I really appreciate all the well known, well tested, popular Vancouver restaurants that have since made, the fast expanding area of Burnaby at Brentwood their new home.
Kokoro Mazesoba is one of the latest, opening their 3rd location in the Madison Centre, sharing a kitchen with Tendon Kohaku, who opened months before. Whereas the Tendon space is bright and light, Kokoro has chosen a darker motif with black painted walls and purple neon lights that glow against it. One neon light outlines a ramen bowl with noodles and chopsticks, and another spells out the character for noodles. They tint the room in a golden plum hue.
I have always appreciated how easy their menu is to order from. Plenty of photos and easy to digest descriptions. It has been a while since I have had their dry udon, so narrows by selection to that. I chose Zenbu, the chef’s special Mazesoba, as the one with the most toppings, featured on its own menu page. Slow braised pork chashu, spicy minced pork, runny egg yolk, seaweed, soft boiled egg, sesame, bamboo shoot, seaweed flakes, chives, green onion, minced garlic, ground saba fish, and in house made multi-grain noodles.
I almost forgot how rich and fatty their noodles ate. The first few bites are a cascade flavour, a bounty of variety with your ability to mix and match tastes and texture. But it does hit heavy and a tad overwhelming fast. I advise picking the individual strands of udon out and eating those first. Thus, leaving much of the saucy and salty bits of pork and fishiness of the seaweed and ground mackerel behind. From here, you can order a complimentary bowl of steamed rice (if they don’t offer it to you first). It provides the ideal base to finish the left behind toppings with.
My guest went for one of their ramens, each option available in either a pork or chicken based broth, and the menu did a great job showcasing each in a split bowl photo.
This is the Kokoro Ramen with slow-braised pork chashu, soft boiled egg, green onion, garlic, black fungus, and thin ramen noodles. My guest remembered their dishes being too rich for her, the very first time we visited their original downtown Vancouver location, so went lighter with the chicken broth. She also asked for a leaner chashu, but they don’t have the option between. She also is not a fan of green onion and garlic so requested none of either. And even with all of her specifications the ramen was still delicious, and more importantly my fussier fried did enjoy her meal and finished her portion. She liked how clean the flavours paired well with the perfect chewy of the noodles. I tried the broth and can concur how comforting its soup is.
She added on the Tokyo milk tea to her meal and liked that it was not too sweet. Though she did find that she could have used more steeped tea flavour. I like this signature drink and its creaminess as a balancer for their super tasty dry udon. It helps to neutralize and provide flavour breaks in between bold bites. And I appreciated it is to-go ready in a ziplock bag with straw slot. It is one of those roasted beverages that the more you drink the more you like it.
I made my meal a combo, saving a $1 off on the Fuji Japanese cheesecake dessert. It is served in a pre-prepared cup with a couple of individually wrapped, shovel-shaped spoon/scoops. The cheese cake, is more like a slightly salty, cheesy cream. It is fluffy and light, with a layer of Oreo crumb at the bottom that you scoop up.
In closing, I appreciate the diversity and increased selection that this chain brings to the area. They are only place I know to go to, when faced with a craving for their specific fish, saucy, salty, slightly sweet, and heavily garlicky chewy noodles. But be warned you will be drinking plenty of water after to cleanse your body and saturate all the salt. And be sure you have an opportunity to go home and brush your teeth shortly after, as the intense flavour of garlic does linger on the tongue.
Kokoro Tokyo Mazesoba – Brentwood
106-1901 Rosser Ave, Burnaby, BC V5C 6R6
(604) 973-1911
menyakokoro.com
