Kintaro's store front
Oh Kintaro, the most famous ramen store in Vancouver—(in)famous also for its incredibly long lines. Expect the line to stream far out of the store during peak hours; people have been known to wait for an hour or more to get a seat in this little store.
And it is a small place—don’t come here expecting fancy decoration. There are only a few tables around which patrons sit together; it’s a ‘sit down, eat up, and get out’ sort of place when the lines are long, but it’s a great place to get a quick, good meal.
I was working downtown the other day and got off early, so decided to take my chance and grab a bowl of ramen while it was early afternoon. As I expected, there were only a couple of people in line in front of me, and it wasn’t long before I had a seat at the kitchen bar.
Say hello to my promptly-served cheese ramen:
Cheese ramen
I ordered this because my brother swears he’s taken me to Kintaro for cheese ramen years ago when I was visiting him, but I can’t remember it, so thought I should try it again. I was actually a little taken aback by the portions—for about $1 or $2 more than Benkei, you get literally twice the amount of food. The bowls are huge and that heaping amount of cheese really does border on the obscene. Definitely not for the health-conscious eater.
The cheese itself (once you get over the amount) is quite decent: it melts in the steaming soup quickly, so you get to eat cheese strings along with your ramen, and adds a sort of milky flavour to an already delicious broth without overwhelming it. The pork slices were also quite tasty, and I liked the noodles better than the ones they serve in Benkei. Heck, I like the whole thing more than Benkei, and for the price you get those portions at? A far better deal and one worth returning for.
And most importantly? I found out that bamboo does not have to stink! The bamboo shoots at Kintaro are perfectly unobjectionable in smell and were also sweet-tasting, which added to my joy of rediscovering decent bamboo.
The cheese really was too much, however, and I ended up not eating all of it. I don’t think I’ll ever have this particular ramen again, but I will definitely drop by to try some other flavours the next time there’s hardly anyone in line.
At least I finally satisfied my ramen craving!
Kintaro Ramen
788 Denman St
Vancouver BC
(No credit cards)
