Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Vancouver: Kintaro Ramen & More Poutine!

I love ramen.  I am addicted to ramen.  Just so happens Calvin & Alice both like it too, so we decided to make a little trek to West End for Kinarto Ramen, often rated as the best ramen spot in Vancouver.  It's located on Denman and that little area has a few other popular ones, including the huge ramen chain, Santouka!

I was expecting a long wait since it was lunch time and the weather was perfect for noodles, but luckily, we only waited about 20 minutes, and got seated at the huge communal table right next to the window.


Kintaro Ramen
788 Denman St
West End
Vancouver, BC V6G 2L5

outside
Kintaro Ramen.

inside
Not a big place at all.  A big communal table for about 8-10 people or so, the counter, and some twosome tables along the wall.

menu
Part of their menu.  Like Shinshengumi in LA, you can choose the heaviness of your broth.

spicy garlic bbq pork ramen
I decided to go all out and got the Spicy Miso BBQ Pork Ramen, with fatty pork and rich broth.  Normally, their ramen comes with two slices of chasu, but if you get the BBQ pork ramen, you get more!  The menu recommends a medium broth with the spicy miso, but I felt like clogging up my heart a bit that day.

garlic ball
Went with the spicy miso as my soup base since it comes with this ball of fresh ground garlic!  You can tell from the fat marbling on my chasu that yes, it is the fatty pork.

spicy garlic
Alice's Spicy Miso Ramen.  This is the regular portion with medium broth and two pieces of leaner pork.  The broth is really top notch. 

cheese ramen
Calvin's Cheese Ramen.  A must for cheese lovers.  Definitely interesting, although a bit odd for me! You get their light broth and a piece of cheese to sit on top of the chasu slices. There's no option in terms of the strength of the broth so you can taste the cheese. The server said it was very popular with the ladies for some reason.  Maybe he was trying to say something to Calvin haha.

cheeses
The cheese!  Don't know what type it is or maybe it is two different types?


Really glad I got to try Kintaro Ramen and it actually cracks the top 5 ramen spots I've been to!  The feel of the whole place is authenticity and it's easy to tell why it's been rated and featured as one of the best.


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Afterwards, we decided to work our way back by walking on Robson and I came upon Bubble World Tea House!  I am addicted to milk tea as well, and I actually like to drink something like milk tea after a heavy meal.  Didn't have my phone with me to check how it was rated, but I was fine with it as long as it was better than Lollicup or Quickly.


Bubble World Robson 
1325 Robson St 
West End
Vancouver, BC V6E 1C6


bubble world
Outside.  It was completely empty inside and the guy wasn't even at the counter so I got a little bit worried.

milk green tea
Ended up getting a safe choice, Milk Green Tea, with half sugar.  It was actually pretty good and did satisfy my craving.  Very milky.  Sorta expensive though.  Actually everything's expensive in Canada.


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Right before our flight, Amanda came out and met up with us, and she took us to a poutinery, Belgian Fries for more poutine since options are limited back home :P  I miss poutine..


Belgian Fries
1885 Commercial Drive 
Grandview-Woodlands, The Drive
Vancouver, BC V5N 4A6

belgian fries vancouver
Belgian Fries, "Best Poutine in BC"

poutine
We decided to go crazy with our last poutine in Vancouver and got a poutine with gravy, bacon, and a fried egg!  The fries are thicker than some of the others I've been to.

fried egg
Egg!  I live how the yolk is still runny.  Too bad I focused on the wrong thing with my camera :[

bacon
Nothing wrong with more bacon.  

gravy
The gravy is really good here.  Flavorful and thick.


The perfect way to end a trip in Vancouver: poutine!  I really don't know why it hasn't caught on in the States, considering how everybody love fries.  Again, thanks to Amanda for coming out and then taking us to Belgian Fries!

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