Vancouver is about to lose one of its most quietly cult-followed noodle spots, and tracking it down was always half the fun.
Tatchan Noodle, the under-the-bridge Okinawa soba shop in Strathcona, has announced that it is closing its storefront.
The storefront at 383 Raymur Ave will serve its last bowl on June 26, less than a year after it opened.
In an Instagram announcement, the team said the closure comes as its current lease comes to an end.
They had hoped to stay for years, they wrote, but after weighing their circumstances, they made the difficult decision to close this chapter and look for a new home for Tatchan Noodle.
For the locals who hunted it down, the loss stings.
Tatchan spent more than two years as a roving yatai cart before owner Tatsuya Kuramori, known to regulars as Tat Chan, opened the tiny storefront last September.
Originally from Okinawa, he taught himself to make noodles during the pandemic and built the shop around a dish you rarely see here.
Okinawa soba pairs thick wheat noodles with pork belly and soft rib in a clear broth, finished with the shop’s signature house chili oil.
Beyond the soba, the little shop rounded out a short menu with rice bowls, onigiri, bento boxes, and a Rika Plant Kitchen collaboration on an Okinawan brown sugar tiramisu vegan cake.
The space sat tucked under the bridge along East Hastings, steps from the train tracks, with room for only about 15 people.
It is one of the few places in the city pouring Okinawa soba, which made the hard-to-find address feel like a reward rather than an obstacle.
The good news, the team stressed, is that this is not the end.
The food cart will keep running, and they are actively searching for a new location to welcome guests again down the road.
To make the final stretch count, Tatchan plans to open seven days a week through June so as many people as possible can get one more bowl of Okinawa soba before the doors close.
It joins a run of recent Metro Vancouver closures, including Afuri Ramen, Miku at Richmond’s River Rock, and Pepper Lunch in Richmond.
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Address: 383 Raymur Ave, Vancouver
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