Kokoro Ramen

Cute place. Ramen is on the pricier side but very tasty. I had #9 Umami Miso. Other than being too salty, the taste was very good. The portion side was good as well. Other people at the table said their ramen was good but the spiciness was lacking for being called a "spicy" dish. Overall, I would go here once in a while, since it is a bit more expensive.

First, the food. Looking at Dish #2 on the table in front of me, I asked the server if the noodles were pre-packaged noodles or made on-site, to which she replied, "Yes, packaged. " The dish is way overpriced because its main ingredient is pre-packaged noodles.

Great taste and good customer service. The dishes are really quick. Food is authentic like in Japan. Per person is around 30.00 Canadian dollars.

We love Japanese food. And Kokoro Ramen is always a yes for us, delisciously served! Service is great too!

Good service, great food, super fun place to sit down with friends! Probably one of my new top places to enjoy ramen in Vancouver.

First time eating there and I gotta say it was an extremely pleasant experience. My girlfriend and I ordered the Original Miso Ramen, a side of Takoyaki, and some Yuzu Honey Teas and, while the prices is on the high side, we absolutely loved the taste of everything! Also the staff was extremely friendly and efficient. Definitely coming back!

Kokoro is one of the best options to have dinner in the area. Food is always delicious.the staff is kind and friendly and the environment is cozy with great music! I highly recommend this place,

The customer service is pretty good and the food tasted good, but looks and taste are deceiving. After me and my friend ate the kokuton ramen, we went home and had diarrhea several times. I didn’t want to believe it could have been the ramen until my friend told me she had diarrhea too. This would have gotten 1 star, but I liked the customer service and the taste of the ramen, so I’m giving it 2 star for it.

One of the best Ramen in Vancouver. The pork is tender and soft, the noodles is chewy, and the soup is not too salty! Perfect!

The restaurant is very cute so I was surprised the ramen was bad. Got the chicken ramen and the egg was overdone and chicken was cold. At least the hot broth was able to warm up the chicken. Also I think $2 is a lot for an overdone egg.

Huge bow of a very delicious ramen. Takoyaki are one of the best in town.
Will definitely come back to explore their menu more.

Ramen is ok, the taste is simple but filling.i don't mind the taste, but i am more likely to order their fried chicken and the other stuff that they are combines kitchen with.very nice people working though and the look of the resto is verry cute and reminds me really like im in japan.

Kokoro Ramen is always so reliably delicious. Really cozy atmosphere, great service, amazing Ramen. I can't eat pork so I had the Chicken Ramen and it was incredible! I love that you can get iced teas here too. Just what I needed, comforting, bright and tasty. Highly recommend!

I have a new favorite ramen house. Most places in the city focus on shio ramen, but Kokoro has great tonkatsu ramen as well. Lots of different choices. This time I got the tantan ramen which was so deliciously spicy, a little bit spicier than most places you might find it. My partner got the tongkatsu ramen which had a wonderful black garlic flavor. Both broths were very silky smooth.

I'd rate it 3.5/5. I like the ambiance, the ramen is good but not outstanding, it's fairly pricy.

Stopped by for a quick lunch with hubby and sister. Loved the Ramen, as the pork was very tender and the broth was full bodied, hot and delicious. Sis had the taro milk tea and was thrilled with the violet color and unique taste. I had the matcha milk tea but found it toooo sweet.

The best ramen I know of in Vancouver.
Their plates are huge and extremely rich in flavor. I usually go with Umami Miso Ramen since I love their karaage but there are tons of options I enjoy.

One of my favorite places for ramen that isn't your overly hyped places that you find downtown. Solid, great tasting ramen here.

I have severe allergies to fish and seafood but I am not vegetarian.
All the broths aside from the Vege/Vegan ones do contain fish/seafood.

I ordered an “Original Miso Butter Ramen #7” priced at 18,50$ (but asked to swap the broth for the “Hearty Vegetarian Miso Ramen” priced at 17,50$ as I can’t have the original miso at all). We also ordered karaage chicken and beers that came before the soups.

