Benkei Ramen is a chain of ramen restaurants that has a couple of locations around Vancouver. I visited the Downtown location on Robson while doing some errands in the area. I like the ambiance inside and I think it is nicer and more spacious than most of the other ramen places in the West End.
Originally I was craving miso ramen, but the curry ramen ($8) caught my eye. This came with chicken, baby carrots, spinach, and corn.
The curry broth had a deep rich flavour. This isn’t spicy like spicy miso ramen dishes, it is more of a savoury comforting flavour. The broth was thicker than most other ramen broth, almost like an actual curry sauce, but I enjoyed the thickness.
The noodles were cooked well, I have no complaints there. The slices of chicken were moist and juicy and it was nice to have something other than pork.
The curry ramen was tasty and it wasn’t as greasy as the more common pork based broths. Benkei doesn’t have the hype that some of the other ramen restaurants in the area have (like Hokkaido Ramen Santouka and Kintaro), but they still serve up a tasty bowl of ramen. If you like a lighter bowl of ramen, or don’t feel like lining up outside for the other ramen places in the area, give Benkei a try.
Recommendation:
Yes, for great curry ramen.
