Kintaro Ramen

Added Oct 31, 2009 by lovingfood of Kerrisdale (72 Reviews)

B+ ramen
Food: It tastes pretty good. It is authentic and doesn't taste like Chinese ramen if you know what I mean. The texture of the noodles is very good. It's al dente like Italians say about their pasta. There's 3 big thick pieces of pork in the bowl. Meat is very tender. Unlike other cheapskate restaurants in this city, Kintaro is very generous when it comes to portion and toppings. The only thing I notice is that the broth can be greasier than ramen from other Japanese restaurants in major US cities. I always thought Japanese food is not greasy, at least that's what Japanese food is like in major US cities. Nevertheless, it's still yummy.

Service: They are polite. Service is fast enough.

Value: I only rated 3 because the seating situation is so bad. You will know why when you read the following.

Ambiance: Ugh! The store is very cramped. You either sit at the bar or share table with bunch of strangers. Talking about awkward. You better pray you don't sit next to some nosy jerks eavesdropping your conversation or rude weirdos staring at you like they never know what etiquette means.

Because the store is so small. They can only accommodate a few customers. As soon as you put down chopsticks, they give you a check hinting you to pay and leave ASAP. You certainly have to leave right away because there are bunch of customers standing there waiting. Sitting there for more than 2 minutes after putting down chopsticks will make you the public enemy. LOL!

I am never that kind of person who likes to hang out in the restaurant. I finish my meal and I leave. But being rushed and hurried to leave is kind of abusive. I don't think sitting there for extra 5 minutes after you finish you meal is asking too much. Frankly, I don't think anybody wants to sit in a dirty restaurant for too long. But you need to digest your food and drink some water or tea by sitting there for just a few minutes more, don't you?

The store is kind of dirty. It's cramped. And you have to share tables. That really makes dining experience unpleasant. It doesn't have the best location anyway. Kintaro Ramen is already famous. I don't see why they can't move to somewhere bigger and more comfortable. They can get a bigger room at the same price or cheaper since this location is not exactly a hot spot.

Will I come back?
If I am in the area and I don't have to wait in line.

Is it worthy waiting in line?
Not really. It tastes good but it's not so freaking good to makes you think it's crack. It's not "addictive" good. And the seating situation is very abusive. I would not line up and bend over backward for that.

Unlike major US cities with a lot of Japanese living there, Vancouver doesn't have big Japanese population and many Japanese restaurants operated by Japanese. In other words, there's not a lot of competition for Kintaro. It can easily rank as top 3 ramen in Vancouver.

Added Oct 20, 2009 by Spelunca of Vancouver (40 Reviews)

Best Ramen Noodles, Still
still no challengers to the throne. soup base and noodles are still the best, period. the lean pork was never really that good and they could learn from how the chinese make their pork but be that as it may, does not detract much from the excellent taste of this bowl of ramen. service was friendly and efficient.

Added Sep 26, 2009 by cha of Richmond (22 Reviews)

Gooooood Ramen
My husband and I came in just around 6 pm on Sat. The place was packed - one of the waitress came over and gave us a menu so that she could place our order in line already. Luckily we got seated in 5 min. and after another 5 min., our order started to come in.

Gyoza: average Japanese gyoza - tastes just like back home. Garlicky and crisp bottom.

Ramen: my choice - Miso (middle richness and lean pork)
my hubby's - Cheese! (middle richness and lean pork)
Ohhhhhh it was authentic. Great broth. You can't duplicate this at home. The broth was Tonkotsu-based, I believe, and very rich to me who grew up in Kansai (West mainland Japan). Lots of noodles, pork, and veg. Much more satisfying than ramen I had elsewhere (incl. in Japan). For Cheese Ramen, he liked it, but perhaps for novelty only. We both enjoyed broth a lot but didn't finish because it was just too rich.

By the time we finish, the line-up outside was long. The bill came to $23. Will definitely return.