The waitress came back as we were eating the chicken to inform me there would be an extra fee for the broth substitution.

They said that instead of adding an “extra broth” at 5$, they would charge me an “extra pork chashu” at 2,80$ and if I was OK with it.

As we were eating already, it put me in an uncomfortable situation as a client. Money is above the costumer service and it was clearly said out loud. I get that we are going through a rough patch but still! I’ve eaten at plenty Ramen places and it has NEVER been an issue.

I questioned the reasons of why I would have to pay extra - to get no extra food in the end. The waitress seemed uncomfortable as she was just relaying a message from the kitchen. The final answer was “the kitchen said the vege broth is more expensive to make than the pork miso but we can reduce de fee to 1,50$”.

Had they charged me extra for substituting the broth - and actually put extra broth, that would’ve justify the fees and I would’ve gladly pay it. At the end of the day, it’s not about the amount they charged extra but how they handled the situation.

In a span of 5 minutes and me questioning the logic of being asked to pay extra (I was still ordering the pricier option to start with), my ramen went from being 23,50$, 21,30$ and 20$.

Our bill was around ~70$ and had they been able to accommodate me, I would’ve gone back because the food was good.

However being inflexible and charging extra fees to substitute and accommodate your clients is (in my opinion) a bad buisness move as it doesn’t make the place inclusive to people without food restrictions aside from being Vege/Vegan.

Is has me wondering, what if I would’ve actually liked an “extra broth” on top of that “no extra extra substitution fee”? …+25$ ramen?

The ramen tastes different than what I am used to. I'd say it is not for me. It tastes like burnt onion and the chashu pork was a little cold.

Noodles were good, broth was tasty, portions were good, service was efficient but I wish the egg was not over cooked and also cut in half.

My favourite Vancouver ramen spot. Super tasty broth - love the spicy tantan ramen especially. Delicious karaage as well, really light/flakey breading. Highly recommend this place!

Ramen is good but service is really bad to get an order will take 20 mins for extra broth it’s ridiculous and the server has so much attitude just to ask how long is your order the curly girl give me attitude…

There wasn’t a wait when we arrived and were seated immediately, they have the perfect amount of options to choose from. We had the miso butter ramen which was very rich and properly portioned, we also had the karage which was also very delicious. We will definitely come back soon, thanks!

Went for lunch and they open at noon. Enjoyed the noodles and broth and meat.pretty much the whole bowl. Street parking available along Victoria or you could try the London Drugs parking lot.

I've been here twice on a date with my partner and we love it! It has a very calming atmosphere and the food is so delicious! The staff are really nice and very helpful, and there's lots of options on the menu. Everything we've tried so far is amazing

One of the best vegetarian ramen meals I have ever had.i love the manager/owner too. I always come here after I get my nails diddd.so good, and it feels so healthy too

Their kokuton ramen is so good! Good size portion. Never had a problem getting a seat as I’ve yet to encounter any lines to get seated. Will visit again.

Service was really good and quick, and the food was really good, definitely one of my favorite places to get ramen

This is the saddest meal I have ever had IN MY LIFE. First let's start with the price. So they have a kinda build your own ramen type of menu going on. Which you know, screams cheap, but nothing further from the truth.

Actually every single item you want to add costs $1.50. And you might wonder: what items are those? Scallops? Prawns? Lobster perhaps? Onions. To add chop green onions to your ramen $1.50 of course you can always not add anything, and sure it will be good enough. Nope. If you don't add anything they will literally give you broth, noodles, and maybe some pork (I will get into the pork situation later)

But you might say: hey, maybe this is a cheap meal you know. Maybe this is one of those cheap places where you go in your lunch break to grab a bite. I love those places too. Places where you get a delicious and relativity decent portioned meal for a relativity decent price, but no. This places screams pretentiousness. They have prices similar to fancy restaurants with a fifth of the quality.

