Kinton Ramen (North Vancouver)

As much as there are many locations of Kinton Ramen, I haven't been back since I first visited the one at UBC.  I remember coming away impressed that they have the great combination of quality, quantity and price.  We made our way to the North Vancouver spot right on Lonsdale, steps away from city hall.  They are currently offering their Summer Ramen Tour, featuring a selection of 3 cold noodles and one hot until August 28th, 2025.  The promotion includes a stamp card where you will earn one free ramen after 9 visits.  Also, you get an entry into a draw for a trip to Japan!

Now we made trip to North Van (which wasn't far) to try this new menu beginning with the Chilled Tsukemen.  This featured tender pork, seasoned egg and shredded nori served with a house-made dipping sauce.  We also found daikon, wasabi and scallions on the side.  First of all, the amount of al dente noodles was generous.  Definitely enough for one person to be full.  Secondly, the dip was really flavourful without being overly salty.  It had some sweetness and a nice hit of aromatic sesame.   Pork was tender and fall-apart as advertised while the egg was custardy and well-marinated.

Next, we had the Golden Chill Ramen Salad with thick noodles in a creamy sesame dressing topped with tender chicken, mini tomatoes, arugula, bamboo shoots, sweet corn, crispy noodles, and a seasoned egg.  Oh I really liked this as the sesame dressing was nutty, sweet, tangy and all things good about sesame.  The aroma from the sesame really made this dish and with little nuggets of moist chicken, each bite was similar to Chinese hand-shredded chicken with sesame sauce.  Loved the contrast of textures including the crunch from the crispy noodles on top, the sweet pop from the corn niblets and the bite from the bamboo shoots.

For those who like floral and tanginess, the Yuzu Chill Ramen would be a great choice.  It consisted of yuzu chicken broth, topped with tender chicken, mini tomatoes, arugula, bamboo shoots, lemon and seasoned egg.  This was super light and refreshing.  Something perfect for a hot summer's day.  Once again, the noodles were both plentiful and al dente.  Despite being a light-tasting broth, the flavour and impact was still there.  Each mouthful of noodles yielded umaminess and tanginess.

The last featured item from their Summer menu was the Spicy Mazemen.  This brothless creation featured warm beef, mini tomatoes, corn, arugula and a poached egg with thick noodles in a spicy house-made sauce.  This did have a kick, but not so much we couldn't taste the other ingredients.  Good chew on the noodles and the sauce had plenty of savoury elements that meshed well with the sweetness of the corn and silkiness of the egg.  

They also have a ramen combo with the choice of Gyoza or Fries as well as a choice of drink for $15.99.  I found the Gyoza to be fair standard.  This particular version was deep fried and topped with spicy mayo.  The wrapper was crispy while not overly greasy while the filling was fairly moist with pork and cabbage.  I personally would've liked dipping this into a tangy gyoza dip rather than the mayo.  The fries were the typical Cavandish starch-covered variety, but there was nothing wrong with that.  It came out crispy without potatoey insides.

We didn't stop there as we tried some of their regular menu items including the classic Pork Original with thin noodles.  This was essentially a shio broth as it was seasoned with sea salt.  There was a nice silkiness to the soup without it being too rich nor thick.  Definite pork umami vibes with enough salt for impact.  The slices of pork were buttery and soft while not overly fatty.  This also came with bamboo shoots, nori, wood ear mushrooms, green onion and seasoned egg.  Noodles were plentiful and al dente.

Next up, we tried the Chicken Miso with a rich soybean paste that had the rich fermented saltiness we are accustomed to.  Once again, the broth had a certain thickness to it but at the same time, it wasn't heavy nor greasy.  I thought the miso gave the broth more depth and impact with a pleasant funkiness.  As with the other dishes, the noodles had a nice chewiness that stood up to the broth.  This came with the same accompaniments including the custardy egg.

Our favourite of the bunch was the Beef Spicy Garlic with a huge scoop of minced garlic on top.  That in itself made the whole thing extremely garlicky with a certain sharpness.   As for the soup, naturally, it took on the garlic flavour but it was already inherently spicy.  It was not too harsh, so we could taste the different layers including the smokiness of the chili pepper and the umaminess of the base pork soup.  Suffice to was one of the, if not the most, impactful of the bunch.

We ended up getting the Takoyaki as well as the Pork Donburi as sides for our ramen.  Topped with the usual kewpie mayo, tonkatsu sauce and bonito flakes, these were as typical as they could get.  Now that doesn't mean they weren't good though.  They were fluffy in the middle while sporting a slightly crispy exterior.  As for the donburi, it featured chewy rice that had the rice moisture content.  It was topped with enough tender and salty pork to be present in every scoop of rice.  

