Ramen Danbo

Excellent, flavorful ramen. Really well developed broth and noodles with perfect consistency. No bells and whistles, just a delicious bowl of ramen.

Some of the best ramen I've had. Cozy atmosphere and friendly staff. This place is well worth the wait.

I have been to Vancouver twice and visited this ramen shop at different locations. At both the Kitsilano and downtown Vancouver locations, there was a wait to get seated. At this specific location, they don't seem to take numbers or names; you physically have to wait as they seat people in order of first come first serve. There are two ramen bases -- a veggie and their most popular tonkotsu option. Once you pick the base you want, the staff hands you a paper in line to customize your toppings, broth thickness, noodle thickness, etc. similar to if you have been to Ramen Nagi in California, or Ichiran globally. With my sister and mom, we arrived here around 9pm and probably didn't get seated until 9:30pm. The staff was really good at turning over tables, and getting people in and out fairly quick.

Once we got seated by the counter, we handed them our papers, waited maybe 10 minutes, and were delivered hot bowls of fresh ramen in front of our hungry eyes. Everything from the chashu, broth, ramen noodles and egg are so fresh, it is hard to not chow down so quickly! We loved everything and thought everything was perfect. With tax, tip , adding the eggs and extra chashu, everything turned out to be $14 USD per person, which in my opinion is a steal.

30-40min wait when we arrived on a weekend at noon. An employee handed out order slips while we were in line. Once we were seated, it was less than 5 minutes to get our food.

FOOD:
The tonkatsu ramen ($12.45) is smaller than the average ramen bowl, but the price is appropriately lower than other ramen shops.

Having the thick noodles "standard" provided just the right amount of QQ. My partner ordered the thin noodles "firm" and thought it was just the right texture. We thought the thick noodles are probably closer to the usual thickness of ramen noodles.

The tonkotsu broth was very flavorful and not at all greasy. We ordered it with "strong" thickness and "rich" richness. We would recommend "standard" thickness because I think modifying this option was what made our broth a bit too salty.

Chashu is not as tender as I would expect, although the portion size was fairly generous (2 large slices)

Overall, a cute and quiet eatery. It makes our list of top 5 ramen places we have tried across the world.

There is ALWAYS a line at this place and people said best ramen in Vancouver so this Japanese girl had to try it! Between us we got the classic, Shio, and Negi coma (green onion sesame) - the classic broth was my favorite!! The standard bowl only comes with green onions and a few chashu so know that everything else is an add on from the base price of a bowl. The soft boiled egg was yum!

Keep in mind you can customize MOST of it - amount of spice (I got a little sauce on the side and phew it's spicy), amount of fat, noodles, toppings, etc - I perhaps took out oo much fat/richness when I went with my light Shio flavor. My kid's classic with mostly standard settings was so good I wanted to take his, but being the good mom that I am, I only took a few spoonfuls. The noodles were the only thing, I felt like they were not my usual jam. It's the Hakata (?) style thin noodles so not unexpected, but everything else was so good, I wish the noodles were my thing too. Maybe I should've tried the thick noodles. If I have another opportunity to go, I'll try that and see what I think!

Waited in line for maybe 45-60 minutes and it was totally worth it! A staff member came out and gave everyone a ticket to write out their orders so it was a very efficient process. The food came out pretty quickly too. The Genmaicha tea was nice and hot, and the Classic Ramen with thick noodles and thick broth was beyond delicious! My friends added spice and I absolutely could not handle that level of heat so beware.

The wait was pretty long for a pretty basic bowl of ramen and rice. I'm assuming It would have been better with different quality noodles (I got thin) they were a bit bland and starchy. The vegan broth was average and maybe the regular brother is better since it's popular here but they don't have many none pork options. Also the seats were pretty hard and uncomfortable, lighting and staff were good. Probably won't be in a rush to come back. Update:(Was three star came back and gave it a two) it got to the point where the noodles ruined the broth and I didn't want to take was left, I don't like wasting food at all but it just wasn't good.

Fantastic ramen place in downtown Vancouver

Pros - excellent and fast service. The ramen broth is so rich and the ramen noodles so tender. An excellent meal after a day of shopping. Definitely pair it with a nice glass of cold beer

Cons - long line but worth it! Credit card only

One of the best ramen places in Vancouver. Definitely stop by for a warm bowl of delicious ramen and gyoza

Tried their ramen with standard options quite spicy and felt the noodles were a bit undercooked the broth was spot on. I also liked that they had a vegan option. 20 - 30 minute wait time

I went to the dentist a week after I went to Ramen Danbo. The dentist informed me that I had burned my mouth from hot food or drink. I had not had any hot food very recently, so I did not immediately identify the culprit. However, I soon realized it was Ramen Danbo. I ate the noodles even as they burned my mouth because they were so good.

Our friend so graciously lined up in the cold for 30 minutes before my other friend and I arrived. We were handed papers and pencils to complete our ramen orders in line. After we sat down, we were told we could store our coats inside our seats, which doubled as storage boxes. I really like the versatility.

The classic ramen with chashu-men was amazing. The pork belly was so tasty, and we all ordered an extra half order of noodles for only $1. I devoured my noodles so quickly. Even though I did not get any spice, I felt the broth was spicy as my nose was running. I still remain a little traumatized from how thirsty the ramen made me for many hours. And I barely drank the broth. I regret not selecting the light broth.

The total came out to $19 plus tip, which was definitely pricey as I only got the classic ramen with meat and no additional toppings. I wanted to get the soft-boiled egg, but I didn't think it was worth $2.

The service was very efficient, except for when we waited for our half orders of noodles. I am almost certain the server forgot about it because after quite a long time, he looked over and made a gesture as if he had just remembered. They don't have much seating inside, so I appreciate how the service was fast for the most part.