Tonkotsu broth blended with Osaka curry is a RARE combo on Vancouver ramen menus.
There is a new spot on Kingsway that just opened, doing exactly that.
Namba Curry has soft opened, the new sister concept from the team behind Oretachi Curry in Steveston Village and on Main Street.
Oretachi Curry was founded back in 2012 in the Namba district of Osaka by Mr. Sugimura, where it earned a reputation as one of the “The best Curry in Osaka” on the popular Japanese TV show “YOUは何しに日本へ.”
In 2023, Oretachi opened its first North American store in Steveston Village.
“We’ve been really lucky to be loved by many already, and this new concept is kind of our next step,” they told Noms Magazine.
Namba Curry is the team’s play for the Burnaby, Burquitlam, and Tri-Cities crowd that has been driving across town for their curry fix.
We dropped by on a late afternoon to check it out.
The space is small, around 20 seats, with wood paneling, clean white walls, and the same warm Osaka-canteen energy as the other Oretachi locations.
If you have eaten at Oretachi before, you already know what the curry side of the menu is going to taste like.
Same 20-plus spice blend, same short-grain rice base, same cutlet and vegetable curries, ranging from $10.50 for the basic up to $26.50 for the loaded Namba Combo plate.
The big difference here is the ramen.
At Oretachi, the curry ramen runs on a shrimp miso broth.
At Namba Curry, they have gone full tonkotsu, pork bone simmered for ten hours and blended into the same signature Namba curry that built the brand.
There is also a classic ramen section that does straight tonkotsu and shoyu on a separate pork and seafood base.
The Original Tonkotsu is $14, the loaded Signature Tonkotsu and Special Shoyu both come in at $19, and the curry ramen bowls sit at $21 to $22 depending on the cutlet.
We ordered the Chicken Cutlet Curry Ramen ($21), which the staff recommended.
The bowl lets you pick your ramen egg between onsen poached or seasoned soft-boiled, plus your spice level between Regular and Hot.
We went onsen egg, Regular spice.
This is where it gets interesting.
Unlike a lot of the curry ramen bowls in Vancouver, the broth is not chalky-thick.
Definitely the opposite of the OG Benkei Ramen curry ramen thickness.
It pours more like a proper tonkotsu, just tinted with the curry, and the spice lands on the back of the throat instead of sitting heavy on the tongue.
The chicken cutlet held its crunch on top of the bowl, the panko still crackling against the rim until you broke it into the broth.
The noodles are thin and straight, which is the right call here because the lighter broth lets them carry the curry without getting gluey.
This block of Kingsway has been BUSY with changes all year.
London Drugs is being replaced by 88 Supermarket, Trees Coffee is heading into the recently completed REN building at the corner, and Kroren Uyghur Cuisine opened a few doors down last month.
For more new and upcoming food spots in Metro Vancouver, take a peek at our tracker here, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter here.
Address: 3343 Kingsway, Vancouver BC