Dinner at Oru gets off to an awkward start when our waiter tries to steer us away from the shoyu ramen with 24-hour-braised Berkshire pork belly. It's not one of his favourite dishes, he explains.
While I appreciate his honesty, I've read so many mixed reviews that I absolutely must taste this Japanese noodle soup for myself. The waiter reluctantly takes our order, promising to strike the item from the bill if we're not happy with it. How curious. If the ramen is that bad, why is it even on the menu?
Oru, an upscale pan-Asian restaurant in the new Fairmont Pacific Rim
This elegant newcomer won't likely appeal to adventurous hole-in-the-wall connoisseurs, who intrepidly troll Richmond strip malls hunting for the juiciest xiao long bao or most mouth-scorching Hunan pig heart.
But I truly believe that the concept of refined yet authentic Asian cuisine in a contemporary setting is poised to become the biggest trend to hit the Vancouver restaurant scene since Asian fusion: Witness Bao Bei, the Keefer Bar, Maenam, Chau and Gastown's newly opened Terra Cotta Modern Asian.
Oru is the most ambitious of its ilk to emerge thus far. In part, this is because it's the swankiest of the bunch (the minimalist, pale-wood interior is designed by the local architecture firm mgb). More importantly, the kitchen is trying to incorporate an overwhelming variety of cuisines – Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese, among them – into its fold.
Executive chef David Wong
“Should I take it off the bone?” he says, referring to some of the questions that have haunted him. “Maybe some people haven't had this dish before. No, that's not how it's done. The bone is there because it adds flavour.”
He's right. Although difficult to eat with plastic orange chopsticks (which really need to be rethought), this sweetly charred kalbi made with marbled Triple-A beef is superb.
But then there's the ramen ($15). Our waiter sidles up to the table with an anxious look on his face soon after the steaming-hot bowl is delivered. “What do you think?” he asks.
Well, the noodles are a bit doughy.
“Should I take it away?”
No, it's not that bad – but it's certainly not great. The broth is a light, clean-tasting blend of pork and chicken stock, garnished with a hard-boiled egg, slivered bamboo shoots and crunchy bean sprouts. It could use more soy-sauce tare for depth and salt for brightness. On the upside, it's made without MSG. The Berkshire pork chashu, though fatty and flavourful, is not nearly as tender as a 24-hour braise would suggest. Rather than melting apart, the thick-cut slices give the teeth quite a workout.
But it's the fat, spring-less noodles that really fall flat. It appears that Mr. Wong has bitten off more than he can chew by insisting on making his own in-house. To my knowledge, Motomachi Shokudo
As Mr. Wong explains, the noodles I tried were “rolled a little too thick.” He urges me to come back and try the dish again now that he's nailed the technique.
Sorry. When a restaurant is charging nearly double the price of any other ramen shop in town, there's no excuse for a bad batch.