Let me explain. I order a ramen with green onions ($1.50) fried onions ($1.50) and an egg ($2.00.) Cheap ingredients that should be free. I can understand the egg having a price. Not because I think is reasonable, but because other places do the same, and many other places would charge you for that. So for a ramen with onions and an egg the charged me: $30 that's right $30. I was so hungry I said whatever. This has to be the best ramen ever.

I took forever, and when I finally got the ramen it was a complete disappointment. The fried onions where rather soggy instead of crispy as they should. The noodles where stick together. I mean it literally. The noodles where literally one massive peace of noodles stick together. I will upload some photos so everyone can see for themselves. I literally grabbed all the noodles at once with my fork. Soup was warm. And the pork. Oh god the pork. I will upload a photo where I have a piece of pork in a spoon. This ramen had approximately 4 more of those pieces. About less than a ounce. For $30 bucks. $30. Green onions where fine. They are just $1.50 chop green onions, so is good to know that onions are well chop I guess.

I feel rip off. I feel so rip off I had to write this long review. I never wrote a review like this one. I couldn't take it any longer. The quality and the size of the portions are definitely not $30. They are dilusional if they think otherwise, and this places can't compete with other known ramen places in Vancouver if this is the quality of the food. I uploaded 4 photos to back up my claims. See for yourself how appetizing that looks.

EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED AND FEEL CHEATED By this RAMEN PLACE. I ordered RAMEN from them through UBER EATS. I was wrongly charged extra, for garlic and 1 tsp of hot sauce. My 22 dollars order was updated by 4 dollars almost and landed up being a 26 dollars order. Since I added a note to provide some garlic and a bit of hot sauce. Never I have seen/ heard a restaurant charging for condiments or a table spoon if sauce. I feel they cheated me. Also the Ramen is Salty and lacks taste. SINCE WHEN ARE PEOPLE CHARGED EXTRA FOR Hot sauce and garlic? Please see the small quantities of condiments for which I was seperately charged 4 dollars. The condiments are in the small plastic in front if my coffee. Also attached my bill. 4 dollars is not a huge amount, but if I am asked to pay for a tsp of Hot sauce I think I should complain, by principle.

I've tried a ton of ramen spots in BC this is one of the view I would go back to.
Nice rich creamy broth and soft tender pieces of katsu. Yummy

I am really not sure where to go with this one. Things have changed since the re-opening but not necessarily for the worse. I am really debating whether to give this 3 or 4 stars and I guess I will give them the benefit of my doubt.
We ordered several different kinds of ramen and the seafood fry combo as well as gyoza. Look, the seafood fry was very competent and we generally had no complaints there, except maybe the prawn tempura was perhaps a bit too substantial.
The ramen, well, oh my gosh, what can I say? The first spoonfuls of soup were heavenly. The first bites of noodle, mixed in with the green onions and the brown fungus, oh that mix of textures and tastes. Wonderful! So why not a solid 4 or 5 stars? Here's the problem, we're having this in the middle of the hot summer and this thing is HEAVY. Flavour-wise it's hard to complain, every ramen we ate had a distinctly different and delicious flavour, but they all had one thing in common. Super rich and heavy. On a cold winter day these would be ideal. In the current climate, man, that thing is still sitting in our stomaches and we've all bypassed dinner. By the end of the meal, I was not having such a pleasant experience.
Would I like to return? Yeah, sure, but maybe in another season or to try out some lighter fare on the menu, but maybe not the ramen for summer.

Spicy Ramen tastes good. Ordered Caramel donuts, received lemon donuts. Shame. Never like lemon.

Errrr… hookkkayy! What am I missing here? ! I’ve passed by Kokoro Ramen many times and from the shop front, thought this must be a great place for ramen. So with memories of cold shinshsaibashi Osaka nights over steamy ramen carts or post-Ktv nights at shinjuku alley ways, I was hankering for a great meal! Still at partial covid restrictions, the very polite waitress asked us to wait for a table to come open; ok, gave me a chance to look through the menu, but only saw a very limited menu - which is par for the the course for ramen places. But what’s with the other reviews with all sorts of items that’s not available now?

