Kinton Ramen Review

Do we finally have authentic Japanese ramen in town?  Some may say yes because Kinton is run by Japanese (same chain as Guu Izakaya), and not by Chinese (Ajisen) or Korean (Kenzo).  (There are other smaller ramen places run by Japanese, like Konnichiwa and Niwatei... maybe I should do an overall ramen review post someday...)

Shio Ramen with Pork Belly

Gyoza

This place is fairly busy, though the line-ups are not as crazy as Guu as selection of food is limited. I think it'd be hard for large groups of friends to sit together and it's not the most ideal place to talk (surrounding sound can get quite noisy as the servers yell welcome and thank you every few mins) or impress your date. That is because the seating is too crowded to be comfortable, and if you are unlucky like me, who happens to be seating in front of the large pots of boiling soup base beside the open kitchen, it's difficult not to sweat in this intense amount of heat. 


I ordered a shio (salt) ramen with pork belly and a serving of gyoza (dumplings). The pork belly came as one big piece in which you can clearly distinguish the fat from the meat. If you prefer something more leaner you can choose to have pork shoulder instead of the pork belly. Hmm...I thought the meat could be marinated more. The texture of the ramen was bang on though! However, the soup base was disappointing. Usually shio ramen comes with a relatively clear soup base... instead my bowl was murky... with fat tissue on the top layer! That made it hard to drink the soup afterwards because it didn't look appealing with all that fat disperse in it. I did drank a spoonful afterwards but it wasn't anything spectacular... I saw them put lots of fatty porkbone in it... and that was what I tasted... pretty bland taste... can't detect the seasalt.... The complimentary egg was only half broiled, which was a nice surprise if you like running yolk. The gyoza tasted pretty good with very thin pastry and very juicy. But portions were kind of small.  

In short, I'd try Kinton again. But I definitely won't be ordering shio ramen. Hopefully the soup base would be more flavourful in Shoyu or Miso? But when I glanced over at the other bowls they had the same amount of murkiness... 

Do check out their washroom, the mirror's kind of cool. 

I can't wait to try Momofuku when it opens in August in Toronto... 

Food: 3.6/5 (texture of ramen is pretty good, but the soup is so-so, pork belly is ok)
Service: 3.8/5
Decor: 3.5/5 (similar decor as Guu, but the seats are even more crowded)
Price: Ramen about $10 each (tax/tips extra)

Location: 51 Baldwin Street (if you are there or have to wait in line, I urge you to check out Baldwin St as it has some interesting restaurants and shops!)
Phone: 647-748-8900
No reservations and be prepared to line up.
Website: http://kintonramen.com/