Kintaro is one of the older ramen establishments in Vancouver; tiny with very limited seating and there is usually a line outside during peak hours. Rainy days, like this past weekend, are perfect for ramen. Restaurants that specialize in ramen usually have very limited menus, so it’s easy to choose what you want. There usually isn’t much variation in the toppings you get, but there are slight differences in the broth. The cheese ramen (with lean pork, above) includes bean sprout, menma, corn, green onion, BBQ pork, and two kinds of cheese. They don’t specify the kinds of cheese, but they are similar to mozerella. The cheese melts into the hot broth and gets intertwined with the ramen noodles. It is similar to a french onion soup, but there’s noodles. At the end, the cheese got a little clumpy and it was a little too much.
At Kintaro, you need to specify the richness of your soup and the kind of BBQ pork you would like (fatty or lean). Above, is the Shio Ramen with medium soup and fatty pork. The pork is VERY fatty, but it is also extremely flavourful. The ramen is average, but the broth is perfect and the you can definitely feel the roots of the establishment with their paper signs posted on the wall and comfy seating arrangement. Check out the video of Kintaro chefs in action:
Every year, Vancouver hosts a pre-season NBA basketball game featuring the Toronto Raptors and the Phoenix Suns. This year it was held on October 6, 2010 in the Rogers Arena. Tickets go on sale during the summer through Ticket Master, before the beginning of the basketball season, and they usually sell out right away because NBA basketball only comes to Vancouver once a year. The majority of the crowd cheers for the Phoenix Suns, because Steve Nash has a large influence on the fans in Vancouver. It is just a little bit ironic how most Vancouverites choose the American team over their one and only Canadian basketball team, the Toronto Raptors. However, due to the large amount of hockey followers in Vancouver, sometimes the crowd is confused with who they are cheering for – some people cheer for BOTH teams when there are good plays. All and all, it is a great experience that you can only catch once a year, so try getting tickets for next year.
It’s confirmed that this year’s Celebration of Light will be taking place during the month of July! The shows will be on the following dates, starting at about 10:00 pm:
I absolutely LOVE Soju. Soju is a Korean vodka that goes very well with meals. Some people drink it straight from the bottle in shot glasses. The Soju drink above is mixed with a yogurt drink, which you find in small little bottles in Asian supermarkets. This drink goes very well with spicy foods.
My favourite aspect about eating at Korean restaurants, are the side dishes that come with your meal. They’re always full of flavour and they usually give you a great variety. I noticed that we didn’t get the same dishes as some of the Korean customers, because we got an odd salad for a side dish which is not a regular. From the bottom left side going clockwise: sweet potato, marinated bean sprout, seaweed salad, kimchi (spicy cabbage), and the salad.
It was quite late in the evening, so we didn’t want to order too much. We got a bbq combo, where you choose one meat dish and you get to choose one of the 3 soups (kimchi, bean, or tofu) for $12.95. We got the doeji bulgoki (spicy pork marinated in Korean style spicy sauce) and the tofu soup, which also comes with one bowl of rice. This was enough for two people and an extra bowl of rice was $1.95. The pork dish was a little greasy, but it was still very good. It was sauteed with mushrooms and carrots, in a sweet and spicy sauce. The tofu soup was delicious – it unexpectedly had some seafood in it. We found small oysters and shrimp, which made the soup very flavourful.
Every year, Vancouver hosts a pre-season NBA basketball game featuring the Toronto Raptors and the Phoenix Suns. This year it was held on October 6, 2010 in the Rogers Arena. Tickets go on sale during the summer through Ticket Master, before the beginning of the basketball season, and they usually sell out right away because NBA basketball only comes to Vancouver once a year. The majority of the crowd cheers for the Phoenix Suns, because Steve Nash has a large influence on the fans in Vancouver. It is just a little bit ironic how most Vancouverites choose the American team over their one and only Canadian basketball team, the Toronto Raptors. However, due to the large amount of hockey followers in Vancouver, sometimes the crowd is confused with who they are cheering for – some people cheer for BOTH teams when there are good plays. All and all, it is a great experience that you can only catch once a year, so try getting tickets for next year.
