Do a search below using the city or postal code search box if your city is not listed above.
Get dining news including restaurant closures and qualify for giveaways.
Benkei serves Japanese ramen in a variety of flavours with many add ons to create a custom bowl of soup to your liking.
I went here because there was a line at Santouka Ramen on Robson, and we were too hungry to wait. I've been the the Benkei that was on Thurlow St, which was pretty good.
I ordered the Shio and side of gyozas.
What a disappointment with the ramen. My broth was so bland and plain, salty with a bad pork taste to it. The meat in my soup was dry, added in after. Gyozas were pretty good. Overall I would have preferred to cook up some packaged ramen.
It was empty inside. No wonder
This was my third time dining in at Benkei Ramen. I've been to three locations (Robson, Thurlow and Broadway). It has never impressed me, and has since been a last-resort type of restaurant for me.
Food: The noodles, itself, are too soggy while the soup base is much too MSG based. Some people might even mistaken this as being rich. Traditional ramen broth is to be boiled slowly, but a sip of Benkei's soup tells a ramen lover that their soup uses preservatives and MSG to cover up the lack of preparation.
Service: Much better than the food. They seat you down and refill your cups accordingly. It is nothing of the ordinary.
Value: For their prices, I would much enjoy a meal at a neighbouring restaurant like Santouka or Kintaro (they are worth the line ups if you're looking for tradition, Japanese ramen).
I applaud Benkei's ability to build such a strong customer chain, but they must step up the quality of their food in order to gain the acceptance of the real Ramenist audience and not just those that have not ate traditional ramen.
There are many other Chinese-run Japanese restaurants in town that serve better ramen. Being Chinese is not an excuse to serve poor food.
Definitely not recommended.
Food: I ordered the spicy ramen. I eat spicy foods all the time, but this one was just, really really spicy. I tried the heavy tonkatsu as well - didn't taste heavy at all. It doesn't even come close to comparing with the heavy tonkatsu served at G-men. Furthermore, the noodles were slightly undercooked. I also ordered the chasu onigiri - completely tasteless! No flavour whatsoever.
Service: Good service; water was refilled several times. Very quick.
Value: Very poor value. I know that $7.80 for a bowl of ramen isn't considered expensive, but there was only a few strands of ramen in the bowl. Seriously, a package of instant noodles had more than what was in the bowl. My spicy ramen came with nothing more than the ramen, a few pieces of bamboo shoots, and very little minced meat. I'm not expecting a lot for a $8 dinner in downtown, but the value here was shockingly poor.
Ambiance: Appears to be quite clean.
I would not return due to the lack of quality and value.
I came here on a busy Saturday night after craving a comforting bowl of soup in the Ramen triangle. We thought about going across the street to the newer place but the lineup over there was ridiculous (and knew that it would be a similar situation at Kintaro on Denman). There were a few groups ahead of us but our party of three was seated within 10 minutes or so which was quite reasonable.
I ordered the shio soup base and some shrimp gyoza. Normally I am pretty conservative with my soup base selection and will just get miso but I am glad I strayed from the usual. The soup base was fantastic and overall it was a very tasty bowl. The gyoza were decent but not super great and next time will just get the pork gyoza instead.
Overall the food was really good and I will definitely come back when I am craving some ramen. The hard part will be to decide which of the three ramen houses to go to because all of them serve a top notch bowl and have their own style but choosing one over the other is difficult.
Service is friendly. They don't rush you. Seating is comfy enough, much more comfortable than Kintaro. Even though the house is full, I can manage to get waitresses' attention. Ambiance is pleasant enough for a place to grab a quick bite. However the portion of your noodles is really small.
Noodles taste good enough. It's not bad. It's not out of the world either. The portion is just like a bag of instant noodles you have at home. Toppings are in small portion as well. Even soup just barely covers the noodles. LOL! What's up with that? Soup is just water, why so cheap? Kintaro gives you more noodles and toppings for sure.
