Eating With Gordon

This was an very old visit in the past with my first newborn/toddler at her first Japanese Ramen restaurant. We thought a hot soup bowl would be a great meal for a slightly less cold winter season.

Reviewer: Eating with Gordon
Visit Date: 2014/12/20
Food Rating: 3/5
Service Rating: 3/5


Atmosphere:
The space was very small for a restaurant!! We had to wait a bit for a large table to fit 8-10 people (there is only one) since the rest of the restaurant had date (1-2 people) seating and bar seating. The decor was very nice with this chess wood grid like pattern on the walls with open visual kitchen in the corner. I don't recommend this place for large groups of people! You definitely would definitely have to pay for parking on the street (on Yonge St).

Service:
Servers were good and friendly.

Food Comments:
From the online reviews - people actually recommended to get the chicken ramen soup version. I should have researched and asked ... I ordered the Pork Ramen soup base and it was SO SALTY. The noodles were perfectly springy, and chicken was so juicy. The egg was also expertly cooked (not over done). The The pricing per ramen dish came out to be $15+ (which was pricey). 

Would I come back? Probably not. Having tried a couple Ramen houses across GTA - Kinton isn't so good.

Food Photos:

fried chicken was pretty good

Should have gotten the Chicken Ramen soup base!!!!

This was the winter special fried pork balls with mashed egg - Kinton Ball

Name:	Kinton Ramen 4
Price Range:	$$
Cuisine:	Japanese
Address:	5165 Yonge St, Toronto, ON M2N 5P5
Phone:	(647) 350-7887
Menu URL:	www.kintonramen.com/menu/
Website:	www.kintonramen.com/
Hours:	Sunday 10:30AM–10:30PM Monday 10:30AM–10:30PM Tuesday 10:30AM–10:30PM Wednesday 10:30AM–10:30PM Thursday 10:30AM–10:30PM Friday 10:30AM–12AM Saturday 10:30AM–12AM
Map:

There was a brand new restaurant that opened in First Markham Place 2 weeks ago that replaced one of my old favorites (former korean restaurant specializing in silken tofu hot stone pot soup). I got word of this grand opening from the former chowhound Toronto group.

From word of mouth online, the owner was the old chef from Magic Noodles. Magic Noodles was supposedly very good at the early days... Magic Noodle was/is quite garbage quality right now...

Food Rating: 4/5
Service: 3.5/5

Atmosphere:
The restaurant absorbed the same seating and style as the original Korean restaurant. There were both seats long the edges of the wall. The only new was a giant new logo (one that Disney would not be happy about) above the cash register area. I wouldn't expect the same decor as Magic Noodle...

The chef randomly made noodles at different times. There would be periods of long silence coming from the kitchen and then BAM (noodle dough whacking the table). I saw a bunch of eating/waiting customers just jump out their seats. This was amusing but also horrifying :) 

Service:
It was super busy during lunch time with 2 male servers running around fulfilling orders. They were quick to provide drinks/water and provide the meals.

Food Comments:
My group of colleagues and I ordered the following noodles:

• House Special Noodles ($8)
• Pork Belly and Hand-Shaved Noodles ($8)
• Fried Noodles with Beef ($8)

The House Special had an assortment of different meats (pork ribs, beef parts, fried egg). The soup was clear, tasty and hot. I couldn't taste any MSG. The broth had a strong white pepper flavour. I had decided on the ribbon noodle and it was perfect to my texture liking.

I had an opportunity to sample the Pork Belly and Hand-Shaved noodle dish. After trying this dish, I totally regretted getting the house special! The Pork Belly meat was just out of the world with the fatness/juice. The noodles really soaked up the sauce and took the noodles to another world with the in-depth flavours.

I discovered this place also sells cold noodle dishes but will have to come back next time to try it out. (Good thing since Loha's restaurant closed down - hence no more cold chicken noodle).

Would I come back? Of course. If I was to compared this to my other favourite noodle restaurants, I would rate this #2 on my list. I will definitely need to try more dishes to gauge the other selections.

Food Photos:




Non Food Photos:

Address:	First Markham Place, Unit 10. 3229 Hwy 7 East. Markham On, L3R 3P3
Phone:	416-900-0592
Website:	NA
Hours:	Sunday 11:00AM–11:00PM Monday 11:00AM–11:00PM Tuesday 11:00AM–11:00PM Wednesday 11:00AM–11:00PM Thursday 11:00AM–11:00PM Friday 11:00AM–11:00PM Saturday 11:00AM–11:00PM
Map:	NA