It’s pork heaven at Kanbe, the newest Hakata tonkotsu ramen joint to hit Mont Kiara. With two chefs from Tokyo dishing out steaming bowls of tonkotsu ramen, it’s no wonder there was a long queue to go in (even at 8pm there was a queue). With Japanese expats frequenting the place, we felt confident it would be worth the wait. (Kanbe has now opened an amazing Yakiniku place in Mont Kiara as of July 2022).
Choose from 8 different tonkotsu flavours: shiro (the usual), aka (spicy), kuro (garlic), kohaku (pork bone with bonito, dried mackeral and dried sardine), sakura (ebi prawn), yuzu (the Japanese citrus), goma (roasted sesame) and seasonal.
Their signature Kanbe Tonkotsu (RM31.20) is huge. Two massive strips of pork belly ensure you’ll be filled up even without side dishes. We chose the Sakura and the Yuzu – the Yuzu was nice and light, while the Sakura was bursting with prawn flavour and heavier. You get to choose the softness of the ramen, the amount of oil, garlic and whether you want their signature spicy sauce (which has different levels of spiciness).
Sadly they were out of the Tonkotsu Tsukemen (dipping ramen) and Radish Agedashi Tofu. We tried the Chicken Nanban (choose 3 or 5 pieces), which was juicy and covered in a delicious sauce. The portion for this was also generous – no bite-sized popcorn chicken here. We also tried the Parmesan Brussel Sprouts – fried in tempura batter and accompanied with a parmesan sauce, although the sauce tasted more like lemon mayo. Still, it was delicious and the sprouts were fresh.
Kanbe has quite a good selection of side dishes and pork rice dons/bowls – the pork belly (Kakuni) was tempting but would probably have been too much. Drinks selection is small, but a refreshing glass of Oolong tea (free) is all you need with such heavy ramen.
It may be hard to get a seat if you’re in a group of 3 or more as the tables for 4 people are limited – better luck if you go in a pair. There is also counter seating available so you can watched the chefs work their ramen magic. The only downside about Kanbe is that the aircon is a little low – combined with the heat from the open kitchen, it can get a little stuffy.
We hope they keep up the momentum and high standards – it’s so good to see another great ramen shop in the Mont Kiara area, and one that is so generous with their pork. Together with Ramen Izakaya Kazushi, Kanbe could be one of the best ramen shops in Kuala Lumpur. Note: only Tonkotsu ramen is available here.
Opening hours: 11am – 9pm
Address: GF-08, 163 Retail Park, Jalan Kiara, Mont Kiara
EDIT: As of July 2022, the owners of Kanbe have now opened Kanbe Yakiniku at Shoplex Mont Kiara (above Jaslyn Cakes).
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