Location: 1741 Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6G 1E1 (Across from Safeway at Denman)
Phone: (604) 688-6980
Hours: N/A
Hints:
- Paid street parking
- Street patio available (Summer?)
- Bar table available
- More expensive compared to Kintaro just around the corner
- Non-oily broth
Benkei Ramen
My girlfriend and I had decided to come downtown a few weeks ago for Ramen. I’m not sure why this is, but many of the best ramen places are situated here in downtown Vancouver and never in the ‘burbs. I mean, in the burbs we can find excellent sushi restaurants and other ethnics restaurants but not ramen.
The restaurant was quiet when we arrived at close to 3pm. I had accidently took the wrong route, thinking it was the fast route and headed straight for Stanley Park. So I gave my girlfriend a car tour of the seawall (which she has never been to before after living in Vancouver her whole life). So if you think you can turn left on to Denman from West Georgia, think again!
Chasiu Onigiri
This was a little appy we got before our ramens because we were just starvin’, it’s basically their chasiu “BBQ pork” rice shaped into a triangular rice ball wrapped with dried seaweed. Overall, I quite liked it.
Miso ramen
Miso ramen
I had the miso ramen which was a Hokkaido ramen made with rich chicken and pork soup. Then cooked with their special miso sauce, it’s very rich in flavours. I wouldn’t recommend drinking the soup alone, it maybe too rich. The chasiu was quite lean.
Shio Ramen
My girlfriend had the Shio ramen, which had a less rich taste. It’s a Rukuoka-born ramen, which contains a lot of collagen and calcium. They say this ramen is very popular among women.
A Ramen Overview
Overall, I really liked the ramen and the broth at Benkei. Service was nice, there are raves about their spicy ramen but I felt like having something light. I didn’t like the fact that I had to pay for parking though. There are free time limited parking on side streets but those are hard to come by on a nice and warm day out in Vancouver.
