Soup, Ramen & Pho: Okanagan Comfort Food
When the days get shorter and the air turns cool, a hot bowl of something is hard to beat. From four-day ramen broth in Vernon to borscht in Lumby and chowder in Penticton, the valley has plenty of places that do warming food well.
Here they are, grouped by what's in the bowl. Each place shows its town.
Ramen
- Sugoi Ramen Express (Vernon): makes its own noodles in-house, with a broth that takes a full four days to prepare.
- Raku Rice & Noodle Bar (Vernon): a wide consensus calls it the best ramen in Vernon, and service is fast even on takeout orders.
- Ramen Arashi Kelowna (Kelowna): a modern ramen shop regulars call the best in the city, with a stamp card that rewards frequent visits.
- Kaze Japanese Restaurant (Enderby): miso ramen reviewers call spectacular, served in a fireplace dining room in a converted old home downtown.
- Soy Asian Fusion Restaurant (Kelowna): a tucked-away Pandosy spot known for spicy coconut ramen and Japanese-fusion small plates.
- Japanese Kitchen Kura (Penticton): a mom-and-pop restaurant with fresh sashimi and spicy ramen, where staff help you navigate dietary restrictions.
Pho and noodle soups
- Pho Soc Trang Vietnamese Cuisine (Kelowna): a well-loved downtown following built on rich, flavourful broth, with fresh salad rolls on the side.
- Pho&More Vietnamese Restaurant (Penticton): husband-and-wife-run, with real chicken bone broth and hand-cut pork in the salad rolls.
- Pho Fusion (Vernon): a longtime family favourite with easy free parking and consistently fresh, never-too-salty broth.
- O-Machi Taiwanese Appetizer Bento House (Kelowna): a small Taiwanese restaurant on Glenmore Drive serving bentos, noodle soups and appetizers. Reviewers single out the beef noodle soup and its broth.
- Mad Mango Cafe (Kelowna): a cozy, colourful Bernard Ave pan-Asian soup spot blending Malaysian, Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian flavours. The laksa is the order.
Borscht and Ukrainian comfort
- Anna's Ukrainian Kitchen (Vernon): a tiny market and kitchen where the borscht, rich and comforting, is the reason people keep coming back.
- Sunflower Ukrainian Cafe (Summerland): a family-run bakery-cafe with borscht, cabbage rolls and pierogies that taste homemade.
- Jane's Farmhouse (Kaleden): a tiny takeout spot with good cabbage rolls, perogies and borscht, plus farm-fresh eggs.
- Blue Ox Pub (Lumby): a rural pub with classic BC drafts, Wing Wednesdays and a borscht that has earned a following well beyond what you'd expect from a pub.
Soup bowls, chowder and stews
- Little Hobo Soup & Sandwich Shop (Kelowna): a downtown hole-in-the-wall soup and sandwich shop that's been a local staple since the 1970s. Try the three-soup flight with a grilled cheese.
- BRODO Kitchen (Penticton): lunch-only soup and sandwiches, nothing flashy. Order a soup and sandwich combo.
- Buy The Sea Seafood (Penticton): a cult following for its chowder, in both white and red versions. It's a seafood market too, so you can pick up fresh or frozen fish to take home.
- Farmhouse Cafe (Vernon): grows what it cooks, with ingredients sourced on site for a simple soup and sandwich menu, plus fresh-baked scones.
- Bon Ga Korean Cuisine (Kelowna): a wholesome, family-owned Korean kitchen. Order the hot bone soup on a cold day, with spicy rice cake on the side.
- Tiffany's Asian Treats (Armstrong): a cozy Korean-Japanese spot inside a convenience store, known for chicken katsu and army stew.
Curries and dumplings
- Same Same But Different Thai Food (Oliver): a couple-run Thai food truck at Sunview Market, with panang curry and tom yum that reviewers call Oliver's best-kept secret.
- The Curry Pot Indian & Nepalese Cuisine Restaurant (Vernon): locals call it their favourite Indian-Nepalese restaurant in town, for the coconut chicken curry and soft momo.
- Tropic Isle Mart (Kelowna): a Caribbean grocery and hot food counter with jerk wings and a curry mutton regulars say tastes like home.
- Sister Bodega (Penticton): a cozy bodega and lunch counter with house-made dumplings, noodle salads and sandwiches, and a small grocery of local products in back.
Quick picks
| If you want… | Go to |
|---|---|
| Ramen made from scratch | Sugoi Ramen Express |
| Ramen by a fireplace | Kaze Japanese Restaurant |
| Pho with real bone broth | Pho&More Vietnamese Restaurant |
| A bowl of borscht | Anna's Ukrainian Kitchen, Sunflower Ukrainian Cafe |
| A soup and sandwich lunch | Little Hobo Soup & Sandwich Shop, BRODO Kitchen |
| Chowder | Buy The Sea Seafood |
| A Thai curry from a food truck | Same Same But Different Thai Food |
| Dumplings | Sister Bodega, The Curry Pot Indian & Nepalese Cuisine Restaurant (momo) |
See more: Restaurants, Cafés, Food & Drink
