Kinton Ramen will save your life if you are stuck on the UBC campus. * * * Normally, when I am in Vancouver, I am all over Richmond, Vancouver itself and the other suburbs eating up a storm. Vancouver is one of the most amazing eating cities on the planet. I would love to spend a month here and just do one Yelp review after another. The number of five star reviews would be high. However, I was at a conference at the University of British Columbia. I was expected to do my duty. The University is at the far western edge of the city, separated from everything by other lots of woods, or lots of rich residential neighborhoods with no commercial. And the campus itself is huge. So if you are on a conference schedule, you are generally eating on campus, or paying a lot to make the major expedition out. The student food on the UBC campus is nearly universally awful. There is a Michelin restaurant if you want to shell out the bucks. Otherwise there is grim catering from some company with the rights to do stalls in the student union ... and some private sector places that are coasting. Lines are long because there are not enough tables for all the students on campus. Guaranteed business lowers performance pressure. * * * Kinton Ramen is an island of civilization and paradise in this world of mediocre student catering. We ate no fewer than four meals here and loved every single solitary one of them. Kinton Ramen is a Toronto based ramen noodle chain of distinction. It is destination eating in Toronto. It has since spread all over Canada. Quality control has been rigorously maintained. You can go into any Kinton Ramen anywhere in Canada and get a five star meal. To put things in perspective, Kinton outperforms 90% of the ramen noodle establishments in my home town of Austin ... And Austin has a deserved reputation for having first class ramen. So being "stuck" in Kinton was a little like being stuck in a perfect French bakery. * * * Over the half week that Kinton became our campus dining hall, we had all four kinds of stock. We had hot ramen and cold ramen. We had every kind of gyoza they serve plus their bonito heavy Tokyo French Fries. We had their custom flavored lemonades. We had the Sapporo beer on draft. We did not have their shandy. Given their good lemonade and good lager beer ... this was a lost opportunity. We had ramen as served. We had ramen with extra ingredients in there. I can never get enough of their hard boiled eggs. Their summer special grilled pork add on was a total treat. I could go on and on and on but you get the idea. * * * Many Canadian readers will not believe this review. This is because Kinton's are so widespread and so available just about everywhere ... That they take Kinton's for granted. It would be like me writing a five star review for maple trees. Ubiquity does not make a restaurant bad. Being a chain does not make a restaurant bad. Think of Kinton's as being like clean fresh Canadian water or being like wonderful Canadian forest views. Sure ... They are everywhere. It does not make them less wonderful. * * * If you want to know what makes Kinton special, Come down to where I live and have the ramen in my town. Much of it is perfectly good. The broth is not as tasty and the solid ingredients are not as tasty as what you get in Kinton. But then our air isn't so great and in a lot of places our forests are becoming kind of scrubby. Canada does a lot of things right. And if that means fast food ramen noodles in Canada are actually good ... Well, chalk that up to the talents and integrity of the best of the restaurant managers in the Great Frozen North. ********* If you read the other reviews ... Ignore the ones that complain about slow service. Service is massively slow everywhere on the UBC campus. There are more eaters than their are restaurant chairs. Kinton is actually better staffed and faster-serving than most of the competition on campus. (Actually Kinton is slow outside of UBC too. It is a feature of the chain.) That would be a problem where there is competition. But if Kinton is a tortoise ... It beats the snails that are the other UBC restaurants in the race to get food on your plate. The tortoise wins by two laps. read more

That may or may not have been the best Ramen I have ever had! The whole place was a blast- the energy was amazing! The spicy chicken was the star of the show, perfect tenderness and flavour. The staff were also the most generous ones I've ever seen, giving us a free dumpling card for next time we come. This place might be better than half of Ramen in Japan. please come, I highly-highly recommend this! read more

Food is decent and would go if there's a good deal/set menu combo going on. But the service is sooo slow which explains the long line/waitlist. read more

Came here after swimming with my friend. Hit just the right spot and the servers are super kind. They forgot my egg and seaweed which was too bad but they added for me after so it's fine anyways. I don't think I care too much about the pork slices so maybe I'll go for the 14.99 combo next time - looks like a good deal! The gyoza was deep fried with a creamy sweet sauce. We sat in the corner and noise level was just right for a catch up. Would come back again! read more

