Benkei Noodle Shop

October Review: ³⁄₃₀
Another one of those ‘I wish Unilocal could do half stars’ reviews as it’s really a 3.5. The various noodle ramens/​soups are all delicious and I’ve been quite a few times now. Benkei is actually a small chain with 3 locations around the city but I’ve only been to the one on Broadway near McDonald, my understanding is every location is tasty though.
The portions are large, the prices are very decent, and the flavour of the broths are always excellent.

HOW CAN PEOPLE EAT THIS? Whoever gave this place more than 3 stars… its time to question your expectations on food/​life and rejuvenate your tastebuds (if there’s such thing).
First of all, i had to LINE UP. Fine fine, fair enough… perhaps it’ll be worth it? And then when the order came, my noodles were not chewy like ramen is supposed to be. They break apart in the soup.
Oh, the soup… THE SOUP… Speaking of the soup, I believe Science or Chemistry teachers can bring their students here to review the concept of OSMOSIS. Basically, the MSG or Sodium drained all moisture out of my tongue… that is how salty it is. Man… sorry Benkei… I am quite lenient on my reviews… but this… I can barely feel my tongue at the moment.

Solid middle of the road ramen.
I had the Shoyu Ramen with extra sprouts. My husband had the Miso with extra sprouts and spinach. I thought my ramen was a little skimpy on the noodles but the few that were there had a nice chew to them. The broth was not as flavourful as I have had at other places, including the Benkei on Robson. My husband finished every drop of his Miso so I take that as an endorsement. Our order of shrimp gyoza arrived lukewarm and they were a tad oily.
Unlike the Robson and Denman area where you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a ramen joint, this part of Broadway is very light with competition so we will undoubtedly return by default should the ramen mood strike us.

I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the Akaoni ramen on their menu, as I haven’t seen a spicy soup base in many (if any) other ramen places around town. And it had the basics in it that I want – ground pork, beansprouts, bamboo, green onions. The noodles were just perfect – still with a bite, not too mushy. It was a warm, spicy, satisfying soup on a cold, wet-​snowy day without an umbrella. It’s $ 8.95 and is filling. The only issue I had was that the servers didn’t pay much attention to me once the food arrived. I had to flag them down a few times for tea and water instead of them coming to check up on me. That was disappointing.

On the agenda for this rainy Saturday afternoon: drug store, ramen and cupcakes. So Benkei gets the nod based mainly on the proximity to cupcakes on West Broadway.
It’s solidly average, but the gyoza was pretty lousy. We both had the Shoyu Ramen, and it was fine and hit the spot.
That said, I wouldn’t go out of my way, much better options downtown.

Just went there for lunch today. I had the Shoyu noodles with extra spinach and it was really tasty. Too bad our server forgot about my kimchi order. Food came out quickly and quite food. The pork gyoza were good too because the skin wasn’t think and the meat was juicy. The noodles were just right, not too soft and the broth was flavourful. The servers were cheerful and attended to my order quite quickly. I’d be back pretty soon.

Wish I could rate this place as four stars, unfortunately the noodle broth tastes weaker than their downtown sister restaurants and competitors. I had the shio ramen which was overloaded with bean sprouts. Maybe the miso would have been a better choice for a thicker soup base.
Food
Freshly prepared and served hot. Food comes out very quickly. Gyoza didn’t appear to be freshly made. The cha su rice bowl is nice.
Service
Attentive and responds quickly to requests. Very cheerful.
Atmosphere
Nicely decorated. Just opened so everything is new.
Overall
We’ll come back, but I think they have some room for improvement.