Menbow Ramen Bar

Dined here on June 1, 2024. I had the Miso Ramen (Tonkatsu broth) and the Gyoza. It was very authentic and delicious. The servers were very nice and accommodating.

=== 1. VERDICT/VALUE
The downtown eatery seems to have a sister location in Hillside Centre - whoohoo! The same authenticity brought to you by Japanese entrepreneurs is available here, complete with Japanese decor and NHK broadcasts on TV :). Good option when you're hankering for warm noodles in soup.

=== 2. FOOD
The quality is just as good as that found in the downtown location, except shio ramen is not available here. I've tried the shoe and miso ramen here and it's delish as it is downtown. The $3.50 add-on sukiyaki beef on rice is good; I just wish it were bigger :)

=== 3. SERVICE
It's all self-serve for the most part - you're encouraged to to use a large-screen kiosk to order everything, including any customizations. The service of the food itself is relatively quick, polite, and can be in English or Japanese.

While you can normally bring your dishes to the collection stations, the stone bowls from Menbow requires you to return your tray to Menbow directly.

=== 4. ENVIRONMENT
The Hillside Centre food court offers you a lot of space for groups of any size, with or without baby strollers or wheelchairs to dine in a bright, open, relatively-modern decor. Parking is a breeze too, given the spacious parking lot outside for the mall/.

Tasty ramen with lots of options. Fast and courteous service. No nonsense authentic vibes.

Food is good. Service was efficient and prompt. Typical noodle bar ambiance. Prices are reasonable.

What I liked:
Larger bowls. They don't skimp with the roast pork or ramen egg and other items. Overall a great bowl of ramen.

What could be improved.
Less salt. It's too salty and I even ordered the "light" low salt version. Sad, but I couldn't drink the broth because it was too salty.

I ordered their staple bowl of shio ramen. The broth was creamy; the noodles, al dente. Sizeable portion of noodles -- definitely adequate. I added the combo mini chasyu don (as I missed having rice for a few days!), which made the meal more than plenty. All the flavours were tasty but not deep. I am curious how I would find the spicy version of the shio ramen. Friendly staff, including the kitchen staff, as I was seated at the counter with the wide view into the kitchen. It was a good dining experience and it certainly satisfied my ramen craving.

So so SOOOOO GOOD. My friend and I got spicy and regular ramen with tonkatsu base. SO YUM. really cool bowl for takeout. we didn't sit in so i can't rlly tell u abt that but food was super SUPER GOOD!!!!

I think they use old socks to flavor the broth... but then, i'm a bit of a ramen snob.

my wife got food poisoning. she's dealing with severe cramps 24 hours later.

Reasonably tasty, but fairly mediocre vegan ramen.

I dined in for dinner on a Tuesday evening, having seen that they do a vegan ramen. It's a tomato ramen ($16.50 plus tax), something I had not seen done vegan before, so I was eager to try it. It comes with spinach noodles and a generous array of toppings: bamboo shoots, spinach, corn, tofu, a mushroom, bean sprouts, shredded carrot, and green onion. The broth was interesting -- quite tangy, almost sour, I guess sweet & sour, with appropriate saltiness. The broth was just OK and didn't have the depth or complexity I'd hoped for. At $16.50 for a vegan ramen, this is costlier than literally every other ramen place in Vancouver that does vegan ramens other than Jinya and Afuri (I know, I have a spreadsheet of them all!). So, all in all, decent spot for vegan ramen, but nothing special and fairly pricey.

The black garlic is so damn good.
Good prices. Some of the best I've had anywhere. Check it out

Soup base for all three soups we ordered were very fishy tasting.

Did not enjoy .

Friendly service.

Busy place though so some people must like it ‍