Benkei Ramen on Broadway

YAY for another ramen post!!

After volunteering in North Van, I wanted a quick ramen fix before my night class at UBC. The only ramen restaurant I could think that was on the way to UBC was Benkei on Broadway. It is easily accessible from Broadway City Hall station of the Canada Line.

I was quickly greeted by the waitress and was seated immediately. The restaurant was pretty empty (around 2 more tables were seated). I was seated at the bench table; I believe the bench table is for single or two diners.

Interior of Benkei Ramen (1)

Interior of Benkei Ramen - bench table (2)

Shoyu Ramen with extra noodles

I ordered extra noodles this time because last time I went here, the portions were quite small compared to Kintaro. I was quite disappointed when I received my ramen. Basically as you can see from the picture, you can barely see any ramen. It felt like they took half of what was originally in the bowl and put it on a separate plate and counted that as the "extra noodles". The soup base was pretty much flavour-less. And I thought it was kind of odd to put spinach in the noodles. Lastly, the pork was too dry for my liking. Note to self: never order shoyu ramen at Benkei again!

Rating: ♥ ♥ 

Location: 545 West Broadway   Vancouver, B.C.
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Miso Ramen

After I finished volunteering in North Van a couple weeks later, I decided to give Benkei another try (mainly due to my ramen craving...I wish there are Kintaros everywhere!!).

This time I ordered miso ramen with no extra noodles (bad experience last time). Surprisingly, there were more noodles than the shoyu ramen and extra noodles combined! The miso soup was definitely a lot richer than shoyu. The pork was still very dry and not tender. But boy did I like the soup! I ended up drinking almost all of it (bad choice for such a hot day :'( ).

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥

I gave it one more heart than last time because of the soup! The soup makes a big difference :)

Location: 545 West Broadway   Vancouver, B.C.

Nuba on Broadway

I went here with two of my good friends, Kerry and Ruby, before our night class at UBC. It was recommended by Kerry’s friend who likes to hunt for good authentic cuisines.  At first, Ruby and I were hesitant about Lebanese food as we had no idea what to expect. But, we decided to give it a try anyway!

Outside Nuba

Inside Nuba (1)

Inside Nuba (2)

Decorations of Nuba was very unique. Environment was very quiet. There were only two other tables that were seated when we were there.

Pita Bread

Najib's Special
Crispy cauliflower tossed with lemon and sea salt, served with tahini

Their menu is separated into 3 categories, mezze, plate and pita. The waitress suggested us to get plate since we are sharing. Plate includes hummus, salad, pickled cabbage, olives, pita bread and organic brown rice/roasted potatoes. The cauliflowers were probably the most unique dish of all three we tried. The lemon and salt complemented each other very well. But some will probably not like it because it is quite tart.

Chicken Tawook
Grilled mount lehman chicken breast marinated in paprika, thyme, lemon and garlic confit

The chicken was pretty standard. Nothing too special. It was not as tender as I liked it to be.

Beef Brochette
Local grass fed beef skewer grilled to perfection

The beef was my second favourite dish! The beef was really "grilled to perfection"; it was tender and juicy. It went well with the tahini sauce.

Rating: 4/5
The service was great; the waitress kept checking up on us. I guess the chicken threw me off a little. If it was more juicy, it would be great! If you are up for something new, definitely check out Nuba!

Location: 3116 West Broadway  Vancouver, BC  V6K 2H3
http://www.nuba.ca/