Added Aug 11, 2009 by choweats of Vancouver (5 Reviews)

Good and Authentic Ramen
I've been here quite a number of times and find the ramen very delicious. The pork broth is nice and tasty with a strong taste. The amount of ramen in each bowl is just right. Not too little. I like the choices they give in terms of what type of soup you want: rich, medium, or light. The first time I came here, I tried the rich. Little did I know that it was really rich with fat on the surface of the soup. So since then, I've been ordering light, which is perfect. The service is solid, in that the waitresses always come and check if you still need some more ice water. But you do get the feeling that they are trying to hurry you up a bit. Understandable, since the place is quite small and there seems to be a line-up most of the time. I think that they do need to get rid of that big table by the window, because not a lot of people likes to share a table with strangers, watching each other eat, and don't know where to look. I enjoy sitting by the 'bar' stools where I could watch the chefs make noodles. It feels like those authentic ramen places in Japan.

Added Jul 19, 2009 by lamned of Vancouver (13 Reviews)

Fatty PORK!
This place is packed, even late at night. Line-ups go out the door, so there's usually a 10-15 minute wait period until you get a table. There are 2 other ramen places nearby so based on the popularity, this must be the best. I've tried the shio and shoyu ramen, and shio definitely wins as my favourite. The boiled egg is so tasty...I really wonder what they marinate it in. I've had medium and fatty broth. I wouldn't get fatty broth every again because I was surprised at the amount of floating fat balls I had. In one spoonful of soup, there'd be about 15 fat blobs floating. There isn't much ramen in each bowl, but something about it makes it so filling. I don't know if it's because it's made of egg. I can usually only eat 1/2-3/4 of my bowl. The pork is excellent..probably the best pork I've eaten. The fatty pork is rich and tastes the best. Definitely recommend the place, but don't go there so often unless you want clogged arteries.

Added Apr 16, 2009 by superhunkdougal of Vancouver (21 Reviews)

Steamy, Fun, and Tasty
The decor isn't anything special, but its highly entertaining watching the pork boil away in huge stockpots and the cooks pulling noodles out of the highly efficient pasta bath.

The entire set-up is highly efficient as a matter of fact. Boiled pork serves as the base for the stock, and then mixed with miso/shoyu/whatever plus some pork and vegetables. Basic, tasty ramen.

Service is friendly and cute.

I personally think the ramen here is delicious. The broth is simple (and salty), but combined with the fatty-melt-in-your-mouth pork and spot-on noodles it ends up being mouth-watering delicious every time.

A great place for a quick bite to eat, and an even better place to take out of town visitors for a unique taste of Vancouver.

Added Mar 26, 2009 by vanfoodie9 of Vancouver (4 Reviews)

Tasty treat-like ramen
This is the place to go for rich, heavy ramen. Although, I stuck to the lighter side and ordered the lean pork and medium-rich broth. The wait time can be a factor sometimes, but I only had to wait 10 minutes to be seated. I think I will order the lean broth next time, so I am able to finish off the whole bowl. The ambiance is lacking and one does not go here for that, but for the good value ramen. The servers are friendly and efficient and will come by to refill your water glass. I will be back, as the ramen is tasty and a good price.

Added Dec 22, 2008 by chasiubow of North Van (673 Reviews)

salty
Mrs. C and I went with a couple of friends to have the famous ramen of Kintaro. It was not what I expected. The restaurant was super-crowded, and full of steam from the giant vats of broth. After a few minutes, we were seated at the counter, and I kept trying not to sneeze, since there was nothing between my face and the vats except 2 feet of thin air...The place could have been cleaner, but I expect the condensation was rinsing everything (sort of).

We had a variety of ramen bowls, including pork with rich broth, pork with medium broth, vegetarian and cheese. We also tried the the appetizer bowl of pork chunks, the kimchee, and the gyoza. I thought the gyoza was terrific, and the pork chunks (leftovers from the stock pot) were a tasty meat treat. The kimchee was reported to be good, but I have no taste for it. As for the ramen, the noodles had a nice texture, but the broth was way too salty. The pork bits and bean sprouts in the broth were fine. The rest of the contents could not be readily identified.