Ok never mind - ordered #1 and 2 and after waiting quite a while (for the small number of patrons - there’s only 4 tables open!), our bowls came and right away, I was totally disappointed; the saddest looking small amount of ramen was served in a big bowl with pieces of meat, some veggies, seaweed slab and the WHOLE egg thrown in and that’s my no. 1! How is one supposed to eat a whole egg in a ramen? ! Nope, not cut in half and presented nicely, just peeled and dumped somewhere in the bowl! Had to stab it with my chopstick and bit into it …. And of course it was fully boiled instead of the 3 minutes egg it’s supposed to be! A total travesty for ANY restaurants, never mind a Japanese one, to commit this hanging-crime!
Then comes the main attraction- the ramen! Ok, cooked ok per se BUT…. The broth … tasted like the last time I gulped some sea water when I was swimming. It was THAT salty and that tasteless! Incredible! Asked the waitress for some hot water and I poured the whole tumbler into my ramen and only then could I eat it. Incredible!
The decor and cleanliness is ok and the waitresses were very nice …. But slow as I guess they’re new staff - as per the “position vacant” poster in the washroom. To me, this is another faux-pas as it openly admits that they’re understaffed!
3 stars still for the pleasant staff and since everybody is trying to survive business wise - not nice to be so critical of any place!

Great Raman but for the life of me I have no idea why they would limit their customer base when the pandemic is making it difficult to stay in business as it is. Cash is a legal currency in canada and many people prefer to pay this way but you refuse to accept it?

Ordered from here from Uber eats and look at how cute and well packaged the food is! I got the rice bowl with gyudon and karaage and the portion size is great! Comes with 2 pieces of big karaage and gyudon:) I wish the gyudon had a little more sauce tho! Otherwise it was delicious and I’m happy with this order!

The ramen is absolutely incredible! I could live off of this! The chicken nearly melts in my mouth, it's unlike any chicken I have ever experienced before. The kale noodles are to die for, definitely worth the extra $2! I get extra broth because it is so soothing, i could just drink it on the daily. This soup is so nourishing! It makes me feel so good! I love it so much!

I look forward to eating indoors again! The interior is just as beautiful as the exterior! The staff are so kind and attentive. The care and attention that goes into the meals, as well as the decore, and over all atmosphere is greatly appreciated!

Can't comment on the quality of the ramen, but I've ordered their Pirate of the Curry meals several times and always enjoyed them, particularly the vegetarian/spicy versions. Takeout experience is reliable.

I've been here hundreds of times. Great soup, fresh ingredients, and fast friendly service. Their frozen vacuum Ramen is also great for lazy dinners nights, and cheap too. 5 stars!

First thing I have to say about Kokoro Ramen is about their AMAZING service~!

Every time (not visit anymore.sadly) - they are by far the most friendliest and attentive. If dine-in wasn't impacted by COVID, I wish everybody could experience that charm.

I've tried their menu quite extensively and the flavours they put out are suitable for all moods and occasions~ (of course, mainly because I have ramen cravings at least once every month!) My favorite would have to be the SHIO ramen and that satisfaction of eating the egg last once it soaks in the broth by the end of the meal!

But yes~ if you want a ramen day:)
Takoyaki ~ Karaage ~ Ramen ~ Sake!

That's all you need with you and possibly the peeps!

Thank you and stay amazing!

On top of good food, I was clueless to opening a Japanese soda bottle.instead of charging me for another one the lady gave me a free one instead and I learned to open it.

This place is awesome and I go here all the time. The ramen is as good as the high end places downtown like Marutama and Danbo but they actually have more variety. My go to in the photo is the Spicy Tan Tan ramen, but they're all good and I love the Karaage and other starters too. Looking forward to when they reopen the dining area but honestly ramen is pretty much just as good as take-out.

Food was good but the customer service definitely needs improvement.
Already came here a few times waiter constantly forgetting what I ordered.

