A few weeks ago in Toronto, I tried out Kinton Ramen on Baldwin Street in Toronto. Now most people probably would not eat a hot bowl of ramen in the middle of 30 degree C weather (with humidity), but I heard so many promising reports about their noodles & soups. My lunch companions were all for it-despite the hot weather!
Kinton Ramen, is owned by the same group that owns GUU (in Vancouver & in Toronto). We heard that the line-ups can be long, but the ramen is worth the wait. So, we headed down the street to eat some ramen on a hot and humid Friday afternoon hoping for a short wait time! Upon arrival, we were told that the estimated wait time was around 15 minutes - which wasn't bad in comparison to other diners' experiences. I was pleasantly surprised when the hostess called our name after only 10 minutes of waiting! Not bad at all for a Friday during the lunch rush (~12:15pm). We were ushered inside and were seated at what I think were the best seats in the house-right in front of the kitchen!
A mere window pane separated me from the simmering soup stocks! From our seats we were able to watch them prep the soup stocks, finish preparations on the pork, cooking of the ramen noodles and the final assembly! What a great seat!
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| Soup stock boiling away. |
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| Place setting. |
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| Adding to the soup stock! :) |
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| View of the kitchen/prep area. |
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Ramen noodles separated into piles
and ready for cooking. |
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| The view from my seat at the eating bar. |
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Diners eating at the bar. More seating at the back.
Entire restaurant seats about 40 people. |
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Decorations. It's named "Kinton" because it means
"pig". The only meat option available on your
ramen noodles is either lean or fatty pork, and pork shoulder or pork belly. |
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Ingredients prepped (corn, egg, pork, green onions) and ready
for their final presentation. |
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| You need a LONG stick to stir that stock! |
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| Noodle bowls being prepped. They are certainly experts at what they do. |
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Shoyu Ramen w/ soya sauce, kinton pork belly (fatty), beansprout,
green onion, nori and a seasoned egg ($9.50). |
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Miso Ramen with soybean paste, kinton pork belly (fatty), beansprout, corn
and garlic oil ($9.50). This is the one I ordered. |
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| Shoyu soup but with the lean pork. |
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| Inside of the seasoned egg. |
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| The entire bowl of ramen was delicious! |
Overall, our lunch meal at Kinton ramen was very enjoyable. The ramen noodles had the perfect amount of texture to them - al-dente: not too soft, but a small give to each noodle as you bite down. The fatty pork paired nicely with the miso soup that I had ordered as well. Flavourful but not too salty. Kinton Ramen also says that their soup base is made with simmering pork and chicken bones for over 20 hours! After 20 hours, bonito fish and veggies are added. That's why their soup stock has the taste of umami. I will certainly return for another bowl on my next trip home to Toronto.
Kinton Ramen Japanese Ramen Bar
51 Baldwin St.
Toronto, ON.
(647) 748-8900
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