Menbow Ramen Bar -- Authentic Japanese Ramen

Was there in July.
Relatives in town.
They make their own broth and noodles.
Order Creamy broth is the best.
Enjoyable again.

I would say it's good. Nothing special but that is a good thing here. Food taste was just as I would expected. Same as my spot in the States. Affordable good tasting Ramen. Thank you!

Love their ramen

Just wish their 'vegan ramen' wasn't so bad. Like tomato sauce? C'mon.
Could have used miso paste as the base.and then it wouldn't taste like bad pasta sauce. Hopefully they have a better choice in the future.both my partner and I were disgusted.

Went here for a birthday and we all had a great time. The food was so good, it is definitely a must try.

Ordered gyoza, shio ramen, shoyu ramen, miso ramen and Tsukenmen for my family. The portion is good, soup is great, prefer to have softer texture noodles.

Love the variety of toppings that come with the miso ramen. Char sui, half egg, Japanese fish cake, corn, bamboo shoots, Shanghai bok choy, green onion. Rich soup with good salt level, but not as flavourful as some Vancouver area shops.

Terrible service. Unequal serving. Forgot the drinks. Charging extra for replacing pork with chicken. Completely dissatisfied. Not recommended at all.

Great restaurant! We visited Victoria and find this downtown Japanese restaurant. We ordered spicy miso ramaen, and other dishes. All are great! The owner is kind and welcoming. We feel very lucky that we entered this restaurant today!

Compared to Vancouver ramen, this place holds its own. I had tonkotsu black which had a very strong flavorful soup base. The noodle amount was generous and with added extra chashu I was more than full. There were a lot of other ingredients such as mushroom, bamboo shoots, and spinach. I also tried my partner's clear shoyu ramen which had a very clean fish like flavour which I liked better. Big pieces of chashu. Noodle is normal firmness and thickness. Meat is pork shoulder, not belly so it is lean. This place beats or matches some places in Vancouver at least for the flavours we selected

The ramen was great tasting, however I thought it was a bit salty and the noodles clung together. However, the biggest SURPRISE was how RUDE and ARROGANT the service was! To the Owner/Manager of this Restaurant, please study your CCTV Camera around 5: 35 and 5: 45 pm Sept 8th, and pay particular attention to how your personnel behaved around my children. I was correct to not even give you a penny. I thought about recommending it to my friends that enjoy Ramen, but no way! You are not a match for Ramen Arashi. Not at all recommended.

Picture perfect yummy ramen served right. Pork is perf. Quick service and great prices. Most definitely will be frequenting.

The BEST ramen in town. Screw Ghost Ramen, that place is twice as expensive and half the quality. Come here or miss out. ‍️

In downtown and very convenient location. The ramen I ordered tastes fabulous. Price is also reasonable.

Really fantastic food and I'm more of a Burger man. My girlfriend wanted to go and we had an amazing time

I popped by for some karaage at lunch.

It taste good, texture was awesome and the spicy sauce was great. Less flavour than I wanted but no.ajor drawback. 4 stars so far. But then.

Hate to say but after, I had the runs. Lots of bowel discomfort and I'm sure it was due to the kaarage because of the spice on the way out

July 11,2022
After reading all the positive reviews, I had high hopes about this place. Unfortunately, the flavours and execution fell short and I was quite disappointed with the food.
Upon entering the restaurant, I noticed a rather unpleasant odour; when we sat down, my 6 yo commented, “What’s that smell mom? …it smells like pee. ” If anything, that should’ve been a tell-tale sign to leave. But instead, I decided to stay…big mistake!
We ordered the miso ramen and a couple of mini bbq pork donburis. Firstly, the ramen broth was extremely salty yet bland. Secondly, the canned bamboo shoots tasted rancid…it was quite off putting. Finally, the pièce de résistance, the egg, was overdone. If you can’t get the broth or egg right, then you shouldn’t be serving ramen period. The packaged instant ramen tastes better than what we were served today. The donburis were meh…nothing to rave about. I cannot, for the life of me, understand why this place is busy; it must be slim pickings in Victoria.
Sadly, we will not be returning.

Food was not the best veggie strut was even worse then the meat stuff gyzoa was decent but ramen was less the mediocre

Ordered the veggie gyoza and tomato ramen. Both were bland but worst of all the ramen was not even hot. Would not recommend, will not be coming back.

4,5 serait ma vraie note. Un incontournable quand je visite une ville. Un ramen! Il était très bon. Option parfaite pour un repas à petit prix.

Tasty broth, good noodles. Chicken was served partly raw, but the mistake was quickly smoothed out - no recognitions when handing over the bill tough

Very well done. You can tell the chef cares deeply. It's a shame I don't live in Victoria because I would eat here all the time

My whole family ate the ramen for lunch, and at night the all of us had a very very bad diarrhea. I am still going to washroom every 20 mins.

