When all of the social media posts hit the internet awhile back about Kinton Ramen, it got me intrigued. However, there was a major stumbling block for me to try it - it is located at UBC. You see, I live near SFU, which is pretty far away. I've never shied away from traveling for food, but driving for almost an hour to grab a bowl of ramen isn't the best use of my time. Once again, having time off allows for such time-wasting adventures. So we headed off to UBC to eat ramen, oh and to visit the Beaty Museum while we were at it...
We actually took a break from the museum to grab some lunch, so we made the short walk over and grabbed a seat outside. We ended up getting the Meal for 4 ($67.00) that included 3 appies included Chicken Karaage, Takoyaki and Fried Gyoza. The food came out lightening fast and wasn't exactly hot. The best of the 3 was the karaage as it was deboned drumstick. Lots of tender and juicy meat with well-rendered skin that was crispy. Takoyaki was a bit dense and mushy, but it tasted fine with plenty of octopus inside. I wasn't too fond of the gyoza as they were lukewarm and a bit hard. Filling was good though.
For my choice of ramen, I went for the Chicken Miso with soybean paste, chicken breast, nori and white onion. I chose thin noodles and they were al dente and not clumpy. There was actually more than the amount of broth in the bowl. I found it quite indicative of the name as it did taste like chicken with the fermented saltiness of miso. Not the best I've ever had, but solid especially for the price. The 2 slices of chicken breast were not exactly juicy, but still tender nonetheless.
Viv had the Pork Spicy Garlic with chili pepper, pork, grated garlic and scallions. Despite the addition of spice and garlic, I could still taste the base pork broth. There was plenty of pork flavour. I thought it could've been silkier, but it was still decent. There was a balanced amount of spice and sharpness from the raw garlic. The combination of fatty and lean pork allowed for contrast of textures.
My son decided on the Pork Shoyu with soy sauce, pork, garlic oil and nori. Without the spice of the previous bowl, the pork flavour was more apparent. With the addition of garlic oil, there was aromatics and umaminess at play. He added an egg and it was perfectly custardy inside and well-seasoned. Once again, there was enough al dente noodles. A solid bowl of ramen.
For my daughter, she went for the Pork Miso with soybean paste, pork, corn, garlic oil and scallions. This was my favourite out of the 4 where the pork broth was nicely accented by the fermented flavour of the miso. Plenty of depth and body in this one. The sweet pop of the corn added sweetness. Overall we were quite satisfied with ramen at Kinton. Is it the best? No, of course not. But for the price they charge ($12.95) per bowl, it is a good bowl of ramen for a great price. Definitely caters to their core customers - students who are studying at UBC.
The Good:- Solid bowl of ramen
- Fair pricing
- Decent portion size
The Bad:
- Appies were not hot
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