To compliment our Summer ramen bowls, we had some drinks including the Orange Lemonade, Virgin Mojito and Sake Lemonade.  By looks alone, these may appear refreshing and yup, they were definitely so.  With just enough sweetness to balance the tang, the orange lemonade would satisfy those looking for a non-alcoholic beverage to go with their ramen.  The mojito was less sweet with the usual herbaceous hit.  The one alcoholic drink we had was the sake lemonade, which was fruity and lightly sweet with the brightness of sake.  Overall, the food and drinks at Kinton are solid, well-portioned and reasonably-priced.  This is something that I can go for on any night of the week.  I will be back soon!

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post*

The Good:

- Solid eats

- Well-portioned

- Reasonable pricing

The Bad:

- Parking in the area is limited

Overflo Dessert Cafe

With me needing to head down to 24/7 Parcel in Blaine, it was convenient for us to drop by Overflo Dessert Cafe in White Rock afterwards.  Located right on the Marine Drive strip, it was a great place to hang out on a beautiful sunny day.  Upon walking into the place, we were greeted by small trinkets with plenty of Sanrio characters.  There was also a photo booth with all the accessories to capture moments with your friends.  But we went straight for the menu and tried a selection of their wares.

We began with their Fresh Ade with the Lemonade, Blue Lemonade and Passion Fruitade.  These were pretty to look at and would be great for a hot Summer day.  Well, it was Winter, so we had to pretend it was hot.  At least the day we were there looked like Summer.  These were sparkling and were super refreshing and lightly sweet.  My favourite was the passion fruit as it had the classic tropical taste.  Both the lemonade and blue lemonade were quite similar with a light sweetness and light tanginess.  I found the blue one to be more floral for some reason.

From light, we moved onto something with more body in the Special Jolly-Pong Shakes.  We opted to try the Original and the Cookies & Cream.  Piled high with Jolly Pong cereal, it needed the domed lid to keep everything from spilling out.  The sweet nuttiness of the Jolly Pong was enjoyable enough by itself, but there was a shake underneath.  I found the texture of the shake to be more like a Starbucks Frap with a milky iciness.  Now it was pleasant though as it was blended quite well.  Hence it was somewhere in between a Frosty and shaved ice.  Both drinks were lightly sweet with the cookies & cream being sweeter.

Trying something from their coffee menu, we had 2 iced coffees with the Dalgona Latte as well as the Oat Lavender Latte.  So far, I'm sure that you have noticed that their drinks are visually-appealing.  Well, it wasn't any different with the iced coffees.  For the Dalgona, it was topped with a considerable amount of Korean crunchy toffee candy.  Thankfully, we didn't have to lick it like in Squid Game!  Anyways, the coffee itself was aromatic and strong enough to stand up to the sweetness of the dalgona.   As for the Oat Lavender, it had a cute little ice bear on top.  It had a background floralness of the lavender.

We had their Soft Serve Ice Cream as well, still thinking it was Summer.  There were several flavours available including plain, but we went for the more interesting ones in the Earl Gray and the Thai Tea.  I found that base vanilla soft serve to be somewhere between creamy and icy.  So once again, it was more like a Frosty in texture but thicker.  It was lightly sweet with a definite milkiness.  For me, the Thai Tea was my favourite of the two with a strong tea flavour combined with the usual intense sweetness of condensed milk.  As for the Earl Grey, it was mild-tasting with its usual floral notes.

In their display case, there is a selection of cakes and macarons.  We went for the Basque Cheesecake and it was great.  To get things out of the way first, the actual cheesecake was more like a NY-style, which is not exactly typical, but I felt it was exactly what I wanted.  This had the usual burnt and sunken appearance on the outside while having the rich cream cheese texture of the classic NY version.  It was purposefully sweet and was super creamy and firm.  As for the Macarons, they were not bad with a crispy shell and chewy interior.

We moved onto their small selection of savoury items with the Rose Noodle Tteokbokki consisting of udon, fish cake ribbons and rice cakes.  I thought this was quite good with a thick rose sauce that was creamy with only a touch of spice.  The udon was still al dente while the fish cake ribbons had a nice bounce to them.  Rice cakes were chewy but not tough.  The other available noodle was the Instant Nong Shin selection right next to the cool noodle soup heating station.  For some reason or another, eating instant noodles in an establishment is so much more satisfying than in your own home (for much more money).  Go figure.  In general, Overflo is a great place to grab a beverage on a nice day along the Drive in White Rock.  There are some trinkets for sale and a photo booth for those "friends" moments.  However, as much as I loved the Nong Shin ramen, not sure if I'd pay for it beyond my own home.  I'd stick with the Tteokbokki instead.  But if you want a drink, check Overflo out if you are in the area.

*All food and beverages were complimentary for this blog post* 

The Good:
- Large selection of various drinks
- Cool spot to hang out with friends
- Photo booth for those who want to capture the moment

The Bad:
- Loved the instant ramen and the cooking machine, but it is expensive