Our favourite place for ramen and the bowls are huge! Lots of seating space inside, but best to make a reservation during busy times. Staff have always treated us great, so far queer and trans friendly.
Non gendered washrooms

I normally love the Black ramen soups and thought I'd try the Menbow Black Ramen. It wasn't at all what I expected. It was mostly bitter in flavour and super greasy. I couldn't taste much else, well other than the stale tasting Bamboo shoots with their mushy mouthfeel. The BBQ Pork didn't really taste of anything. The veggies/mushrooms just tasted of that bitter/stale tasting broth. Overall, it was pretty terrible and I didn't finish it. I had an upset stomach after this experience for a full day after. It just wasn't right. The Tomato Ramen my dining partner had was just OK and the stars I am giving are for the friendly service we got that evening. I'll stick to my usual Ramen places from now on.

Great selection of ramen soups: shiu shoyu miso spicy and more.
Broth is tasty and above average. Noodles are fresh and great.
Other ingredients are good quality. Good portion.
Overall we enjoyed our experience.

A great place to go if you're looking for a great ramen dish and some comfort food at an affordable price. My partner and I go every couple of weeks for a nice meal out. Highly recommend adding Karaage Chicken into your ramen dish if you are looking for a filling meat substitute. If you are a vegetarian, they have great options for substitutes as well.

Was absolutely delicious, I most certainly will be returning to try everything on the menu! Must try if you’re a fan of Ramen!

Very convenient location. The ramen itself was okay (black garlic & tantanmen) and restaurant had a nice setup inside. The servers were polite however it was a little hard to get the attention of the servers that were moving back and forth, and I had to get up to both order and then to pay (no problem for us, but others might have issues with it). The table behind us also was waiting a while to reel-in a server after their meal.

Really gross… idk how else to explain it. Made me feel heavy and greasy after eating. The chicken karaage was also raw in the middle. The service was really good though. Staff were super nice.

Walked into Menbow Ramen Bar randomly for dinner and was pleasantly surprised. The restaurant is spacious, clean, and bright with a good layout making for a comfortable place to eat. The menu was simple and easy to order from. The ramen itself was delicious and just as good as anything we have in Vancouver. The broth was rich and flavorful, noodles had a great al dente chew to them, and the toppings were fresh and complimented and made the bowl whole. The ramen was nice and hot but my favorite part was the ice cold Asahi. Service was quick and staff were engaging and friendly; thank you Evelyn and co!

The best ramen I have had, also the portion is large enough which is rare.
The only thing I think needs improvement is is to add more vegetarian options

Great ramen shop, the tonkotsu was wonderful although it over powered the spice a bit. The chicken broth was amazing and allowed the other flavours to show through.

Decent portion size! The different varietys of ramen are delicious as well, this ramen bar is the perfect option for winter. Service is amazing too!

Food itself is great, would definitely recommend overall but I can’t in good faith rate higher than a 2 due to my order constantly being wrong. 3/4 of my last pick up orders have had missing side dishes and missing extra toppings. At this point I think I’ve paid enough for extras I never received to cover a bowl of ramen. I’ve called and let staff know but that’s a pointless exercise since I’m already home. If you are picking up make sure to thoroughly check your order before leaving the restaurant.

Very good ramen! Accidentally ordered two bottles of sake and the waiter didn’t stop me or warn me, otherwise was a great experience.

Good ramen restaurant with friendly staff. It is a small place so can get very warm especially given you’re eating noodles in a hot broth. Still, it was delicious!

Ramen was decent, although lacked the spice or flavour that i was looking for coming from Japan.

Always fantastic service and wow the food is both well priced and tasty as heck. Could not recommend this place more!

Ramen for white people. This place is fine if you don’t know what real ramen tastes like. Not authentic at all

Ramen was delicious, ingredients were amazing, and the broth was delicious. Would come here again

The Japanese people I know here would rather eat at Kuma than go near Menbow. Having eaten here twice, I have to agree with them. A mediocre bowl of ramen with only two thin slices of pork runs you $17 after taxes and tips. The broth is simply unremarkable, very thin in terms of flavour profile. Second time I came here I ordered a mini bbq pork donburi with the noodles, and half the pork was burnt. I suspect the only reason this place is doing well is because the locals don't know good ramen due to the lack of good choices. Half a star for mediocre service, half a star for the mediocre food. Simply pathetic.

Horrible lady that answered the phone. Half the things I ordered they didn't have, then she told me to cancel order on the uber app and they said Ramen was on its way. They csncelled the whole order and charged me. Worst customer service ever. Whoever answers phones doesn't know to manage a restaurant with customer service. Poor service. And over priced.

Delicious ramen
All ramen bowls come with BBQ Pork but can be substituted with Tofu ($0 extra) or Karaage ($3.50 extra).
There is a build your own ramen section as well that's a good option if you don't like some of the basics in every bowl.
Menbow Black Ramen with Karaage and chicken broth
Miso Ramen with Tofu with creamy pork broth
Would love to come back and try a few more bowls to try all the broth options!

Amazing food, big portion, friendly staff. What more can you ask for? I got the shoyu ramen with extra BBQ pork, absolutely one of my favorite ramen dish. Definitely will come back for more food here.

