A CRAFT Beer Market original, the house soup is a creamy bowl of cheddar cheese, jalapeno and, because it is a beer market, a splash of Craft’s house ale. Get it as a meal or order a cup to go with one of the beer hall’s hearty sandwiches.

This downtown Japanese noodle bar has five kinds of hot ramen (and several cold varieties) on the menu. Unless otherwise indicated, they’re all served with a rich and milky pork-bone broth. The classic tonkotsu ramen with bbq pork belly is my favourite, though the vegan mushroom ramen with gluten-free noodles and yuzu zest is a great option for vegetarian noodle fans or anyone else who wants to skip the pork.

A favourite among Calgarians in the know, Indonesian Kitchen has claimed its Soto Ayam (coconut-curry) soup as “the best soup in the world” and it’s pretty hard to disagree with them. The coconut milk-based soup is full of bean-thread noodles, chicken, boiled eggs and flavours of lime, ginger and lemongrass. It’ll leave you dreaming of all those intense flavours.

Just north of Downtown, this restaurant can’t call itself “the home of wor wonton” if it doesn’t make a fine soup. King's Restaurant lets customers build their own wonton soup bowls, with fresh vegetables and choices like pork, chicken, or kimchi-filled wontons swimming in a tasty bone broth.

Calgary is chock-a-block with great Vietnamese restaurants, but Pho Dau Bo, located on the diverse and restaurant-heavy International Avenue is one of the very best. Every one of the 18 varieties of pho on the menu is a winner, full of different cuts of beef and plenty of noodles. Go for the saté broth if you want an extra explosion of flavour.

Located in the Crossroads Market, Primal Soup Company makes a wide variety of from-scratch soups created with fresh ingredients. Order a hot bowl of one of Primal Soup’s signature bowls, with flavours ranging from African peanut veggie to mango butternut squash. They also sell frozen containers of soup to-go for a super easy weeknight meal.

Every single variety of ramen at Shiki Menya is phenomenal, but the cult favourite will always be the chili goma. Rich and spicy (but not too spicy — don’t be afraid) and topped with minced pork and veggies, this bowl really is a work of art. For something slightly less meat heavy try the tonkotsu black ramen with black garlic oil and squid ink. Keep in mind that this place opens at 11 am and closes when they run out of ramen, but it’s worth waiting in the ever-present line-up. 

Now with several locations in Calgary, the local Tuk Tuk Thai chain has become a mini-empire, which is a good thing because their quick counter-service Thai food always hits the spot. There are two soups on the menu and they’re both fantastic and classically Thai: choose from either Tom Yum or the coconut-based Tom Kha.