Service was good throughout the meal, and I credit the servers with working hard to keep up with the orders and to survive in the congested, sauna-like environment. As for value, it wasn't expensive especially since our generous friend picked up the tab.

I am not sure if I will ever return, but for some perverse reason I want to try the cheese flavor, if my cholesterol level can withstand it.

Be sure to drink lots of water.

Added Dec 1, 2008 by CaptainNemo of Vancouver (46 Reviews)

Well worth the wait!!!!
I just got back from japan about 6 months ago and I feel that this is just like it, GREAT!!!! There is nothing con about it. People were waiting outside the restaurant before it opened and it's exactly how it is in japan.

All the waiters and waitresses are either japanese or can speak japanese. The portions were HUGE!

The price is well worth it for the quality you get.

Little bar where you huddle and slurp your noodle is just like japan. I don't think it could get more authentic than this in Vancouver.

Added Nov 13, 2008 by SIXOFOH of Vancouver (2 Reviews)

Kyoto Street vendors brought to Denman Street
I lived in Japan for a year and traveled all over the Kansai area and absolutely loved the Ramen i tasted in the back alleys of a Kyoto Street late at night with my boyfriend and friends.. We were all very impressed with the quality and true taste of Ramen.

The first time i went to Kintaro Ramen.. i loved the raw japanese environment. after reading the reviews i went and experience it on my own. I love the sharing of the big table, the smell of the Ramen in your face, the line up during all types of weather, rain, snow, hot sunny etc. I love how i am the minority because most of the clients are japanese.. i can tell because i can hear them speaking, i loved my ramen soup and i highly recommend it if you want true ramen on a cold, rainy, snowy, hot day. It will be worth it.

Added Oct 6, 2008 by deck of Vancouver (6 Reviews)

Kintaro is B-
The ramen may be the best in the city... but far from what i had in Japan. It's all we got...

Hanpayaro is seriously the best $1 you can spend! I should order 20 of them to go~ Other than that... I didn't get caught with the extra additions to my ramen.

The service and ambiance doesn't really count because of the nature of the business. IT's more of a volume, eat-and-get-out type of thing. honestly they would have done just as well serving out of a cart on the street.

Added Jul 10, 2008 by mayo of Burnaby (18 Reviews)

OMG, you call that reman?
My friend really wanted to eat ramen when we were in downtown. We lined up a little, not for long, to get a seat.

The setting of this place is pretty close to ramen places in Japan. When you go eat ramen, you don't talk about ambiance and service for the first thing. As long as the servers are passionate about their ramen and clean, then it's a very good thing. Quality of FOOD is how you rate a ramen place.

Food arrived in a reasonable time. When we first looked at the ramen, my friend thought the soup is too oily. But for ramen, it's the oil which traps the heat inside the soup to keep it hot. So I was expecting a very hot bowl of yummy ramen like the ones I ate in Japan. But OMG.... store owner... You call this ramen? It's warm, not hot. BBQ pork.... not seasoned enough. Soup? Not rich enough. Noodle? too soft.

OMG, if I were you selling this lame ramen, and have a line in front of the door, I will really do something to improve it. Don't you feel shame of charging that money for a bowl of ramen which is worse than an instant pack? Yes, I didn't expect it to be as great as the ones in Japan, but this is definitely worse than instant ones.

I am serious, people. Go to T&T supermarket frozen food session and look for Nissin frozen ramen pack. Follow the instruction and you will have better reman than Kitoro. It's that easy. The only thing is you will have no toppings and you will need to wash your own dishes. But it's less than $2. It's better than waiting in line and paying that much.

Added Jun 25, 2008 by tzschoi of Downtown, Vancouver (3 Reviews)

Yes, the best ramen in the city.
My Japanese friend I brought here with me said the experience at Kintaro is very much like back home -- the energy of the staff, the way their menu works, and the authenticity of their delicious ramen! It's always pretty busy, so their service is as good as it gets. I sometimes wait for my pepsi for...ever. but otherwise, the food itself comes out very quickly and the price is better than reasonable. I always get medium broth and fat bbq pork. also get a hamparaya pork chunks which is only 1 dollar but great in your soup. yum yum!

