Ramen Danbo on Robson
Danbo is a Japanese franchise serving Fukuoka style tonkotsu ramen . The Robson location is their second restaurant outside of Japan! They recently rolled out a new ramen called Curry Tonkotsu Ramen so we decided to try it out at this location. The shop is larger than the Kitsilano location. They make the broth fresh on-site at each of their shops! The soup broth has a thick and hearty pork flavour with creamy texture like melted butter.
The nice thing with this franchise is that customers have the ability to customize a bowl of ramen to fit their taste buds. Customers have control over the noodle thickness, noodle firmness, thickness of broth, amount of lard and amount of spicy sauce. For your first time, we'd recommend going with standard for everything and classic thin noodles before going crazy with the customizing it to be your bowl.
WHAT WE TRIED:
Curry Tonkotsu Ramen | $10.95
Available for a limited time onlyNegi-goma Tonkotsu Ramen | $11.95
Fresh scallions and toasted sesameMiso Chashu-men | $13.95
A blend of two types of miso & extra chashuGyoza Full Order | $4.75
Same as above but with 6 pieces of chashuKaedama Full Order | $2
Soft-boiled Egg | $1.50
We came here mainly for the new menu item, Curry Tonkotsu Ramen. Like their regular broth it is thick, and strong in flavour. We feel like the curry adds even more strength to the soup base. If you love curry we definitely recommend checking it out as it's only available for a limited time. The gyozas were fine. Nothing to crazy to preach about. They are inexpensive and also come as an cheap addition to the lunch set combo. They're good filler items if you're hungry.
After trying the new menu item, our favourite dish is still the negi-goma ramen. The curry one is great but not something we want to eat daily.
Tips:
- Lunch Specials Mon-Fri (11 A.M.-5 P.M.)
Set A: Gyoza (3 pieces) + one ramen topping + $3
Set B: Gyoza (3 pieces) + White rice + $3.50
Set C: Gyoza (3 pieces) + Soft drink or tea + $4- Loyalty stamp card!
5 stamps = Free Pan-fried Yaki Gyoza
10 stamps = Free Classic Tonkotsu Ramen
The braised pork and soft-boiled egg is good. Sometimes it is perfect but most of the time it leaves room for improvement. The egg yolk is not consistent from bowl to bowl, and pork could be juicier! One thing that could really help is a precision temperature cooking. We know a rival ramen shop that uses sous vide and their chashu and soft boil eggs come out perfect every time. This is very nit picky but reproducing consistent results could up them to the next level!
OVERALL IMPRESSION OF DANBO on robson:
This franchise is our favourite pork ramen in Vancouver. The only thing is, we found the Robson location slower with getting our ramen after ordering comparing to the Kits location. The benefit is that this is a larger shop and there are plenty of seating for small groups of 2-4. There is tons of flavour in the broth and the ability to customize your bowl of noodles to be perfect for you is great. Beware about coming here at noon on the weekday as there are lots of businesses around. This is a popular place for work lunches. We work nearby and tend to get here by 11:30 to beat the line. We rarely ever have to wait. Danbo is one of those ramen shops I take people who are new to Vancouver. Be careful though. I've had friends go back home who message me to tell me I've ruined ramen for them, and that they can't eat anything back home again! The ramen game is strong in BC!
The Bad:
- Don't come in groups greater than 4 if you don't want to wait
The Good:
- Packed with flavours and lots of options for customization
Rating: 8.4/10
DETAILS:
Facebook: /RamenDanbo
Instagram: @ramendanbo_ca
Twitter: @ramendanbo
Website: RamenDanbo