KINTON RAMEN CARREFOUR LAVAL — Restaurant in Laval (administrative region)

Kinton Ramen is a make your own Ramen place that has multiple locations across CA, USA, JP & S Korea. Attached is an image (before they went downhill) that is a 4 year reminder of how good they used to be.

When I first moved to Quebec 4 years ago and tried it, Kinton was fantastic. Its Montreal location was always jam packed and the line out the door. The smells, the tastes, the constant screaming in Japanese, it was like something right out of Japan.

Sadly it seemed I arrived at its peak, for it was falling fast. My last recent attempts were the one in Laval before I left to go back to Australia.

Over the next few years before my leaving they began to loose some of its appeals. The first thing to go was the broth consistency choice, no longer could you choose thin, medium or thick broth it was all just medium. Thats ok, no big deal, the rest still tastes great. The next big change was the substitution of pork shoulder for pork belly...a vastly inferior cut for their Ramen. But 2 Pork Belly slices to 1 Pork Shoulder, until they changed it to 1 Pork Belly and 2 Pork Shoulders.

Their next big reduction was a removal of a pork slice, now all their pork ramen came with 1 slice belly and 1 slice shoulder. That and they changed how much more pork you got when you ordered 'more pork'. It used to be double the amount of pork, now its just 1 more slice of shoulder for the same price.

It still tastes the same...you get a lot less of everything...I'm sure pork belly will be gone soon (EDIT: I had this draft ready to be sure it wasn't a one off. I was right, not only that but they nuked the portion sizes as a whole. Pay more for less and worse) ...it costs more. The biggest shame is that it no longer has that infectiously joyous environment when you come in the door, the cooks and waiters just seem to glance up and mumble at you.

It's just your average chain now. Whether you remember how it used to be will make it better or worse. But as it is. There are better places with better value.

I do hope they return to bringing a slice of Tokyo ramen back to Laval. I definitely wouldn't take the drive there...

Let’s start with the bad. When I walked in the restaurant I got the classic Japanese welcome where all the employees join in on the greeting but half the staff didn’t look at you while saying it which killed a bit of the magic of that greeting. The waiter that served me didn’t know his menu but acted like he did. Asked him what was the pork karaage and told me it was fried chicken, which is not. Asked him what was shirataki noodles and he told me it’s spicy noodle, which is not. Instead of spending 22.99$ on my ramen, I spent 14.99$ because he made me question if the place knew what they were doing. I received my ramen quickly which is fun but the egg was cold inside and overcooked. I don’t mind waiting for my ramen if the egg is boiled on order and not taken out from the fridge precooked. My waiter never approached me after taking the order whom I had to wave down to come and see me. Was served by two other waitresses which my guess is they all have their roles. Made it confusing coming tipping time so I’m guessing they share the tips? It made up for the service of the first waiter.

The good. The restaurant has big open windows for lighting and great decor mostly made of light brown mixed with black and conveyed a modern yet Japanese theme. The kitchen setup was great, everyone seemed to have their roles and the layout reminded me of a counter at a bar. “Busy hands and idle minds…” have cooked many a ramen bowl? Everything looked neat and food arrived quick but was overall very enjoyable. The fat on the pork melted in your mouth and the portion size were fine. They greet you when you come in and they see you out when you leave. Interesting experience for those who never had it before but always welcomed. I might try it again if I find...

THEY ASK YOU TO DO THEIR JOB FOR THEM!!!! I ordered 1 ramen bowl for my 2 toddlers 3&5 yrs old and asked that they serve 2 bowls half-half; could you believe they refused and asked me to do it myself AT THE TABLE??! They brought the ramen bowl I ordered with 2 small bowls to my table and insisted that they “don’t DO that”, shutting me down completely after I repeatedly insisted to please accommodate us. I had to SERVE my children, separate the noodles, cut the egg in half and pour the broth into the 2 bowls which obviously left a mess at the table!!! Horrific experience, had to eat my lunch with sticky fingers and a messy table, I even showed the manager/superviser - worst service I’ve ever received in my entire life with this girl - the mess it left at the table covered soup with napkins and she didn’t even bother to offer to clean it up so that we could ENJOY our lunch. Needless to say, we are never going back there again and felt most unwelcome. Parents of small children, save your money and go elsewhere where they will actually serve FOR YOU. Our first time there, another manager was so professional and welcoming and obviously accommodated my request to separate the portion in 2; he asked the chef and brought me 2 beautifully served ramen bowls for my boys. MESS-FREE! Too bad the second experience was a nightmare. Like I leave my house with my kids for lunch to be asked to serve their food!!!...