Added Mar 31, 2008 by Quality_First of Vancouver (12 Reviews)

Great Soup to warm you up !
Mmmmm ... I still have that yummy-in-my-tummy feeling from the soup that I had last night from this place. The broth is wonderful - you can tell that they've been making it all day/night. It has such a rich flavor. I ordered the cheese ramen as everybody had been raving about it on this site and I must say that it did not disappoint! A bit too much cheese for my liking (so I gave half the cheese tower to my dinner companion), but it was ooey-gooey good! I see that they've repainted in there, so it looks a bit brighter than it did the last time I visited. On a cold day, this is the best soup to warm you up and leave feeling warm, fuzzy and full!

Added Jan 24, 2008 by foodsnob05 of vancouver (3 Reviews)

MMM delicious
Every time i feel like eating noodles i go to Kintaro. Although there is usually a line it's worth the wait. The noodles are fresh and tasty, -miso vegetable is my favorite, the portions are huge, and the prices are fair. The service is usually prompt and my water glass has never gone empty.

Added Oct 21, 2007 by gourmet152 of vancouver (9 Reviews)

Back To Basics
This is an absolutely no frills establishment. No decor, bad floors, and doesn't look like they would try to fix up the place. People come here only for the noodles. The noodles are very good, very chewy. The broth, well, if you don't like fatty stuff then definately tell them you want lean. Nothing creative about their menu either. Seems they recycle the same ingredients into different menu items with different names. I don't understand why they will not allow you take-out. Maybe extra food containers would be additional costs? If you've got the time to line up and want a good filler, then Kintaro would be a good option.

Added Sep 22, 2007 by boobun of overseas (5 Reviews)

Must try.. Cheese Ramen
I find the Cheese Ramen very unique, it's an integration of the East and West. The soup based was very Asian, the noodles were tender, and the cheese was yummy. I really enjoyed the everything in that bowl - corn bits, seaweed, bean sprouts, CHEESE, and LEAN pork pieces. I find it the fatty soup base and fatty pork - with a wedge of solid fat is a little bit too much for me!! This place is always filled with people and usually a long line up in front of the store, I highly recommend going there in the afternoon (2-6ish) where it's less crowded.

Added Sep 9, 2007 by Bencze of Prince George (1 Reviews)

I used to eat Mr. Noodles :(
So I was in Vancouver at the end of August to visit some friends, and I brought a list of restaurants I wanted to hit in the 5 days I was there. Kintaro Ramen was the first on the list. Why? Because I'm sick of people eating Mr. Noodles and other dried crap chocked full of MSG and calling it "ramen". It's not frickin' ramen. I'm no expert, but I know that packaged noodles are not even close to the hand-made noodles in broth served in Japan.

So after arriving, the 6 of us went to Kintaro Ramen for lunch. After waiting in the long lineup, the waitress split us into 3 groups of 2 because the restaurant was packed. That was kind of lame, but what can you do? I ordered a miso ramen with medium broth, lean pork, and an extra boiled egg. When the soup came I was like "omg, it looks just like the bowl of ramen in Naruto. He even eats miso ramen w/ pork too!"

The soup's flavour was a lot more subtle than I expected. It wasn't very salty, and it was actually kind of refreshing. The noodles were also not what I expected: they were like thin, firm egg noodles whereas I was expecting more of a soft flour noodle. But after I got used to everything, it was really good. I finished the entire bowl, and man was I stuffed. Oh, by the way... they gave the extra boiled egg to the wrong person, so I mentioned this and the waitress reduced the price. I did try 1/2 of my friend's boiled egg and it was AWESOME. I'm serious. If you come here, get like 4 boiled eggs in your soup. You'll thank me. The price was unbeatable at around $9 for my bowl.

