this post is filed under Cuisine - Japanese, Location - Vancouver
So surprise surprise, I'm a little behind schedule. It turns out I didn't have internet access for my last few days in New Zealand, so I wasn't able to update then. I'm back in San Francisco now though. I'm going to Vancouver briefly for the holidays, then back here to SF for a bit, then back to Boston. I should be able to update pretty much daily for the next couple of months. I have a few more Vancouver/SF posts to wrap up before I get started on my huge Sydney report.
This one is gonna be pretty quick. Over the summer I managed to make another visit to Kintaro Ramen (check out my first visit here). The place is still packin' em in from the looks of it. Geoff and I barely got a table before the place filled up completely. A pretty long line soon formed out the door. If we'd gotten there 10 minutes later, we probably would have had to wait another 45 minutes. I guess you could say the place hasn't changed much.
bbq pork shoyu ramen - C$8.75
This time we both got ga-ga-greedy and ordered the ramen with extra bbq pork. And they're not joking around - you get 4 huge pieces instead of 1. Of course, we went with the fat pork and rich soup, and the result was a HUGE bowl of food. It was tough to finish it, but I managed. The bbq pork is really great here... absolutely tender and fatty. 4 pieces might be too much though. I think next time I'm gonna ask if they can give me 2 pieces of fat pork and 2 pieces of lean pork.
gyoza - C$3.25
While the gyoza isn't particularly superb, it's perfectly decent. It's pretty much an automatic order when you're getting ramen anyway.
It's about to get really busy around here. Stay tuned...
Hi Arthur - I'd rather this ramen instead of our christmas dinner... have a very happy christmas and new year!
posted by keiko on December 25, 2005 10:27 AM
Hah - to be honest, Keiko, I'd have to agree with you. I'm not a big fan of Christmas food. Then again, I'm not so big on Thanksgiving food even...
posted by Arthur on December 29, 2005 09:15 PM
Hi Arthur, stumbled across your site..very cool and it appears you like the same restaurants that I do. I am a local in Vancouver and eat at Gyoza King at least twice a month. I am a HUGE fan of anything izakaya. Hapa, Nan Chu, Guu(s), Shiru Bay are my favourite haunts, we need less sushi restaurants and more izakaya joints! I can eat these little Japanese tapas everyday, just give me some sake and cold beer with it and I am a happy camper. Enjoy your reviews and photos, keep up the good work!
posted by Philip on January 4, 2006 06:01 PM
have to also add that Kintaro and Ezogiku Ramen House are 2 fav lunch places of mine!!
posted by Philip on January 4, 2006 06:02 PM
Hey Philip, thanks for visiting. I agree that the izakayas are great, but to be honest I'd like to see a few more places specifically focus on sushi, a la Ajisai. I think there are plenty of izakayas to choose from now...
posted by Arthur on January 8, 2006 08:47 PM
If for some reason you are not full after finishing your ramen at Kintaro, get a free bowl of rice and dump it into the soup. It's like eating sinfully unhealthy congee.
posted by Soo Wei on January 11, 2006 11:05 PM
Wow, Soo Wei, that sounds really good. I don't know how I could eat that much though...
posted by Arthur on January 13, 2006 04:40 AM