, it’s $32 and can feed 2 adults for appetizers.
Baby scallops temaki ($4.80)
Hand rolls have been very trendy on Instagram lately, especially laid out in this fashion. Usually, hand rolls end up looking kind of like a cone but when they lay it out like this it makes it look like you have a lot of food because it’s all spread out.
Personally, I didn’t really like this form of presentation for hand rolls. It made it a bit challenging to eat because one end was not closed so the filling can fall out. The cone way is the way to go.
Originally we wanted the uni temaki but that was sold out so we settled for the baby scallops instead. It is similar to a chopped scallop roll – tasted nice but nothing extraordinary.
Ramen
Tonkotsu Kuro ($15)
Tonkotsu means “pork bone” and Kuro means “black”. This ramen uses pork broth, thin noodles, pork chashu (bbq pork), kikurage (Jew’s ear AKA mushroom), green onion, nori seaweed, crispy garlic, black garlic oil and crispy onion. We also add a ramen egg for $2.
The “black”/garlic ramens are often very popular with my male friends. You will find this ramen to taste more salty and have bolder flavours (garlic flavours) so if you like strong flavours, you may prefer this ramen over others.
Tonkotsu shiro ($15)
Shiro means “white” and this is the one I order (haha we ordered black and white). This ramen features pork and clear chicken broth, thick noodles, pork chashu, kikurage, green onion, spicy bean sprouts, ginger and black pepper. I change my noodles to thin noodles and also add a ramen egg for $2.
I choose this ramen because actually I was craving Marutama and I often prefer chicken broth over pork broth. The soup base was a lot lighter, which I enjoyed. The spicy bean sprouts can make the broth taste a little bit sour when mixed in.
The chasu was not bad, not too fatty and not too lean. Everything else tasted good except the ramen egg was a little below expectations on how well done it was. I also didn’t think their thin noodles were thin enough but again, I was comparing it mostly to Marutama’s chicken ramen.
Dessert
The waitress tells us that they just recently launched their dessert menu this week so we decide to order a dessert too.
London fog cotta ($8)
My boyfriend loves panna cotta so whenever we see it on the menu, we usually end up ordering it. Zubu’s london fog cotta features a creamy panna cotta infused with earl grey tea and topped with light whipped cream and lemon chocolate crumble.
Appearance wise, it is humble and simple. I thought the jar looked kind of small at first but as we shared this dessert, we realized it was the perfect size for 2 people and not too little at all.
The london fog cotta was very pleasing and a nice way to end our meal. It is light and creamy and has a rich earl grey tea flavour. I really liked the crumble they added as well even though they didn’t add a lot. Overall, a very well balanced dessert.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: โญโญโญ
Generally, I did like my bowl of ramen. I actually couldn’t finish it but that is the case for most ramen restaurants I go to. Hearty, soupy and filling and I wasn’t too thirsty later that night so I suppose they don’t use too much MSG.
Prices are average and maybe lean a little bit to the pricy side if you compare it to cheaper ramen restaurants but they are cheaper than Jinya’s prices. I also low-key hate paying $2 for a ramen egg… ramen eggs should be included in the ramen!
Appetizers were just ok but they have a lot of different appetizers. Dessert exceeded my expectations but those are only available dine-in.
We will probably return to Zubu another time because the ramen was decent and the location is super convenient for us.
Sincerely, Loewe