Maybe I'm just a lowly Prince George kid who grew up on packaged noodles of death, but I really enjoyed this place. It was fun watching the old man and the young Japanese assistants pounding out bowl after bowl of soup and not even breaking a sweat. Speaking of sweat, it was very hot in that place. The air was humid from all the steam and the soup itself was very warming. But if that doesn't bother you, I recommend this place.

Added Aug 28, 2007 by milanelson of Downtown, Vancouver (9 Reviews)

It's worth the wait
After reading the mixed reviews of this place, I decided to give it a try. I arrived at the restaurant around 1:30 and waited in line for a good 20 minutes. I ordered the miso noodle soup with rich soup base and lean pork meat. The noodle soup did indeed came with very rich soup base. I had to ask for a small bowl for dumping the oil and fat bits that I extracted from the soup. Despite the fatty soup base (I saw the noodle chef threw in what looked like chunks of pig's skin into the pot of broth), this japanese ramen is the best that I had in downtown Vancouver. There is a generous amount of corn, spout, green onion that compliments the chewy noodles very well. The thing that bothered me is the large amount of small bits of fat floating in the soup. The medium soup base that the guest next to me ordered also had these white, small bits of fat in the soup. If the chef could somehow extract these fat from their soup base before serving, it will make a better quality and healthier noodle soup.

Added Aug 7, 2007 by foodgod of New West, BC (5 Reviews)

Worst restaurant experience ever
Well folks, this joint has gone downhill in a hurry. A few years ago it was good, but after today's disaster we won't be back, and we'll be advising everyone we know to stay away. Here's the skinny:
My wife, 13-month old baby,and I arrived a few minutes before opening today (Aug.7/07). We dutifully took our place in line (there were about 5 or 6 people ahead of us) on a rainy Tuesday. A waitress came out and handed everyone menus, returning a few minutes later to take advance orders. The couple ahead of us were the last to order; the waitress inexplicably stopped there and returned inside (so why give us a menu in the first pleace?). It wasn't a good omen.

When the doors opened everyone took a seat and I immediately wondered how the staff would remember who was first in line.Sure enough, soon everyone had ordered, including a lot of people behind us in line before she came to our table (so what's the point in lining up?). My wife (she's Japanese) called the waitress over and told her that we hadn't ordered yet (meanwhile, some people were already getting served). She took our order and we waited, and waited, and waited. Everyone we were sharing the large table with in front now had food in front of them except us. 12:15 rolls by, then 12:30. WTF? Some people were now finished and leaving. Fed up,I asked my wife to again have a word with the idiot "managing" the floor (the same 20-something Japanese ESL student). My wife tore a strip off her (our baby was now getting fussy as well) and we got up to leave. It was now 12:40PM...we'd been waiting 40 mins.+ for a couple of bowls of soup and had only been given glasses of water, that's it. Remember, we about fifth in line. We stormed out and my wife again gave the waitress hell outside the restaurant. We got empty apologies. What a waste of time. Hungry and pissed off, we returned home.

Added Oct 28, 2006 by Tastebuds of Kits, Vancouver (2 Reviews)

"Al-dente" Ramen with Tasty Broth
Kintaro is definitely one of the best ramen places in the Lower Mainland! The handmade ramen is "al-dente" and the broth is rich and tasty(albeit slighty too salty for my liking). The menu is limited but it is sufficient. The ramen can be as healthy or unhealthy as you want it you be, ie. for your ramen creation, you can choose to have the lean or fatty pork, the light(ie. non-oily), medium or strong(ie. oily) soup. It's a hole-in-the-wall, but I find the open kitchen concept very inviting. Once you walk in, the wisp of thick broth brewing in the GINORMOUS stewing pots hits you and you suddenly feel like you have not eaten in 10days!! The price is reasonable and the quantity is generous. Service is quick and atypical of a traditional ramen place in Japan. Would recommend.

