jlo mein | 09-13-2009 12:59 AM | Vancouver Ramen Shootout: Benkei, Kintaro, and Motomachi I spent a month in Japan this past summer and fondly miss the wonderful ramen there, filled with tasty broth, flavourful and tender meats, and firm textured noodles. Seeking to find the best substitute in Vancouver I visited three of the most popular ramen joints that are located near the intersection of Robson and Denman. At each location I sampled the miso ramen which is my favourite. http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m...2_edit_640.jpg
Benkei certainly has the most Japanese like decor. I found the miso broth here to be the most flavourful and enjoyable of all three places. It also has a slight spice kick (they have a spicy miso available as well). Noodles were thinner than I like and too soft. In Japan, the flavour of the meat used is extraordinary and I found Benkei to come the closest, however it has a terribly tough texture. UPDATE: I have been to Benkei twice since this review and both times have gotten very tender and fatty meat. I also tried their bbq pork onigiri and its pretty tasty, although the rice quickly falls apart unlike other nigiri. http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m...0_edit_640.jpg
Kintaro is the most popular ramen restaurant in Vancouver by far, probably because they offer so many choices and variations. It has the most spartan and uninspired decor of the three. Here I ordered the rich miso broth (choice of light, medium, rich) with fatty meat (choice of lean or fatty). Ordering rich was a mistake as the broth comes incredibly greasy and covered in bits of fat (as seen all around the lip of the bowl). The miso broth was also surprisingly tasteless. Noodles were average and all the toppings (meat, eggs, corn, etc) were forgettable. http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m...3_edit_640.jpg
Motomachi is owned by the same people as Kintaro, and is meant as a more trendy upscale ramen restaurant. It seems to have the least seating and a fusion of Japanese and local decor. I believe most or all of the ingredients used are advertised as organic. The broth was much better than Kintaro but I still like Benkei better. The meats used matched the tenderness of the meat I found in Japan, but was still quite bland. Motomachi does certainly make soft boiled eggs right, getting the right texture and the organic eggs seem to taste closest to flavourful Japanese ones. The best part of Motomachi is they use the noodles I love! Its a thicker curly noodle that's yellow in colour, and has a slightly firm texture (pictured below). http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m...5_edit_512.jpg
To conclude, I will probably not visit Kintaro again. As the broth is most important, I think I will eat at Benkei the most. Its also cheaper than Motomachi, and offers stamp card freebies for frequent customers. Motomachi does have the best noodles and the eggs are far above all others. All locations let me down on the firm kernels of sweet corn that were found everywhere in Japan.
Feel free to express your own opinions, especially if you enjoy other flavours of broth, or share other ramen locations around the metro Vancouver area. |