KINTON RAMEN UBC - Pork original with thick noodles - Ramen Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Little raman restaurant in the heart of UBC with indoor and outdoor seating. They are open 7 days a week and can also do take out. I was expecting cafeteria like food, but was pleasantly surprised. You first choose the type of flavour and meat you want (pork, chicken, veggy), then the type of noodle and any additional sides on top. Raman ranges from $15-$20. This was such a comforting food to have on a cold and grey day. I had the karaage chicken with miso soup while my friend had the veggy original. Both were super yummy! read more

See all

The ramen is decent but I've been here twice and the service is SO slow. This is definitely not an ideal place for a quick meal if you have any plans after. Both times I felt super rushed and couldn't enjoy my meal because I spent so long waiting for the servers to come around and was almost late to my class after. This is especially bad during meal hours because there's also a long wait for a table. Besides the slowness, everything else is fine. The staff are nice and the food tastes good so no complaints there. read more

KINTON RAMEN UBC - Ramen Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

See all

Thought it was just ok. Not bad but not life changing either. Combos are a little confusing and my order just ended up becoming one anyway? Not complaining about that though, since we got a soft drink unexpectedly. It was just a little flat as Pepsi goes. The gyoza was fine. I'm not sure if the waiters were really busy but all the staff seemed to be rushing, and we seemed to be forgotten. We didn't get water which I thought was interesting, and we didn't feel like we could just grab it ourselves even though we sat next to the cups of water. I did like the coat rack for customers though since there is no place to put clothes, as well as using Yelp lineup to queue people. read more

KINTON RAMEN UBC - Chicken Shoyu - Ramen Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

What a great dine out menu! Delicious and fairly priced. We came here to celebrate after a day of exams and were happy to see that they had dine out. Your options are either the Komi or tarutaru chicken for appetizers, 4 types of ramen soup base with pork/chicken/veggies and matcha/black sesame cheesecake for dessert. All for only $16.99. The sweet Komi sauce was balanced by the sour picked red ginger while the Taru Taru was more savoury with the thick garlic sauce and a hint of chili seasoning. The original pork ramen is solid. The broth is rich and the pork is melt-in-your-mouth tender. The cheesecake was light with a great matcha flavour and a thin crust. It's nice there are so many new restaurants at UBC to try that have affordable prices for students. We'll definitely be back to try some other items on the menu. read more

See all

Expensive: $20 per person and the ramen has only the taste of lye and the soup taste like hot water with oil. Whoever says it's good have never tried real ramen or have faulty taste buds. read more

Went for a sunny weekend physical distancing walk with a friend on the Fraser River trail. After several hours of walking I was hungry and needed a late lunch. As Dine Out Vancouver is still on, I decided to take a short drive to the UBC campus to Kinton to try out their 3 course Dine out meal for $16.99. Though it was a Saturday, in the middle of the day, the restaurant was fairly busy. The server asked if I wanted water or tea and I asked for tea. A cute mug with a huge tea bag was served and I knew the tea wasn't complimentary. It was a bit strange why tea was offered with water but the additional cost was not mentioned. Still, the meal was only $16.99 so no big deal. I selected the tarutaru chicken karaage for the appetizer, the pork miso ramen with thick noodles, and matcha cheesecake for dessert. The tarutaru chicken was described as "karaage fried chicken in a garlic taru taru sauce topped with arugula and spicy chili seasoning". What showed up was fried karaage chicken in a watery mayo sauce with arugula and egg salad. The chicken was delicious but the egg salad and watery mayo dressing was unexpected and was not what was described on the menu. The pork miso ramen had a delicious broth with two small slices of pork. It was a good bowl of ramen but I did not find the noodles thick. While good, the ramen bowl alone wouldn't have filled me up as the only topping included was green onion and corn. Am wondering if they provided a smaller version of the ramen, due to the low price point of the Dine Out Vancouver 3 course menu. The matcha cheesecake was nice and creamy but no flavour of matcha could be detected. Still, a nice dessert that wasn't sweet or large in size. For $16.99 this is probably the best Dine Out Vancouver deal but the portion sizes, the extra tea charge, and the difference in the chicken karaage description to reality made it hard to give Kinton a 4 star review. Still worth a visit for $16.99, would recommend the Dine Out meal deal but am unsure about visiting again to try the regular menu. read more

See all

It accepts flex dollar!!! It's just perfect for cold weather. You can choose four different types of soup base - miso, shoyu, original, spicy garlic What did I get? Pork spicy garlic Veg spicy garlic ramen I really like the soup. Nice and spicy with a strong garlic flavour. I'm surprised that the vegetarian option has more toppings! The pork is decent. Highly recommended to get it. read more

See all

Decided to come out to UBC to try Kinton Ramen as we wanted to try their summer special - chilled tsukemen. The noodles were not too hard and not too soft and the dipping broth taste was right on point. However, I was a bit disappointed by the chashu as I found it a bit overcooked and chewy and the egg was only okay. Overall a good place for ramen on campus but I wouldn't make a special trip out for it. Adequate outdoor seating and on a Saturday afternoon, we were able to get seated right away. read more

See all

Came to this place during Dine-out Vancouver. So glad I did because the deal was amazing. They do get quite busy during lunch hour! The chicken karaage was yummy but not amazing. Definitely one of the better ones I had on-campus. I got the Spicy Garlic with Pork Ramen. You can choose your noodles to be thick or thin. I choose thin. It was cooked well, not over cooked. The portion was decent size and the broth was flavourful and creamy. There is definitely a kick to the spicy but not overwhelming. The dessert was good but not standoutish. I would definitely have to say it is one of the better restaurants at UBC and I have been working there for 7 years... The reason it is 4 star is because it is not the best ramen I had but if you have tried UBC campus food options than Kinton for sure stands out! read more

See all

I came her starving after a tennis game and was so so excited to dig into the ramen. So first of all, the wait was longggg - around 30 mins after we ordered? I feel like most other ramen restaurants around Vancouver are super quick with wait times of 10-15 mins. Secondly, when the order came, I received the wrong ramen, so I kindly told them the issue. When the ramen came it was SUPER spicy (maybe my fault because I thought it would be a more moderate spice haha) but the ramen was decent! Not the best I've had around Vancouver but not terrible either. However, this is where the third point comes in, my stomach didn't feel that good after eating the ramen and my friend that I went with was experiencing a stomach ache a couple hours after as well. Given the overall experience, I would have to say that I will sadly not be returning here. read more

KINTON RAMEN UBC - Karaage Pork Spicy Garlic - Ramen Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

I thought this was a great Ramen spot and who would have thought one would find such a gem in the heart of the UBC campus . They have a wonderful patio which is a blessing in covid times . Their $16.99 ramen combo is a great deal comes with Chicken appetizer dish and cheesecake dessert (choice of Macha or mango cheesecake) service was so welcoming and excellent . If driving one will need to find parking though to eat here . Food quality I found excellent . Highly recommended . read more

See all

Went there for lunch because... what's better than ramen in the midst of a rainy day? And it was an excellent surprise. First, service is great. Didn't wait more than 10 minutes for our order, the waitresswas super helpful and patient bc I was undecisive. Takoyakis were dashing and ramens were delicious. I got the pork shoyu (rich, delicious broth) and my partner got the miso one. Special kuddos for the eggs, cooked perfectly. And the other great surprise was the price. Around 12CAD. When you're used to 15USD meh ramen... it makes a huge difference. So thanks for this great lunch, I'll come back :) read more

KINTON RAMEN UBC - Shoyu pork ramen with an egg - Ramen Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Got the vegetarian shoyu ramen and gyozas delivered. Unfortunately it was probably the worst ramen I've ever had in my life. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I've had instant noodles better. The gyozas are frozen, I had the same brand from HMART, and the sauce was horrible. It was this spicy/sweet "mayo" (?) but as the gyozas were leek flavored, it just tasted super strange. Not in a good way. Wanted to give this place a chance but never again. read more

Fabulous service! Food is Devine! I will back for another Friday date night! Love the hot Karage and gyoza, tGIF! read more

See all

Have been craving for ramen since the beginning of the dine in restrictions, and finally I got to have it Went all the way to Kinton Ramen at UBC as I'm pretty picky about ramen, and they have been my favourite ramen restaurant lately Went there on a Saturday at 12pm, and there's no line up at all (the last two times that I went, I've waited for more than half an hour)! Ordered their Tonkatsu Red Ramen, Pork Shoyu Ramen and Hot Chicken Karaage, everything was so yummy, and now they even let you choose between thin or thick noodles Can't wait to revisit again and try their chilled tsukemen! read more

KINTON RAMEN UBC - Ramen Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Great location on UBC campus near bus pick-up area. Quick and friendly service. Food was blissfully hot and delicious. Pork Belly was relatively lean. Did the combo which is the best deal on the menu. Ample indoor and outdoor seating options. read more

I was really excited to try this ramen place which just opened at UBC, and I'm happy to say I think it'll be a welcome addition on campus. I got it delivered so I'm not sure about service, but I enjoyed my food! I got the Vegetarian Shoyu Ramen with shirataki noodles, and seaweed and seasoned egg added on. They packaged the broth and the toppings separately so nothing got soggy on the way, and the broth was kept in a container inside a plastic bag so no chance of spills. Wasn't thrilled about paying extra for toppings ($1 for seaweed and $2 for an egg), but they at least gave a lot of seaweed. The flavour of the egg was right on, but I like ramen eggs to be runny in the middle - this was soft but not runny. A third slice of tofu also would have been nice. Otherwise everything was good. The amount they give you is a good size for a really filling meal, but I wasn't super hungry so I was able to have leftovers. The broth was very flavourful! I also tried their Kurogoma Cheesecake. The black sesame flavour was strong and it had that characteristic grainy texture of black sesame. The flavour was almost more savoury than sweet which I really liked. I would definitely come back - I'm looking forward to when it's possible to eat in. read more

KINTON RAMEN UBC - Vegetarian Shoyu Ramen - Ramen Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

See all

I would say this is more of a 3.5 kinda place. The staff is friendly and helpful. I ordered the the pork miso ramen online and picked it up. This is the method if you want ramen to go. They also have outdoor seating if you choose to eat there. The broth tasted good and the noodles needed some time and effort to separate. I chose the thin noodles, but they also offer thick noodles.. It was $10.89 for a large bowl of ramen - very reasonable. It gets pricier if you order add-ons, such as egg or extra pork to your bowl. Compared to all the ramen places around the city, this place is average. It's good if you're in the area and in the mood for standard ramen at a good price read more

KINTON RAMEN UBC - Pork miso ramen - Ramen Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

UBC's first ramen restaurant! A nice spot to enjoy a nice hot bowl of ramen to warm up after trekking across campus to class or commuting to school. The ramen is decent and pretty standard. Nothing about it sticks out to me or differentiates it from other ramen places nearby. The broth is flavorful, but a tad on the salty side. The portion sizes were average, and there definitely wasn't enough toppings to complement the amount of noodles they give. The sides like their gyoza are good, but once again, nothing sticks out about it. Definitely on the pricer side for the quality and amount that you get. They also offer a stamp card challenge where you get a stamp each time you finish the entire bowl, including the soup. The end reward is ramen for a year, but they're a little stingy on what finishing a bowl looks like. My friends have previously licked the bowl cleaned and were rejected of their stamp, which is a little disappointing. The staff was friendly and efficient until you're seated, then the service gets really slow and a little pushy. I was rushed to order the moment I sat down and then waited around 30 minutes for my bowl of ramen to come out. This place gets really busy in between classes and during lunch and dinner. I've heard of wait times being as long as an hour, so I suggest pre-ordering for take out, or sending someone to grab a table ahead of time. read more

Recently opened in UBC, Kinton Ramen is a welcome addition to the food scene! They have both indoor and outdoor seating, but indoor seating will be unavailable while things haven't returned to normal because of the pandemic. I ordered the Pork Original with thick noodles on take-out and the wait was reasonable, the food neatly packed! For $11.95, the ramen was okay (6/10). I enjoyed the broth, but the noodles weren't spectacular and the egg was overcooked. That being said, they were also very busy today and were only on soft opening - I'm positive they will only improve going forward. Will be back to try more of their menu! read more

Came for the 50% off discount and waited 3.5 hours to get a seat. Even though we waited for a long time we thought the quality was really good. I ordered the karaage pork spicy garlic with thick noodles and the noodles were cooked perfectly and had a really nice bite to them. The soup actually had a kick to it which was a nice surprise considering other ramen places aren't as spicy. The karaage was fried to order, super juicy and flavourful and the karaage ramen came with 4 decently big pieces. We also ordered the takoyaki which was cooked perfectly. It was quite crispy on the outside and had big pieces of octopus inside. Service was quick and efficient and we ordered right when we sat down. I saw that they wiped down the entire table and the seats before seating the next guests which was a bonus. There were some screens and dividers between tables and there seemed to be enough space between tables. I liked that they had patio seating as well! Would definitely come again even without the 50% off. I thought the ramen was super good and worth the price for what you get. read more

KINTON RAMEN UBC - Karaage pork spicy garlic - Ramen Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Worst pork broth ever. No flavor When you order a shio ramen and there is no flavor, it's a testament that they don't know how to make a proper rich flavor broth. They shouldn't have to use tare, spice or miso to make the broth tasty. Obviously they don't know what they are doing. They should be ashamed of themselves for serving such food. A poor example of Japanese ramen. Will never go back and will tell all those living/working in North Van not to waste their money. read more

Am I the only one who thinks campus food tastes different compared to food elsewhere or is my mind playing association games? Anyway, this place I enjoy quite a lot. Probably the best thing you can get at ubc for its price and taste. I ordered online and got extra egg+ noodle and total came to be $13-14 thanks to discount ;) i ate pork original ramen The broth was pretty mellow and creamy. The noodles got hard and didn't taste thay good. I got takeout but wish the broth was hotter. I want the broth to burn through the container! The toppings were very inoffensive...I like the pork it is nice and salty. The wait was quite long and seems like it is inconsistent. But it is soft open mode so they get a pass. read more

We went here for lunch on the jump start move in day for UBC residence and each ordered the three course special (gyoza, ramen, and dessert). The food was delicious, especially the dessert but the service was extremely slow and we spent much of our meal trying to get our server's attention. It may have been because of the move in day but we were at the restaurant for almost 2 hours by the time we had gotten all three parts of our meal. We had to go up and pay at the end. read more

Very delicious ramen and friendly service.We like the soup pork and noodles. The staff there are friendly and helpful. The atmosphere is also very good.Recommend and we would like to come more often. read more

I've experienced Kinton in Toronto and In Vancouver. Ordered the immune booster special today to try out. Kinton's seasoned eggs are always delicious. The broth flavour was good however it is lacking at this location. For some reason it's thicker than my Toronto experience and a bit on the grainy side. Each time we visit it has improved so this may be a kitchen learning curve. Service is on point, very friendly staff. read more

this is the best cheap ramen to buy in UBC. You can buy the ramen for 12 dollars. It has excellent noodles, amazing dumplings, lots of flavors and is reasonably priced if you love ramen come here at all costs, friendly customer service, cheap ramen. What else can you get better than this? read more

broth is way too salty and garlicy during lunch/dinner time, the staff will be very busy and you have to wait in a line read more

KINTON RAMEN UBC - Ramen Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

great place for ramen on ubc campus! sat on the patio during the summer and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! really liked the fact that they have veggie options, as many ramen places only offer meat-based broths read more

KINTON RAMEN UBC - Ramen Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Amazing ramen definitely recommend the garlic broth, I'm a garlic lover and this amazing bowl will cure you. A bit on the higher end for the cost but the combo with beer is worth it and it will fill you up for sure. The service is amazing. read more

Give two star just for the ramen. Used to love this place when it just opened, been coming to the store almost every week back then, however the recent few experience was just bad. The server didn't greet anyone when they wait outside in-line. There were lots of table available but no one helped you seat until 20 min later. Super efficient for a ramen store. Ordered food with beer. Server checked the ID but the beer was never ordered. The Kakiage I ordered was raw inside. If you don't live around UBC area. There is no reason for you to just come all the way for this kind of service. Can't say it's the best ramen in town. But definitely the worst service for sure. read more

One of my favourite ramen places. I've been many times and I am never disappointed with the food. Unfortunately the service is always slow. I feel like I have to be annoying trying to wave people over to bring me my bill. I have learned to slowly drink my water because I've never received a refill. Not a spot to go if you need to go somewhere quickly in and out. The spicy karage ramen is an 11/10.. read more

I am eating here right now and the service is excellent and the food is spectacular! I am so happy to have tried this place! They have indoor and outdoor seating. read more

KINTON RAMEN UBC - Ramen spicy pork - Ramen Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Honest and nice working people. I went one time with my girlfriend and we waited for a while but I appreciated the customer-service interaction as the waiters kept updating us. They didn't have to, but the manager also threw in a free side with an extra piece. Whoever that manager is, thank you so much. This place is perfect for group hangouts or to grab a quick bite. Highly recommend read more

Not thing in this restaurant is fresh. Just an expensive instant noodle experience. You can get a quality bowl of ramen at food court for 11 dollars and it would come out faster than here. Broth have no flavour, noodle is undercook, rude service. What a waste of money. read more

I usually don't write comments but I had to for this place so that people know and don't make the same mistake as I did. I ordered miso pork ramen. The soup base was really salty and thick. Meats were really hard, dry and difficult to chew (overcooked). "Thin" noodles were not thin at all and really hard (not cooked well). The service was really slow and the waiters were rude (talking acrimoniously). The tables were too close (less than 2 meters) which is not COVID safe. Also it was really expensive considering the quality of the products. Definitely would not recommend it. I feel sad that I had to spent my hard-earned money to this place. Bad place to end our lovely evening. read more