I ordered extra toppings for my ramen but the portion of each extra toppings is like one bite.
A bowl of noodles here is more like a snack than a meal, very skimpy. It can probably make a skinny girl feel full. If you are a dude, you need to order side dishes to be full. Don't order extra toppings, it's lame, each topping is only one small bite. Just order side dish if you are afraid that the noodles won't keep you full.
If you are in the area, then it's ok to come in and grab a bite. It's not worth your effort driving all the way to this place for noodles. I had better ramen than this. I would say their ramen is generic.
Went here during the holidays and it wasn't that busy. Was seated quickly and ordered the miso ramen. The soup looked and tasted really good but the ramen was a bit of a let down. It tasted like the pre-packaged ones you can buy at a asian store. No real taste and the noodles had not texture you would expect. The pork was a bit on the lean side and no flavour other than salt. Service was good and fast. Decor was minimal. Overall, wouldn't go back for this price.
A small group of us headed towards Downtown looking for an early dinner. Kintaro was too busy so we headed around the corner here, where we were seated promptly.
Lovely decor; couldn't assertain as to its authenticity but they definitely spent the time to make it look regional to what one would expect. The ambience is rounded off with the ubiquitous Japanese staff yelling back and forth.
Most of us ordered the miso with one spicy miso and I believe a brown broth based bowl called shoyo thrown in. The ramen noodles were fantastic with excellent bite coupled with a flavourful soup base for the miso. The ingredients feel skimpy to me with is unfortunate, with only a few thin slices of pork and a boiled egg. While the pork is tender, fattier pieces would be preferred as they were a bit lean. There are many choices for toppings for an additional price if you so desired. However, as it is, it's excellent ramen.
Service is spry and efficient. Constant water top ups and bowl clearing make for efficient dining.
The buzz around is that this is one of the best places for ramen, and I can surely agree.
Ive been to this place four times. The first time I got the miso ramen and Mr. Dining Dandy had the spicy miso. His was really great, and very spicy mine was meh. There are 5 items on the menu with variosu toppings. They have tonkatsu soup, a shio soup, a spicy soup, a miso soup and a cream soup. the soup is okay and after you add all the toppings it adds up to about 10-11$ which is more expensive then motomatchi or kintaro which are just around the corner. Its misleading though because you think 'Hey 7$ for ramen.. oh wait the toppings are an extra 3.50' Anyhow the first visit was fine. Service was decent and the ambience was solid and the food was decent. The second time we went i wanted to try there creamy soup.. it was pretty bland and kind of flavorless... it had a very out of a can type taste. and Mr. Dining dandy stuck with the spicy miso which was decent. The third and fourth time i set my mind on spicy miso.. we were seated and when i ordered i was shocked when the waiter told me 'We are sold out of spicy soup'.... out of spicy soup... when you only have 5 soups on the menu... Well we walked out of there because i had been set for spicy soup and we went to motomatchi and got there organic spicy chicken miso. (yummy) anyhow the second time we got there earlier at around 1 in the afternoon and i again attempted to get the spicy miso and they were sold out.. again i walked out. I dont have patience for a business that cant get there act together when they've only got 5 things on the menu. Its such an ordeal sitting down having the waiter bring you water then when you place an order and they tell you they're sold out you have to get out... its awfully inconvenient especially if your going to work in an hour and had your taste buds set on it, NEVER AGAIN! ITS EMBRASSING! and if a business cant get there act together and order the proper amounts of ingredience to last at least untill after lunch then they dont deserve my business! oh and unlike kintaro and motamatchi they are not licensed so dont expect to get a beer or anything refreshing like that.
I think this place is done up more nicely than Kintaro, more of a "you're in Japan" feel (though still much more roomy and bigger than the real thing).
The menu is very simple really. The fatty pork broth, the lighter (they said chicken) version or a mix. You can add extra sides, but I'm not one to mess around. I'm here for the noodles and the broth. The rest is just kind of fluff. (Well, okay, we did get some gyoza as well, but nothing special).
