On a recent trip down to Shah Alam, we managed to squeeze in some foodie time and discovered Kanbe Ramen at 163 Retail Park, Mount Kiara. Kuala Lumpur is never lacking when it comes to good authentic Japanese ramen options. And out of the many ramen stores available, this came with a great recommendation from a relative!
Photo Credit: Kanbe Ramen
The store is run by three Japanese chefs and they do not compromise on quality and flavour. The store’s peak hours are during lunch and dinner, plus the waiting line could take up to 2 hours so we decided to head there for a late lunch instead around 3pm. Luckily for us, there wasn’t a long line and we were shown to our seats almost immediately when a table was cleared.
Ambience
The walls are decorated with traditional wooden Japanese plaques and simple lightbulbs are used as lighting. They have a basic wooden table setting in the middle of the store and bar counter seating where you can watch the chefs prepare your meals in their open kitchen. There are also a few booth seatings available if you require privacy.
The tables also come with a moveable wooden stand in the middle to fully utilise the seating space. So, you don’t have to worry about sharing a table with a stranger if you are dining alone. It is quite clear that the store follows a fast pace cycle that does not allow you to dawdle – you enter, you sit, you eat and you leave.
The Broth
Kanbe Ramen offers a wide range of tonkotsu broth flavours:
Shiro (白) – the original 100% pure pork bone broth
Aka (赤) – a spicy pork bone broth with a blend of spices and flavoured vegetables based on doubanjiang
Kuro (黒) – pork bone broth with a luxurious amount of squid ink with a blend of charred garlic
Kohaku (琥珀) – a mixture of pork bone broth with a rich broth made from dried bonito, dried mackerel and dried sardines
Sakura (桜) – a new style of ebi (prawn) pork bone broth that combines the flavourful oil from ebi and whole ebi broth
Yuzu (柚) – a mellow pork bone broth with a sweet scent of Japanese yuzu
Goma (胡麻/金) – an appetising roasted sesame pork bone broth with chilli oil made with sesame oil from homemade sesame sauce
Seasonal (限定) – broth made from seasonal ingredients based on the many years of experience by the chefs
At Kanbe, you get to choose between the tonkotsu ramen or tonkotsu tsukemen (ramen noodles with dipping broth). You also have the option of choosing how al dente or soft you want your ramen noodles cooked. All their ramen and tsukemen comes with chashuu or add-on RM5 for kakuni (thick cuts of 8 hours braised pork). If you want extra toppings, they offer a selection of flavour egg, menma (bamboo shoots), negi (spring onion), black fungus, seaweed, boiled cabbage, parmesan cheese, chashuu, kakuni and broth.
Here we chose the Shiro Ramen with extra toppings of egg. Or if you’re daring enough, you could try their Kanbe Secret Sauce for a fiery experience! We chose to have the Extra Hot option in case you’re wondering.
Customise it!
On your table, you will notice three little porcelain jars of condiments available. So what’s in the jar? You will find a small jar filled with reddish paste – which is the a spicy miso paste. The second largest jar is filled with karashi takana – Hakata’s specialty pickled mustard green with chilli, infused with sesame oil and soy sauce. And finally, the biggest jar with karashi moyashi – crisp bean sprouts mixed with freshly grated garlic and stir fried sesame, infused with Kanbe’s original soy sauce.
We recommend that you try the broth as it is before customising the taste to your liking.
Karashi Takana and Karashi Moyashi
Sides
Apart from noodles, Kanbe Ramen also offers a variety of delicious sides. Since it was an impromptu foodie trip, we ordered a tad much of sides as the portions of the ramen was quite big!
Here we have their Ultimate Buta Croquettes – deep fried mashed potato mixture with a combination of minced pork in sukiyaki sauce wrapped in golden bread crumbs, Puri Puri Ebi Fritters – crispy deep fried prawn fritters with sweet chilli mayo, Koto Koto 8 Hours Buta Kakuni – pork belly simmered in soy sauce for 8 hours until tender. And then of course the Nanban Karaage – juicy fried chicken in vinegar and topped with pink tartar sauce (we forgot to a photo of this, oopsie!).
The croquettes were quite soft once you bit into it and honestly it was quite filling to finish. The buta kakuni is a must try! The meat is so tender that it breaks apart so easily, also the portion is quite thick too! You probably could tell that the nanban karaage is our favourite because dug into it immediately as it was served and we only realised we did have a photo of it after it was all in our tummies.
Price-wise, we would say it is standard for a bowl of tonkotsu ramen. The one thing that stood out to us was that the chashuu slices was thick and not thinly sliced as most ramen eateries we’ve been too. Flavour-wise, the broth is rich and packed with umami and slightly creamy which we loved. It’s a bit sad that we won’t be able to have it as often as we like unless we travel to KL often. We hope that one day there will be a tonkotsu ramen place in Penang that is up to par with Kanbe.
Kanbe Ramen
GF-08, 163 Retail Park, 8, Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur
Open Daily. 11am to 9pm.
Non-halal.
