Author: Alfonzo46

Established 20 years ago in Japan, Ramen Danbo only recently expanded into Canada. They opened their first location in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighbourhood in mid-2015 and, following massive success, opened their Robson location barely six months later. Since opening, Ramen Danbo has become a perennial favourite...in Vancouver and has garnered many a positive review and comment from the likes of the Daily Hive, Lonely Planet, Foodology, Foodgressing, Noms Magazine, and Eat ‘n About, to name but a few. Indeed, Noms Magazine has gone so far as to say that Ramen Danbo is home to “some of the best ramen in Downtown Vancouver” and is therefore “a must have.” I don’t generally believe the media hype machines, but when you get this much positives press + so many regular patrons writing a good word on sites like TripAdvisor, Yelp and Google, then there must be something to it. The establishment is rather small and sparse, so it’s not uncommon to have to wait. Current COVID protocols further limit seating inside the restaurant. As such, my partner and I decided to patronize Ramen Danbo fairly early in the day – just after 12PM – so that we might avoid waiting outside. Surprisingly, we didn’t have to wait for a seat. As we perused the menu, a thought crossed my mind: “could there be any better time to have a warm, rich bowl of ramen?” After all, it was a rainy (and cold) November day. Ramen Danbo is known for their traditional Fukuoka-style Tonkotsu ramen, which is basically a nice pork bone broth. The broth has a thick and hearty pork flavour with a creamy texture that’s almost reminiscent of melted butter. Trust me, once you try it, you’ll know what all the fuss is about! Besides the fantastic ramen broth, Ramen Danbo is also noteworthy because they allow you to customize your ramen, at no additional cost, by choosing the firmness of the noodles, thickness of the broth, its richness (amount of lard), and spice level. You can also add a number of items to your ramen for a small fee, including: Soft boiled egg, nori, kikurage, pickled veggies and extra chashu. For my classic chashu-men, I kept everything “standard” except for the lard, which I requested “rich.” I also added some nori and kikurage. All I will say is that from the very first taste it was pure bliss. Everything about my bowl of ramen was perfect – the noodles maintained a nice firmness; the broth was very flavourful and rich, but not overly salty; the nori added a nice textural element to the dish, as did the kikurage. The slices of chashu were melt-in-your-mouth tender and complemented the broth exceptionally well. After dining here, it was very clear to me why Ramen Danbo was ranked #1 on Noms Magazine’s “10 best ramen in Vancouver” for 2020. The experience was almost cathartic! FOOD: 5/5 SERVICE: 5/5 VALUE: 5/5 RECOMMENDATION: Ramen Danbo is damn good. Their deceptively complex broth takes your taste buds on a whirlwind experience light-years beyond the days of university-quality ramen. Come and warm your soul with rich, hearty goodness. Highly recommended! PS: If you found this review helpful in any way please consider hitting the "helpful" button!More