Named the seventh buzziest bistro in town in NOW’s recent 25 Hottest Restaurant survey, Baldwin Village’s Kinton Ramen quietly launched a second outpost in newly funky Koreatown earlier this month.
Kinton Ramen 2 – as they’ve cleverly dubbed it – takes over the defunct Il Bun Ji at 668 Bloor West just east of Clinton. Not only is the new room noticeably larger than the original and open till 2 am on Friday and Saturday nights, the mein menu’s been expanded as well and now features chicken ramen alongside the usual pork. Should we expect Kinton 3 anytime soon?
“For now, we’re going to focus on Kinton 2,” says co-owner James Kim. “But once we have enough trained staff, we’ll go from there.”
In the meantime, head to either Kinton on Tuesday January 28th for Mega Ramen. If you manage to finish a $30 bowl of shoyu ramen with double noodles, six orders of cha shu pork shoulder, four of pork belly, a slow-poached egg, some seaweed and a triple helping of bean sprouts in 15 minutes or less, it’s on the house.
There are a few stipulations. Sharing is verboten as are washroom visits. “If you vomit, please mop it. No dying or passing out” – No wonder they make you sign a waiver absolving the resto of liability!
However, burping and slurping are mandatory.
