Kanbe Ramen 163 Retail Park Mont Kiara – is it worth trying? We would say, can try once. So either you spare some time to queue patiently for an hour (*but of course you can skip this if you are early, or if you are lucky), or wait for the hype dies down.
We were there few weeks back, on a Sunday evening around 5PM. Queue was long as expected, all the way from Kanbe Ramen restaurant’s entrance till after the “bridge”. Waited for an hour to get in. Staffs are friendly, ushered us to the high table – which is nice, as we get to watch the Japanese chef preparing bowls after bowls of pipping hot ramen behind the counter while anticipatedly waiting for ours to arrive.
Kanbe Ramen menu is pretty straightforward, though they give a detailed explanation for their noodles, soup, meat, secret ingredient, condiments, and every flavour they have. There are two types of ramen available – Hakata Ramen and tsukemen (*dipping ramen). For soup ramen, Kanbe Ramen takes pride for their tonkotsu soup base, made with 100 % pork bone, cooked for 48 hours for a beautiful depth and richness in every sip.
Kanbe Tonkotsu Ramen RM31.20
Total 8 flavours to choose from. Go for Shiro soup if you want to taste the original flavour.
For varieties, find your favourite among Kuro – black pork bone soup that uses squid ink, mixed with charred garlic and flavoured vegetables;
Sakura – pork bone soup flavoured with aromatic prawn oil;
Aka – a more familiar option, highlighting spiciness, with spices nd flavoured vegetables based on doubanjiang;
Kohaku – matching pork bone broth with soup stock from dried bonito, dried mackerel, dried sardines;
Yuzu – pork bone soup enhanced with yuzu to give it a refreshing, citrusy touch;
Goma – tonkotsu soup matched with chilli oil made from sesame oil;
Seasonal – as it is named, limited time flavour based on best seasonal ingredients of each season, along with expertise from many years of experience of Kanbe
To order, you will be given a sheet of paper, where you get to customize your very own bowl of ramen. Just tick your preference for soup, noodle thickness, spiciness, noodle portion, garlic, flavored oil, add-on, etc.., then hand over to the staff. We suggest to tick normal for all section, so that you roughly know your preference, if you plan to return again. We initially wanted to have “thick” for our soup, as Summerkid loves his soup bold and rich. But our friend told us not to. Did as told and ended up we felt that “normal” is still quite heavy for us, we could barely finish even half due to the “jelak-ness“.
Kanbe Tonkotsu Tsukemen RM39.00
Tsukemen is a type of ramen where soup and noodles are served separately. It is eaten by dipping the noodles into soup, alongside with toppings. Tsukemen soup for Kanbe’s version appears “gooey”, like sauce cooked down to thick consistency. To be close, think mushroom soup. We do enjoy the firm and chewy noodles, but still trying to grow fond towards the soup. Meat portion is generous, inch-thick, just too much for us.
If you asked if Kanbe Ramen is good, it is quite personal. We do enjoy the noodles and ambience, but soup wise, not to our liking. It could have due to the reason that we chose the wrong soup thickness that didn’t suit our tastebud. We don’t mind returning to try the “light” option when there’s less crowd. Maybe we’ll like it. For price, it is on the high side.
Check out Ichikakuya Ramen – Yokohama Iekei Ramen at Shoplex Mont Kiara (*opposite 163 Retail Park) if you still have rooms for more ramen after trying Kanbe. Lol.
Kanbe Ramen
Address:
GF-08, 163 Retail Park,
8, Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara,
50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Opening hour: 11AM – 9PM (Mon-Sun)