A nice ramen spot with ramen bar seating, don't miss the mini don bowl or the gyoza both were amazing, I tried the miso ramen and the tsukemen, the toppings on both were top notch, good noodles, plentiful, the flavors of the broth are super strong here, maybe to strong, might recommend the shoyu or shio for a cleaner taste

Good food - excellent pork broth, chewy noodles, fresh ingredients.quick service, friendly staff.

Go inside or Nice sidewalk table service. Staff will even bring water out for you pup.

Solid Ramen, and frosty draft mugs.

Delicious! Enjoyed Shoyu Ramen. Very rich broth with the 'normal' flavor. I think the heavy would be too much. I'd suggest light if you want a less rich broth.

Best broth in Victoria, however it always comes out lukewarm unless you specify that you’d like it hot. I love the broth and noodles though!

Don't fool by the name, it's not authentic, extremely disappointed, kitchen staff has next to no experience, fridge cold eggs in my noodles soup bowl, less than warm temperature soup, mixed with hot noodles.

The shio and spicy shio ramen were very good. I'm from Vancouver so I have rather high standards for ramen and Menbow was solid. The broth had rich and deep flavours and I really appreciated all the toppings, especially the variety of veggies.

Phenomenal Ramen! Rich flavourful broth. The egg was slightly overdone but everything was delicious!

Good ramen and good service. The soup bases are all very flavourful. The pricing seems to be similar to other ramen places of similar quality. What I did find strange was the jump in price for the spicy variation. Either way, it is well worth it to visit this place for some good ramen. After dinner, there are several shops nearby for dessert!

Exceptional ramen at very reasonable prices. Very high quality broth and a good selection of ramen types. Friendly staff. This place never disappoints.

It was edible but the pork miso ramen was greasy and the noodles bland. I felt pretty sick for a few hours afterwards. Do not like

A classic and decent take on miso ramen. Definitely worth checking out if you're craving ramen in Victoria.

Very tasty ramen! The ingredients are of good quality. The service was prompt and well spaced out during our lunch. The inside of the restaurant is charming and quite spacious. The menu was easy to follow. I hope to return soon for some more delicious ramen!

Had the basic ramen bowl with pork broth (Ship Ramen) and while tasty and filling, lacked the deep broth flavour I expect out of a ramen bowl. The pork belly was very thin (bacon like) and the hanjuku tamago (soft boiled egg) was more on the hard boiled side. I will try them again to see if another dish is better.

Food is top notch, definitely one of the better spots for ramen in town. Beer is a bit on the expensive side relative to other places. Wait staff is friendly enough, and the interior/decor is really well done.

LOVE this place and the servers.tried mostly use their ramen and it is consistently delicious and very filling! They also have great prices.it’s awesome how they allow you to choose from degrees of broth intensity! Super cool, never seen that.highly recommend

This is hands down the best Raman in Victoria. Broth, noodles andaall around flavor make me crave it weekly.gyoza's are amazing, Maui ribs and the sauce.omg.the owner or manager always makes a point to come and say hi to us and ask how everything was.

Excellent food. I really enjoy the soy flavour ramen and keep coming back for it over and over again. I think this is as close to authentic as you CN find in Victoria.

Best ramen in town. Trust me I have searched. Spicy shoyu is to die for. Reasonable prices, great service. The manager is amazing, friendly and knowledgeable.

Not sure what else to say. It's awesome. We are going to be regulars.

I have tried a lot of ramen the last couple of years and this hands down is the best I have so far. The shio tonkotsu ramen has the best broth i have tried clean and creamy with great salty pork flavour with a perfect cooked noodles. The chasu pork is delicious and has a marinated mushrooms and bamboo shoots in it as well I highly recommend any ramen fanatic if they are in Victoria to try it out.

Spicy Miso Ramen 5/5
Thick and flavorful broth, a comforting and filling bowl of ramen.

Tomato Ramen 4/5
Not very flavorful, but good to have a vegan ramen.

Gyoza 5/5

Shrimp tempura 5/5

Much more of a personal taste thing, but the ramen has a very strong fish base and smelled and tasted strongly of that. It's a nice place and the people are friendly.

Got the spicy miso ramen, and it was the best ramen I've had in years. Pair it with a draft Sapporo and mm! Tasty. Great for cold weather. Friendly staff too!

Portion was huge, more than I could finish. I think they use some inferior oil that just messed up all the flavour in the soup. Won’t go back.

Ordered the spicy shio ramen. First time eating here chicken broth was perfect heat level was awesome noodles were wicked good. All in all a perfect bowl with prompt service. New Victoria favorite

I’ve tried to be patient with the service here but I find that they are not flexible to their clients. Out of the blue my usual adjustment (egg instead of the bbq pork) is no longer anoption when I have been requesting and being served this for 1 year +. I also find the service to be lacking and inconsistent - guess I will have to find somewhere else for ramen.

Definitely not as authentic as advertised. Broth didn't have much flavor, but was a bit too fatty, meat was too thinly sliced, they didn't even put a whole egg in, only half.

Very nice ramen with lots of room between the tables. Great place for a place to rest when hanging in downtown Victoria.