The cha su they have, I like it much better than Kintaro, but by default, you get 2 small pieces. Still, you will not be left hungry, especially with the thicker pork broth (which, if I recall, is in between Kintaro's choices of lean and super fatty). The lighter broth version was good too, it just depends on what you feel like at the time.
The noodles were sufficiently "boinky", thumbs up on that.
I've not been to Kintaro recently, but even at it's peak, I think this one is comparable. Either one would be a good choice, unless you've a craving for Kintaro's forest fire ramen or the cold noodles.
The ramen here is outstanding!
Always go for the shoyu ramen with extra noodles and bamboo shoots.
The price for that huge size bowl of goods is simply a gift from above.
If you want to try ramen, I strongly recommend all to try out benkei.
Believe me when I say, every cent is worth it.
Their summer campaign of "hiyashichuuka" was excellent!
Hope they will do it again!
I completely agree with Ror. The wheels have come off at benkei in a major way. I've eaten here since the day after opening day and I had been coming back regularly. I loved everything about their food although I noticed the quality of the chashu went a little downhill first earlier on. Nevertheless, I still liked their ramen overall. That all changed dramatically about the time they started opening other locations it seemed. Despite my bad experiences, I told myself, I was just unlucky or it was the particular location (I've eaten at 2 other locations) but sadly, after a string of poor meals I have to say goodbye to Benkei. I still like Kintaro's noodles and the small hoel in the wall diner ambiance, but Santouka Hokkaido is my new personal fave. I like Miki on kingsway also. Even ezogiku is better than Benkei these days.
Went there for dinner around 6:30pm, ordered the Miso ramen.
Food/Value:
I can honestly say, this place would not survive if it was in Japan. Funny how they're opening a new location on Broadway. The noodles were too soft, the soup base was mostly MSG. The pork was bland. The thing I find ridiculous is the "sides" that you add, they're so expensive. In Japan, ramen is suppose to be a fast food. It's suppose to fill you up and served really quickly with tons of ingredients. I just can't wrap my mind around them being able to charge money for 2 pieces of nori sheets (seaweed). Also, their proportion sizes were small, so for that value, I don't see how it's worth it.
Service/Ambiance:
Service was slow and disorganized. We were standing at the door and didn't get addressed for 5 minutes. There were plenty of empty tables, but we were just being ignored. The ambiance was alright, nothing special.
In the end, I don't think I'll try it anymore. I'll save my ramen craving until I go to Japan.
I'd come here if the other 2 ramen places are too packed.
So..Benkei Ramen's ramen noodle is good but their soup base is not as good as Kintaro's. It seems like they're lacking something. I realized that it only tastes decent if I put a bunch of garlic in it. Their gyoza is small, tasteless and gross. Their onigiri is yummy.
Again, I'd come here if I have no choice.
This place is one of my favourites to go when it's rainy and cold and I need comfort food! The ambiance is fantastic and very authentic. The servers are all Japanese and are very friendly and helpful - especially if it's your first time ordering there.
My favourite broth is the Shoyu, and the serving portions are very filling - especially for the price (around $7).
Don't be disappointed when you see only a couple of pieces of meat in your dish though, (it's the authentic way of preparing it).
My friend claims "that the chicken could've survived" losing a bit of meat for a bowl of ramen.
("just a flesh wound!")
I also recommend asking for the chicken broth instead of the pork broth (I don't think it's written on the menu).
They also have stamp cards. Booya!
This restaurant is always full of energy!! The place is well decorated and the wait times are not bad at all.
The service is quick and the waiters are very friendly. The menus are easy to understand and I appreciate the detailed descriptions of the different ramen bowls. It's always difficult to choose which bowl to order!!
I love the food - it's so tasty and filling! The soup tasted great, and the noodles were just right!
