Benkei Ramen Noodle Shop (弁慶 ラメン)

1741 Robson St
Vancouver, BC V6G1C9
Tel: (604) 688-6980
Fax: (604) 681-6633

Map

Service:

Interior Atmosphere:

Pricing:

I tried this place one month after it opened in January 2008. They got our orders mixed up, the broth was SUPER OILY, and didn't have any taste besides being overly salty. The meats were super fatty and thinly sliced. Gyoza's were laughable. The only thing that was good was the barbeque pork onigiri flavoured with soy sauce. Ever since that experience, I've avoided coming back because it was so horrible .

So now, 2 years later, I've returned to see if its any good... I'll have to say its alright, but I probably won't go back again.. unless other people I'm with want to try it. I find their broth to be a bit on the overly-oily side.

Shio Tonkotsu Ramen ~ $7

This is their more popular flavour, and it tastes quite smooth. On their menu, it says this flavour being good for women's skin because its got a lot of collagen (from the pork bone). The taste of this tonkotsu ramen comes second to the one from Kenzo Ramen.

Shoyu Ramen ~$7

The soup broth was slightly saltier than what I would like it would be. Their Chashu was good! Their bamboo shoot didn't taste as well with the noodles. The green onions tasted good in it.

Others' Input:

Kintaro Ramen 金太郎ラーメン

788 Denman Street
Vancouver, BC V6G 2L5
Tel: (604) 682-7568

Map | Website

This place has a lot of hype, I haven't jumped on the band wagon. If you haven't heard of this ramen place, then you need to make some Asian friends (j/k). But seriously, this place is by far the most popular and longest-running ramen place, with many frequent loyal customers. When you order you can choose the tonkotsu (pork bone) soup base to be light, medium, heavy. You can also choose the meat to be lean medium, fat. or I find the broth to be too oily even when I order light broth and lean meat. The lean meat doesn't tend to taste very good :( but medium is quite tasty. But on the plus side the broth is very flavourful and you can really taste the tonkotsu. There's always a lineup outside except on Mondays when its closed.

Miso Ramen ~ $7

Light soup with fatty pork = yummy! I always like corn in my ramen since I'm not a fan of the bamboo shoots. This was really tasty!

Cheese Ramen $8

Yummy and rich in flavour, this ramen is only available in light soup. This is a specialty ramen only available at Kintaro. Look at all that cheese!

Others' input:

Lim Kee Restaurant 廉記牛肉粉

6943 Victoria Drive

Vancouver, BC V5P 3Y7

Tel: (604) 321-8006

Map

Service:

Interior Atmosphere:

Pricing:

This tiny local restaurant is run by friendly Chinese people so their menu has a Chinese flair to it. The restaurant is long and narrow with booth seating as well as large circular tables. Their kitchen is pretty fast and they seem to have a stream of loyal local customers.

Vietnamese Sub ~$3.50

This was surprisingly big and surprisingly good! It came toasted and warm, fresh from the kitchen. I really like the cilantro in this sandwich, it really compliments the pickled veggies.

Curry Brisket with Rice ~$6

This was alright, nothing special. It came with a ridiculous amount of rice. Very generous portions!

Pho Beef Noodle ~$6

Tastes like your average pho.

Others' Input:

Kenzo Japanese Noodle House

126907 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC V5E 1P8
Tel: (604) 522-9969

Map

Service:

Interior Atmosphere:

Pricing:

This place offers Korean food as well as Japanese ramen and serve Korean tea. I believe the chef had studied in Japan before opening this noodle house. The noodles themselves are a perfect consistency — very tasty and not too soft or hard, perfect every time! I've never tried their Korean food yet so I can't comment on that, but their ramen is good. Their Tonkotsu ramen is better than anything and anywhere else, easily the best in Burnaby. They also have a widest selection of spicy ramen I've ever seen. The environment is quiet and very cozy so its a good place to sit and talk after a good bowl of ramen. Its closed on Mondays!

Tonkotsu (Don ko chi) Ramen $7.95

Best tonkotsu ramen ever! (Tonkotsu is pork bone soup base) Everyone must try this and once you try it you'll be a believer. The soup base is EXTREMELY GOOD! I really like the grilled pork and the massive amounts of green onion. THIS RAMEN IS MAGNIFICENT!!!

Sho-yu Ramen $6.95

This was an alright ramen. It tasted like how it's supposed to. Noodles and broth were quite tasty, pork wasn't too fatty and the egg was a good addition. BUT GO HAVE THE TONKOTSU RAMEN (pictured above).

Chicken Fried Rice

Sapporo Miso Ramen $8.95

King of Ramen $10

This is a massive bowl with like everything in it.

Others' Input:

Pho Tam 歡心 Vietnamese Restaurant

10302 135 Street #10 (At Surrey Central Skytrain)
Surrey, BC V3T 4Y8
Tel: (604) 589-4223

Map | Website

EASILY THE BEST PHO IN ALL OF GREATER VANCOUVER!!! I've tried many Pho places around Burnaby and Vancouver and none of them are as good as this place. They're always packed throughout the day but close at 9:30pm unfortunately. $6.50 medium bowl, $7.00 large bowl, $8.50 large + spring roll, $9.25 large + salad roll.

Service:

Interior Atmosphere:

Pricing:

#5. Medium rare beef slices with beef brisket $6.50

Yummy! The soup from this pho restaurant is always very tasty! The meat is decent and this place always hits the spot for my cravings.

#27 Pork patty and spring rolls in vermicelli ~ $7

A very big bowl of food!. There's a lot of stuff in it, all fresh and good. The various tastes go well together. The spring rolls are a bit chewy.

Others' Input:

Ezo Giku Noodle Cafe えぞ菊

1329 Robson St (Downtown)

Vancouver, BC
Tel: 604-685-8606

Map

This place was my FAVOURITE ramen place up until they renovated in 2007 :( This place had the BEST gyoza in town hands down! (Much better than Gyoza King across the street). They used to have corn as a standard element in their ramen along with bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and what not. Now you have to add a few cents to get it... (maybe too many people were wasting food?) So after the renovation, they got a massive bar seating area that replaced the old small bar and some changes to their menu. I personally thought the place was fine before the renovation. I've tried many of the ramen before their renovation, they've got a lot of Sapporo style ones an also rice. They have a stamp card where you get a stamp for each ramen you ordered and you get a free one if you collect 10 stamps. Needless to say I had 2+ stamp cards but that was back then.... Now I get the Miso Ramen most often and 'add' corn to it *sigh*. I WANT THE OLD EZO GIKU BACK!!

Side Note: I'm not sure what that artificial crab stick is doing in the bowl...

Service:

Interior Atmosphere:

Pricing:

Miso Ramen & Gyoza ~$8.25

It was good still, just not as good as it used to be. Its still got a good miso soup base. I'm not sure if I would purposely come here from Burnaby just to eat this ramen anymore...

Char Siu Ramen $7.95

The meat was very tasty :D yummy! I find it funny that its got bok choi in it

Others' Input: