We finally made it in here after trying for a year. I think it's a combination of COVID and the fact that it was a sunny warm day. We lucked out and there was no line! We were not disappointed. Lots of customizations can be made for each other. I'm glad I got the thick noodle in the negi-goma ramen. The broth for this is thicker and richer. Gyozas were a nice addition. It's nice they have a non-pork broth base as well with tofu instead of pork for the Veggies out there. I can't wait to go back... when there isn't a line.
Ramen Danbo is an authentic ramen shop with locations in both Kitsilano and downtown. The Kitsilano location was their first location outside of Japan!
The waiting time could be annoying at times, but it will be worth it once you get a taste of what they have.
There’s no disagreement, Vancouver has some seriously good ramen joints around town (most of which are located in the downtown core). Ramen Danbo is one such ramen joint (they have 1 location downtown and 1 in Kits) and they are frequently busy. Like many of the popular ramen spots, everything is fairly minimalistic inside with the focus on efficiently getting people in and out the door as quickly as possible. Eating ramen really isn’t the kind of thing where you linger too long since your noodles would wind up getting cold. Ramen Danbo has a small menu which focuses on traditional Fukuoka-style Kyushu Hakata tonkotsu ramen. Fukuoka is a northern prefecture located on Japan’s Kyushu Island (the most southerly of Japan’s 4 major islands) and where tonkotsu ramen (known as Hakata ramen) originated from.
If you are looking for a satisfying bowl of ramen, look no further. This is superb. Noodles are good, broth is delicious. Can feel the sticky gelatin smucking on your lips after finishing the soup.
Queue for a while : we are about 12-15 in queue and took about 30min, definitely worth the wait.
Prepare to wait in line for dinner! But it was worth it in my opinion.. tasty soup and noodles had nice texture. Gyozas were average. Good service.
One of the more authentic and decent ramen joints in Vancouver. I love all the toppings, noodle firmness, and chashu. Too bad the gyozas are frozen store-bought ones! A good ramen joint should have just as good handmade gyozas.
I've been trying to find a place that has a thicker noodle and my friend Shauna suggested that I give Ramen Danbo a go. I've driven by this place a number of times and there's always a line up. My go to is... whenever there is a line up, it must be good. . I ordered the Miso Chasu-men, which has 6 pieces of chasu pork, lots of onions, and miso soup. I chose normal everything and a little bit of spicy just to clear up my nasal passages. I had Hokkaido Ramen Santouka a couple nights before and I can say I prefer the ramen at Danbo in comparison. The noodles are a lot better thick compared to the ones at Santouka. The pork on the other hand was sliced really thin compared to Santouka. I ordered an extra soft boil egg and it was done to perfection.
Came here for a late lunch. There was still a few folks waiting outside the restaurant. We waited about 30 mins before we were seated. The eating area inside is quite small, hence the wait. The staff was friendly and prompt. I tried the classic ramen. You have choices of the type of noodles, firmness of the noodles, amount of lard and they level of spiciness. Overall, the ramen was quite flavorful, and the soup was tasty.
Ben and I attended the first night of the Honda Celebration of Light on a Saturday. We drove to downtown early to secure a parking spot before some road closures. We had dinner at Ramen Danbo in Kitsilano before the event. The restaurant is small and seating is tight. Ben decided to go for the summer special chilled ramen.
Second time vacationing in Van, had to come back to Danbo. Everything here is incredible. Love the garlic puree at the table. The pork belly melts in your mouth and the eggs are the perfect texture. Was pretty busy at lunch but the wait was only about 20min. Extra half order of noodles for only $1 once you finish is perfect.
Staff are efficient and lovely. The chairs double as storage bins for your coats.
We waited for 70 minutes and even though it was quite a while we definitely enjoyed our meal. The service was very quick and the servers are very knowledgeable with the menu. I love that they have vegan options and also offer customizations. Definitely coming back for more soon.
While the restaurant is small, the service is quick—you will not be waiting long.
I also love that they have an entirely vegan-dedicated menu.
The food is fresh, hot, and the portions are perfectly-sized for the price; I left feeling full!
Most importantly, servers are friendly and helpful.
There was a long wait , almost 30 minutes . The place is tiny , still 5 star rating for their food and service.
We hardly get good vegan options with ramen but the vegan options here are great. We tried the Classic ramen and the Miso ramen. I personally prefer the Miso ramen , which is more like mild curry . We tried the mushrooms which gives a really good texture to the ramen. The tofu is fried , again adding great texture and taste .
Service was really quick and excellent, the girls were really patient and explained about the ingredients and taste .They are doing their best to manage the crowd and provide great service.
Only suggestion : There is a long wait and they do have option to join line from Yelp online , I would highly recommend this to avoid the long wait
Stopped here on a Wednesday at 1pm and there was a 15 minute wait. They have a great lunch special here! Sitting in a booth took me right back to Japan. The ramen and gyoza were absolutely delicious and the perfect portion size (I usually can’t finish all the noodles). I’m so glad there’s a location in Seattle too because I’ll definitely be back!
I was pleasantly surprised by how good their vegan ramen was. I would say it’s probably the best I’ve ever had. The broth was rich, thick, complex, and full of flavor. Compared to the ramen I had in Japan this is very comparable.
We’ve been trying to eat at Ramen Danbo for two weeks now! There were so many people that were waiting in a long line to eat there!
We finally got a place to eat and thoroughly enjoyed every bite! We ordered the gyoza and vegan rekka ramen! The food was hot, delicious and so tasty!
We will definitely be visiting again!
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Danbo Ramen rounds out the top tier list of most favoured ramen restaurants in Vancouver. I will admit it took me two trips - one to the location at Kits and the other on Denman before I could really put my finger on my feelings.
Danbo’s specialty and focus is their Fukuoka-style tonkotsu ramen. With four different options - original, shio, miso, and negi-goma (sesame + green onion overdrive), along with extra spicy or chasu options, and a parallel copy menu for vegetarian/vegan friends, it was a little daunting to choose. Their additional option to add items like chasu or atsuage (tofu) made it even harder to choose. In the end, I opted for the original on the first run and the negi-goma on the second. I also got extra noodles halfway through my meal to taste the difference between their thin and thick noodles.
Overall, I was impressed. Their broth was a rich soup that was flavourful yet balanced. The noodles were distinctly Japanese-sourced (and might I recommend getting the soft noodles as the standard firmness was harder than I was used to). The chasu was excellent quality. And for the price I paid to eat, I believe this was the cheapest of the three big ramen establishments I had tried.
Overall, this was a wonderful experience that perfectly hit the balance on all strides. I would highly recommend checking out Danbo if this is your first time in Vancouver (if you don’t have Danbo in your area) as this will likely give you a good indication on what you value the most about ramen and noodles in general. Also koodos to the Kits location for having the Yelp waitlist functionality so we didn’t have to wait in-line for 40 minutes.
Presentation: 2/2
Taste: 4/5
Texture: 1/2
Quantity/Quality: 3/3
Cleanliness: 2/2
Atmosphere: 3/3
Staff: 3/3
18/20 = 5/5
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