Danbo

     One of my cousins was back in town so we decided to go on a ramen trip to the new Jinya downtown! Unfortunately, right before we got there they were "closed for maintenance" although people were still inside eating..😐. The new Marutama nearby was still not open yet either so instead, we went to try Danbo! We've all heard good reviews from our friends about this place and needless to say, it didn't disappoint.

     

     What an epic ramen lineup! I ordered the classic ramen topped with a soft-boiled egg while my other cousins tried out the miso and shio flavours. One thing that separates this ramen place from the rest is its customizability. You can choose the thickness and firmness of the noodles, the thickness of the broth, the amount of lard, and the amount of spice. I got thick noodles here, with standard everything else except no spice. 

     

     My cousins and I loved this place so much, we went back again the same week 😂. Here I decided to stick to the same classic ramen but try out the thin noodles, standard firmness, strong broth, no lard (in an attempt to be healthy lol), and no spice. The thick noodles weren't the typical ones that I expected, like at Gojiro and I know the famous Ichiran in Japan uses super thin noodles so I wanted to see which one I would like better. I think I still prefer the thick ones at Gojiro but at Danbo I'll stick to the thin noodles. Although I got strong broth, I feel like the lack of lard took away from the flavour so maybe in the future I'll get a little or standard amount.

     You guys... this might have just beat Marutama in my books. The egg yolk had the same gel-like texture, the Fukuoka-style tonkotsu pork broth tasted amazing, and the fatty chashu fell apart with its softness. Marutama's tomago (egg) comes as a whole though, which is quite fun to bite into and its chashu totally melted in my mouth but they only offer chicken broth.. not my favourite compared to pork since it's less rich. This is just my taste preference though. I still think Jinya is my #1 but I'm not completely sure as I haven't had it in a while, so right now Danbo is a close second. I do like how Jinya has green tea mochi for dessert, whereas this place only offers ramen and side dishes. 

     Danbo has one location on Robson and one in Kitsilano! You can find the addresses and their website here. They also have a lunch special that includes gyozas. We went on a Tuesday evening and still had to line up for a while. Even on a Sunday late at night it was full! When we got there we were lucky enough to sit down right away but if you do plan on coming here, be prepared to wait a bit!

Just started summer school so I might not be able to post as much anymore. 

I've been receiving lots of packages though so be on the lookout for more haul posts!

x

Melissa