Kintaro is one of those restaurants hole in the wall restaurants that does one thing only, but does it best! Handmade ramen that is, in a pork bone broth with different options of toppings, richness and type of broth, and option of fat or lean pork.
Staying true to its roots, Kintaro does not accomodate vegetarians (all soups are pork bone based!). I can kind of appreciate that from a cooking and a consumer point of view - why mess with a good thing? Have the food as it is meant to be consumed!
Kintaro has been on Denman *forever*. I remember rollerblading the sea wall with my older brother when I was a young teenager (13-14?) and sitting down to a satisfying bowl of piping hot ramen afterwards. The place always had an energetic vibe to it, and the line ups always went out the door.
Now, more than fifteen years later (am I dating myself here? haha!), not much has changed. My order hasn't changed either. Miso medium ramen with lean pork. I always make the "mistake" of ordering lean pork because I fear that the fatty pork is just too fat! Ah well. It's all good. The richness of the broth accomodates for the leanness of the pork.
The noodles come in large ceramic bowls and a ladle for slurping soup, toppings and pork. Somethings are definately nice to come back to. It's like taking a step back in time!
Had a GREAT time at En Vogue last night. My super-special cousin dearest gifted me with a ticket for my birthday and we went together last night - not bad, as it accomplishes a whole gamut of my "29 things to do when I'm 29": 1) spent time with a family member, 2) went to a live concert / event.
Here's a great moment from the night:
...although one of the best moments of the night happened seconds after the video was shot - the fourth guy burst out in this beautiful sex-ah chorus. Loved it!
The absolute BEST moment of the night happened when En Vogue did Free Your Mind - the theatre went cray-zay!
This show was the first in Vancouver since they were reunited on the BET awards - I have to say, all the ladies look fabulous and they can saaaaaang. Terry, Maxine, Cindy and Dawn put on a great show and I *loved* it!
Ahem. Yes. We were originally going to make a night of it and have a great snack before, and a small meal afterwards - which we essentially did, but I didn't take any photos of the first meal! We dropped by Continental plaza in Richmond and chose to eat at "Ellie", a "Singaporean & Taiwanese" joint. As I was eating with a Singaporean, I asked her what she thought of the food. She said off the back that she was picky with her laksas, but once she tasted it, she actually thought it was ok. My cousin thought that the laksa would be served with a thicker, starchier noodle, but it was served with a vermicelli that I detected to be slightly undercooked. We also had the chicken wings (sweet and sour Thai sauce) and chicken skewers (yes, chicken chicken chicken!) and found them to be average to below average. The saving grace was that the bill only came to twenty dollars for three plates / two people. Meh. It was just a snack.
After the show, we made our way to Denman street downtown in hopes to have some dessert at True Confections. However, when we drove by, it appeared to be closed! We went to Kingyo Izakaya instead to get some grub. I've been to Kingyo before, and posted a review here.
Last night, it wasn't as busy as we went later at night and the place was almost closing. Subsequently, when we ordered a Chirashi cocktail (not a drink but a mix of sushi), we were informed that they had just sold the last one.
We did enjoy two refreshing drinks, a lychee gray (soho & grapefruit) and an aloe drink, as well as a salmon carpaccio, tako wasabi, kimchi udon, and beef tendon miso stew.
Our favourite dish had to be the salmon carpaccio - fresh slices of thin wild sockeye salmon served with mayo, onions, garlic chips and daikon sprouts. I guess we were craving lean protein! The tako wasabi, as we discussed, was so hot that it kind of "punched you in the face" - in a "nice way". :) I wouldn't change the dish as it was a nice, refreshing appetizer, served with seaweed / nori sheets for wrapping.
The cocktails were refreshing and not cloying. My cousin noted that Kingyo used hollowed bamboo (?) stalks as straws, which I found a nice touch. It served as a "green" utensil as well as a garnish!
The beef tendon miso stew was a comforting reprieve from all the "nouveau" items on the menu. I liked the chunks of radish, carrot, and beef in here.
Originally, I had ordered the kimchi udon because I wanted something different - little did I know that I had ordered it before. Oh well. I do believe that it was better last time - last night it was slightly too starchy. The flavour was great though! I'd still come back to Kingyo - it is, again, the slightly more grown up Guu and the food is still crave-inducing!
The service and the hospitality, along with the warm food, was a great ending to our already-fantastic evening.
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