Feb 20,2021

I passed by this restaurant quite a few times while on the bus.
I noticed that there were a pile of unwashed dishes put to the side,
very messy.

One of the employees was having lunch from what I could see and there was no
other person to wash the dishes
left.

After seeing that today, I would not go
to this restaurant.

I 've never been to the restaurant and they only serve noodle soup

Any Japanese restaurant serving noodle soup only will only get a 1 rating

This place to me has fairly average tasting ramen. Nothing to special about their broths. Decent price but have been to other ramen restaurants that I enjoy more.

I don't like leaving negative reviews as each restaurant conduct their business in their way. During these Covid times, we like to support our local business. Our order was from mid November and I finally decided to review them a month later. I wanted to give Kokooro enough time to respond. But they didn't, it was a simple item forgotten from my order. Called back that same night, no answer, left voicemail. Several days later, called again, voicemail again. A week later, called, voicemail and still nothing. At this point, it's not about the missed item anymore, it's about your service, or the lack of it.

Edit: received a call from the manager to correct the mistake. Much appreciated!

Best ramen I’ve had in the year since moving to BC. I savor every drop of soup in their kokuton ramen. It’s rich, meaty and creamy. An absolute delight on its own. But then you add in lovely thin noodles, silky chashu with great fat-meat ratio, heaps of kikurage and menma, fried garlic and fried onion. Oh. My. Gosh. There’s so many textures to explore while slurping down that decadent broth.

I've been trying out the best ramen in different ramen shops, so far this is the one that I've found the great and delicious. I have great experience with the server named shiho.she's really attentive to your needs. Thumbs up to her

Tôi hay ăn ở việt nam.nhưng hôm nay đến ăn kokoro tại Vancouver tôi rất ấn tượng với cách phục vụ ở đây.nhiệt tình và chu đáo.thanks

The service is a bit mediocre. Have to find my own seat and ask for menu. Then for about 10 mins nobody came to take order so I have to call them. I got the shio signature ramen and the broth was good. It can be a bit salty if not used to. The noddle was not my favorite kind but was tasty. The onsen egg was cold inside so it was surprising. The chasu was overcooked ish so it was a bit chewy and got in-between the teeth easily.

A nice ramen spot in East Van. The ramen felt pretty standard fare and checked off most of the boxes for a satisfying bowl. The eggs were cooked to well, so although they weren't over cooked, they weren't runny (how I like 'em) like how many of the other ramen spots do them. The soup was decent, but I felt like it was a tad bit saltier than I'd like, though it can be argued that it's closer to it's Japanese counterparts in that regard.

Pretty good ramen. I only go to it when I want ramen in the area. Don't go out of my way for it. They have nice staff too

Good food, nice staff. Ramen tastes really good. It could have more options, but it's already very good.

This is by far the best Ramen place I've been in town and always crave for. The price is very reasonable, I'd say not too expensive but not too cheap. As for the place, it is small but tidy with good service. I observed that every time I come for a bowl of good, warm ramen, every costumers are enjoying theirs just as I do.

Been here a few times but this last time will probably be the last. Had to try to enjoy our family meal with an infestation of fruit flies. They were everywhere. Seeing as they landed on half the food we didn't eat much. Told the staff that there was a lot of fruit flies and they mentioned they were closing early for a deep clean. So they knew it was bad enough to close but not bad enough to offer everyone in the restaurant discounts?

Legendary. I had the light miso Ramen with egg and I'm pretty sure this is the first Ramen broth I would drink from a water bottle, so amazing. The egg was also aaaamaaaaazziiiiiiinnnnngggg so much so I had to take a picture

One of the best Ramen places I've ever been to! The vegetable dumplings were hands down amazing! Wonderfully filled, not the least bit soggy, really good taste! Jasmine tea tasted very well AND the veggie Ramen was a pure delight, super rich broth, fresh tatse of pumpkin, broccoli and konbu. The ambience was warm, cozy and comfortable. The service friendly! Overall a very good experience. I would love to come back!