Added Sep 21, 2006 by DaGasMan of Vancouver (18 Reviews)

great ramen
I had the medium miso soup with fat pork yesterday. The soup base was rich, but not greasy or oily tasting. The fatty pork was delicious, very tender and flavorful, but I wish they gave more than 1 piece. The noodles were also very good; got a little bit of chew to them.
The place itself isn't anything great to look at (but i'm not expecting a fancy restaurant; its basically a noodle shop). I was with 3 other friends and other than the 1 big table at the front of the restaurant, there weren't any big tables, only tables for 2 and the bar stools. I've read complaints about the smell of the restaurant, but I thought the smell made my mouth water; gives the place a very homey feel.
Perfect place to grab a very satisfying meal on a cold, rainy day.

Added Sep 11, 2006 by forgamez of Vancouver (15 Reviews)

Best Ramen in the City! (Below average for Japan standards)
For Vancouver, Kintaro is far and beyond any ramen shop in Vancouver. (All the other ones are terrible and taste like instant noodles). The miso ramen is excellent and you must get the fatty pork. (The lean stuff is just no good.) I have never had a problem with the service, as some other reviewers have mentioned.

Unfortunately, after my trip from Japan, I was made to realize that Kintaro's ramen is below average in Japanese standards. (If you get a chance to go to Japan, eat their ramen... utterly amazing in every aspect.)

Added Aug 28, 2006 by yummitummi of Vancouver (46 Reviews)

I heart ramen :)
Been here a number of times and the ramen has yet to disappoint! As previous reviews mention, the broth *is* very fattening...I haven't managed to bring myself to try the "rich" soup because I probably would get too full 20% into my meal. My dining partner and I agree that the miso ramen is the tastiest on the menu, but the cold ramen is very refreshing in the hot summer months. The noodles are fresh tasting and never soggy. ;)
Service is okay. However, I think you get slightly faster service when you sit on the bar stools around the cooking area.
A lot of people would say that ambiance is poor because it does get really stuffy and hot [and if you sit in front of the stove you might smell a little noodly], and it's noisy. But considering the type of food that you're eating [think uber-casual, hearty stuff], and that the majority of people are there for fast, delicious eats at a terrific price, you really shouldn't be comparing the scene to really upscale places. So hence the 'decent' rating.
Nice place to eat after wandering all over Stanley Park all day long...and definitely student-budget friendly too!

Added Aug 18, 2006 by babipedes of Lougheed (5 Reviews)

Wondering what ppl think
Some of my asian friend told me that kintaro had the best ramen ever. And finally, i got chance to go there...

I never find ramen soup as greasy as the one on kintaro. besides the other item on the menu they have are (i'm not sure what's the name) slice of pork meat (lean or fat)... but damn both of them are fats!!

Place is so small and the waiter&waitress are too busy with themselves, and the smell of fat will stick to your shirt after awhile there. I dont think i would come back by myself...

Added May 3, 2006 by lazyhusband of Burnaby (30 Reviews)

Memoirs Of A Ramen Noodle Reviewer
I've been here twice and on the second visit, I ordered the ramen noodle with cheese (the menu says the girls dig it!). I thought that maybe I had stumble onto a new type of aphrodysiac. Just had to see what all the fuss was about.

The quality of the noodles is always good at Kintaro but portion size could be improved. The cheese in the noodles made it interesting but for $8.25, I could have done without the cheese, ordered a regular bowl, and then had a BAS (buck a slice). However, I do put cheese in my instant noodles at home now thanks to Kintaro.

On another note, this place needs some serious air conditioning. It is usually hot and muggy in there. This doesn't help when you are having a bowl of hot noodles. For all the business that they generate, you'd think the owner could afford some a/c in the joint?

Added Mar 13, 2006 by epicurious of Burnaby, BC (523 Reviews)

Ramen for you?
If you love ramen (japanese noodles), you'll enjoy dining at Kintaro. It's a really small place and line-ups are pretty normal, so be prepared to wait to be seated (outdoors). Serving sizes are great, but the service is a little lacking. I felt a little squished together with all the other tables. The food is enough to get me back there.

Added Feb 5, 2006 by truman of Burnaby (1 Reviews)

Undercooked noodles .. yum yum
We've been going to Kintaro every 2-3 weeks for few months now. As other people pointed out noodles were outstanding and personalities of their cooks/chefs outweighted nagging feeling of place being somewhat .. err .. dirty.

