Benkei Ramen

The battle of the ramen! Benkei Ramen, is located just down the street from Hokkaido Santouka and not too far from Sanpachi, or Kintaro.

BuddhaGirl decided to go to Benkei for lunch after her visit to Hokkaido Santouka.

Shio Ramen 

("Boiling the pork and sapping out the rich taste, this Fukuoka-born ramen contains collagen and calcium - a source for beautiful skin and strong bones. This is a recommendation for our female ramen lovers." )

I wish they wrote out these descriptions on their menu, not just the website!

The broth was creamy and rich without being oily at all. The ramen noodles were cooked just right, and smart thinking for putting onions on the side. Just one question...

Where is the cha-su?

There was only 2 thin pieces which fell apart after mixing the toppings, leaving me with tiny little chunks throughout. I would have liked to see an extra slice or cha-su that was not crumbly.

Akaoni Ramen

("Mixed with various kinds of spices, this spicy-miso is a favorite for many. The addition of garlic oil creates a much richer flavor. The burning sensation followed by the soothing delicious taste is going to make you come back for more." )

My favourite out of the 2 bowls. The spicy miso and the garlic oil worked so well together. I prefer foods with heavier tastes so this one as the definate winner. The Akaoni had a similar taste to Ground-pork stew (肉燥飯) which happens to be one of my favorite dishes.

Benkei describes this as spicy and having a burning sensation but sadly, it did not. There was no spicy-ness!

Overall

Ramen was good, but I prefer the broth at Santouka 

Benkei is almost half the price vs Santouka plus tea is free-->value is much better.

Service is great and attentive.