September 06, 2011

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

Hokkaido Santouka is well known for their Ramen and frequent line ups. The restaurant is small, and very cramped. Not to mention humid with the big pots of broth and ramen bowls everywhere. Quite often, almost always, you end up sharing tables with others because of the lack of space and many visitors.

I have come on many occassions ordering the usual Shio broth with pork jowl ramen but it was DentistLady's first time trying it so it was a must order.
The cha-siu is so tender that using your teeth is not necessary! However, it is too salty and so overpowering, I could not really taste much else from the meat. Plus, I like my pork jowl crunchy; not soft and tender.
The broth is excellent. A bit oily, but fragrant from the sesame and the large beef bones, almost milky in taste from the bone calcium perhaps?
Shoyu Ramen with Cha-Siu with Side of Aji-Tama Egg
For a change, I had the Shoyu base and tried the Cha-siu. The meat was alright, border-lining tough. The Shoyu broth was very heavy in sodium, oily and I could not detect the soy flavor. I did not enjoy it.
The noodles in both bowls were under cooked and chewy.
The egg was almost cooked all the way through, and the yolk was not "yolky" as it was suppose to be. Quite disappointing.
Hokkaido Ramen Santouka on Urbanspoon


8 comments:

  1. Portions small, and everything overpriced...not my cup of tea =)

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  2. I didn't enjoy my visit neither. What's with all the hype? Some of the Japanese mothers I worked with told me this place taste like fast-food noodle chains in Japan...hahaha! And just like you, I prefer crunchy pork cheeks.

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  3. It is super overpriced. I finally went there and I saw the fake food display from outside and thought $9 isn't THAT bad. But it was bad. $9 for ramen without meat and the bowl was tinyyyyy!

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  4. @Peter:
    Speaking of tea, if you want tea it is an additional $2-3 and from a can too! Oh dear $__$

    @BG:
    I imagined the hype would have died down, but I guess not. Their Shio broth is pretty good but I don't think it is as good as before.
    crunchy pork cheeks are the best!

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  5. @Janice:
    Ramen with no meat? I think I would rather just eat the instant noodles from a package.
    If the portions were small and overpriced, I still would not mind paying for it if it tasted delicious. i.e Ding Tai Fung's XLB

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  6. $2-3 for a can/bottle of tea?!?!? That's nuts! I'd rather go to Nan Chuu, haha, shameless plug:

    http://oishizo.blogspot.com/search/label/Nan%20Chuu%20Izakaya

    =)

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  7. I agree! Their Shio Tonkotsu Ramen looks yummy, every since eating Aji Ichiban when it just opened, I had not thought of trying ramen in Richmond again.
    I think I'll give Ramen in Richmond a second chance after all these years!

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  8. Trust me, Minoru Suzuki is the best ramen chef in town. If they ever do a remake of Tampopo, they should ask him to come on as a consultant.

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