Went there today and it was the first time in my life when I was served "ramen al dente", which is a fancy way of saying UNDERCOOKED NOODLES.

Apparently they opened a new location in Richmond and slightly updated this one (ie repainted the walls, but decided to keep hairy lumps of dust on the ceiling). I would guess that guys that cooked there before are in Richmond now, which is too bad, because this was a good eatery. Oh, well.

Added Jan 13, 2006 by Nippon-Nightmare of Kerrisdale (1 Reviews)

Delictable treat
Kintaro more than lived up to the endorsement I received from a friend. Kintaro is a busy (expect a line), you're-in-you're-out ramen house that makes some of the best soup (Japanese or otherwise) I've eaten in my life.

I had the miso ramen (their specialty) and my girlfriend had the shio ramen while sitting at the counter watching the chefs create. Both bowls of ramen were exquisitely prepared and tasted like heaven on earth. We both opted for the "medium" soup and will probably continue to order "medium". "Heavy" would be a heart stopper while "light", based on the "medium" would be too diluted. Know this...to make the soup "light", "medium" or "heavy", they strain some fat off the pork stock with a strainer and add it to your soup. Sounds gross, tastes awesome.

You also have a choice of lean or fatty pork. We both went with lean because we don't like a 3:1 ratio of fat to meat. The lean pork was tasty so we probably won't be trying the fatty pork.

Is Kintaro health food? Hell, no. Did anyone ever say it was? I doubt it. All soups are based on pork stock so any vegetarians adverse to pork shouldn't waste their time in line. Even the "vegetarian" soup is based on pork stock if I remember the menu correctly.

Some people think places like Kintaro have bad service...I think they have some impatient, intolerant or disrespectful customers. Kintaro has line-ups...that's the sign (usually) of a great restaurant. The servers at Kintaro were polite, courteous and friendly to us first-timers. It makes me wonder what kind of person gets into a grudge match with the servers there. We could have used more water refills, but that's not a big complaint.

We loved the food, service and atmosphere and can't wait for our next visit.

Added Oct 25, 2005 by tgx78 of vancouver (11 Reviews)

Tasty Nooodle
Other than long line up and somewhat slow service. This place is the best Japanese noodle place in Vancouver. My brother who lived in Japan for three years agreed too. :)

Added Jun 21, 2005 by 2pogi4u of Richmond (6 Reviews)

slurp...
My girlfriend and I are regulars at this place, we go there at least once almost every other week. Definetely the very best Ramen of Vancouver! We just came back from a trip to Japan and tried their ramen there. When we got back, all we did was crave for the Ramen at Kintaro. The Miso Ramen was what got me hooked the very first time, I recommend this one for first-timers. Shoyo, Shio and the Cheese Ramens are also our favorites.

Added Mar 4, 2005 by eatmore of Vancouver (7 Reviews)

Vancouver standards
Tried many spots around town but Kintaro is the best of what we have here. Perhaps it's the overly poor quality of the other places that makes Kintaro so popular.
At least it's Japanese owned and run so there is a bit of authenticity in the operations.

Added Nov 7, 2004 by thecritic of East Side (173 Reviews)

Best ramen in the city
Kintaro's is a small Japanese style diner on the east side of Denmen near Robson. There isn't a lot of seating but even if the place is full, its worth the wait as the turnover is fairly fast and the soup is awesome. I had some gyoza, miso ramen, and a side of pork. As it turns out, this was way too much and I could have done without the side of pork and possibly even the gyoza.

We sat at the bar and found the preparation and cooking process interesting. The chef actually tastes the broth in each bowl. The noodles looked homemade, although I didn't ask whether they were or not. The end result was very tasty; the best ramen I have had in recent memory.

If you are looking for takeout or a vegetarian ramen, look elsewhere as Kintaro's doesn't do that. They specialize in pork soup bases and they do it well. I will be going back soon on a Saturday to try their Forest Fire ramen which is supposed to be outstanding.