I highly recommend this place to anyone craving ramen! :)
I've been going to Benkei on Robson for the last year. Initially I was impressed with how everything tasted. I don't have a big appetite so I always have to order a smaller portion. Lately, I'm not quite sure what has changed in the kitchen but over the past 2 months the taste has become really bland. The portions have shrunk so much that it's laughable. The cuts of meat are now terrible, very thin, very fatty, and I would venture to say inedible. I am definitely going to switch to a different ramen place. I've given it enough time to see that this is a recurring theme with this restaurant and they are eager to cut back on costs no matter the effect in their quality of product.
I came here with a party of 4 at around 2pm on a Saturday afternoon. The place wasn't busy so we were able to get a table right away. The restaurant reminded me of some ramen restaurants I went to in Tokyo. We ordered 2 Spicy Miso ramens and 2 Chicken ramens with the creamy soup (forgot the name). The Spicy Miso ramen came with ground pork and it reminded me of Ma Po Tofu sauce so it's kinda like eating Ma Po Tofu (without the tofu) with noodles. I tried the Chicken ramens with the milky/creamy soupbase and at first taste, it was good but after a few more slurps, it just tasted like a watered down Campbell's cream soup. Service was decent and friendly. And the plus side is that they have stamp cards.
If I do come back, I will be sticking to the basic Ramens (Miso or Shoyu) but I would rather go to Kintaro or Motomachi Shokudo.
Although this would not be my top choice for ramen places, I don't mind it at all. Texture of the noodles was good, soup broth was good, the meat portion was a little skimpy. But would probably go back only if the other ramen places were busy and I didn't feel like waiting for them.
My family brought some visitors from out of town here, all of us having eaten authentic ramen in Japan and hoping to revisit that experience. In spite of being a large party showing up at lunchtime on a busy Sunday, we were seated fairly quickly by the friendly and cheerful staff.
The menu is pretty straightforward, offering the three traditional options of shio, shoyu or miso broth as well as some interesting variations. All of us chose either shio (sea salt) or shoyu broth. We also tried the chashu onigiri and the gyoza.
The gyoza were delicious and highly approved of by all of us. The onigiri were okay, nothing spectacular but since we often make these at home maybe they aren't as exciting as they might otherwise be. As for the ramen, thoughts among our group were mixed. Though we were all happy to finish off everything in our bowls, the feeling was that the broth seemed to be lacking a certain depth and richness of flavour. The pork wasn't as tender as we would have liked, though the flavour was delicious. None of us could find fault with the noodles themselves though and we were all glad we paid a little extra to get more noodles added to our bowls.
Overall I would be happy to eat here again to try some of the other offerings on the menu, but we also want to try the other ramen shops in the neighbourhood to see whether we can find something a little closer to those simple street corner ramen shops in Japan.
Went down there to have lunch and was immediately greeted in Japanese by a friendly waitress.
There's basically 4 different types of ramen, so I chose the Shio Ramen. Service was speedy, and with the first sip of the broth, I knew this place meant business. It's one of the best ramen broth you can find in Vancouver.
Then with a bite of the ramen noodle and tonkotsu (braised pork), the flavour just explodes in your mouth.
Only one thing I would like to see improved is they could put some more noodles to make it more filling for those with a bigger appetite.
| 1. | Broadway & Cambie (3.4 km) |  |
| 2. | East 5th (3.5 km) |  |
| 3. | West Broadway (4.2 km) | |
| 1. | Pho Express Ankor Noodle House (14 m) |  |
| 2. | Starbucks (23 m) | |
| 3. | Sammy's Hot Wings (32 m) | |
| 4. | De Dutch Pannekoek House (33 m) |  |
| 5. | Subway (33 m) | |
| 6. | Pizza Hut (45 m) | |
| 7. | Tang Thai (53 m) | |
| 8. | Jang Mo Jib (55 m) | |
| 9. | Killer Seafood & Pizza (60 m) |  |
| 10. | Sushi Robo (71 m) | |