Good service and good food, but the flys are everywhere, it makes me crazy I will say to the manager please be seriously attitude for that.

This is my favourite place to grab ramen in Burnaby. The noodles are thin and the service is fast. They have one of the spiciest ramen I've ever had! Definitely a great place to enjoy a meal with friends.

Best ramen in East Vancouver. I don’t give 5 stars because of the location but in terms of taste it’s definitely 5 stars.

The ramen was so delicious. Wonderful. BTW, I forgot my backpack which has most of my precious stuff, I.e, driver license, credit card and laptop, and so on. They found the bag and kept it until I realized and went back for it. Way to go, Kokoro.

Ramen is tasty but the prices are a little too high. Also you HAVE to order something even if you are just accompanying a friend. I have skipped this place so many times due that policy.

Been awhile I've been here due to ramen hiatus for a good year or so.

More things on the menu which was exciting!
Kaarage chicken here is always soooo good!
I had the umami ramen with egg and it was delicious, I couldn't finish it hahah

Had their signature Kokuton ramen (pork based) and added the mini-sashimi salad. The broth is too salty, making my mouth dry and I had to drink a lot of water to wash down the salty taste from my mouth. The salad had a bit too much oil on the leafy greens, and my mouth had a slimy taste afterwards. Imo, there are better ramen places in Vancouver.

My partner and I eat her fairly frequently. I’m a ramen freak and consider this place to be in the top 3 in Vancouver. Ramen is top notch here.

I don't know what happened and why they changed their menu, but all of the new ramen soups are way too salty. I used to love coming back for their creamy chicken ramen, but that one was removed from the menu and replaced with these new soups. I was really excited to try them out, but so far it's just been a huge disappointment. Kokoro used to be our favorite ramen place, so I'm really sad that I haven't been able enjoy my ramen there the last two times we visited. I'm just gonna have to order their classic miso ramen next time, as that one is still pretty good, but all of the others are not worth coming back for.

Perfect portions, soup is tasty and atmosphere is friendly. One of my favourite local ramen places that’s not in the downtown core. I like my noodles thin. (The girl in the blue demin is always friendly when I go.not sure what the other poster is talking about). Yes, I agree price is a little high.

Nice decor. Their soup base is rich and tasty. The noodles are too soft. Price is a little too high too.

Like this place but I still like the other type of ramen noodle more. Our ramen was tasty, the chicken karage was nice and hot/crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. But I think we only come here cuz there are groupons.

I dont remember having the egg the last time I was here, but I thought it was very tasty this time.
I had shio last time and I liked it, this time I ordered the shoyu and I think it's a little too salty at the end. I was also quite thirsty after. I still enjoyed it tho.

Had to wait a little bit for service, but their spicy ramen bowl was delicious, definitely get the egg!

Decided to try this place after seeing it on Groupon, but I definitely wouldn't pay full price for this. First, the layout of the restaurant is extremely awkward. The entry way is very tiny and it is hard to walk in due to the large banner obstructing the door. Additionally, the actual table layout is odd, as there is one massive "shared" table in the centre of the restaurant, where they seat multiple smaller groups.

The service was okay, the servers were friendly enough but nothing extraordinary. I was super disappointed with the ramen itself. I tried the chicken paitan, and the base was extremely salty, yet somehow lacking flavour at the same time. The chicken had flavour, but the noodles and broth had no taste to the extent that I stopped eating it after a few bites.

Price was expensive consider the small portion size. The soup base was very salty, and the thin noodle was neither chewy nor tasty.

Their staff is very friendly. The prices are a bit high compared to other places but their ramen is very good and the portions are big. Weekends get busy and seating capacity is limited. The spiciest ramen on their menu is way too spicy and not enjoyable.

The actual ramen falls short of expectations when it was served. On the menu it looks so delicious and appetizing, the actual presentation lacks the effort.
The soup is good, but the noodle lacks a bite and chewiness to it, hence undermining the overall experience. I would say generic ramen place at best. The only good thing about it is the options they have at a prime location.