After 2 attempts of trying to get seats at the infamous Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, I finally made it! I was there on a Tuesday night, and Tuesdays seem to be the day to visit this ramen joint without any line ups. I assume that goes the same with the rest of the weekdays except Friday.
I went into this place with a lot of hype, a lot of expectations, and I was really hungry. This combination always spells a disaster, but Hokkaido Ramen Santouka held its place quite nicely. I was not disappointed! In fact, I loved it.
The menu had a lot more items than I expected. There were regular ramens ($8 dollars ish), and there were these Toroniku ramens ($13 dollars). I ordered a Toroniku Shoyu Ramen because other bloggers had suggested it, and also I wanted to see what was the fuss about separating all the meat and ingredients from the soup and the noodles. I also ordered a Tofu Salad, and Gyoza for appetizer and side dish to go with our ramen.
The Tofu Salad was really nice. The Tofu was chilled, and there were pieces of cooked shrimp on top. The dressing was soy sauce based, and it went really well with the tofu. It was a really good appetizer.
My Shoyu Toroniku Ramen came on a tray, and it smelled really good. I went for the soup right away because I thought maybe this was the reason they didn’t want to put other things in it, so it’s not contaminated with other flavors. The soup was indeed very yummy. It was so rich, and deep with flavor. The noodles they used were thinner than most ramen restaurants. They were cooked perfectly for me, not over cooked, and a little chewy. It was nice to not having to ask them to cook my noodles, ‘kata-men’ which means, ‘hard noodles’.
The pork cheek that came with the noodles were so soft. I could break them just by picking them up. They were nice and fatty, and they did melt in my mouth. I wasn’t completely in love with them though, I thought they had a bit more soy sauce taste to them than I would’ve liked. But they were indeed, very soft. Probably another reason why they didn’t put it in the soup, because it breaks so easily.
I really enjoyed the ramen here. It was my first time eating mostly the soup and the noodles more than the extra things it came with. The bowl of noodles looked small, but it was a deep bowl. There were a lot of noodles in it. The soup was the best, I was so full and I still finished the noodles and almost all the soup.
It definitely lived up to the hype and worth the hassle of downtown parking. And compared to Kintaro and Benkei, I think this place wins. I’m already planning my next visit. Spicy Ramen is the one I’m going for next.
Note: Cash Only!
Hokkaido Ramen Santouka
1690 Robson St
Vancouver, BC V6G
(604) 681-8121
www.santouka.co.jp
6 Comments on "Hokkaido Ramen Santouka おいしい!"
Yah, I went the very next day for another bowl. I know there are quite a few people out there that think that the price is not worth it. But IMO, compared to all the other ramen places, there is really no comparison. But then again, there are personal tastes involved, so that would probably be the reason.
haha beipas is going again today! two days later! i’m too lazy to go downtown today lol
Wowz, the Toroniku Shoyu is so tasty! I also enjoyed the gyoza. I want to go back again!!!!
I liked the Vancouver Santouka better than the one in Harajuku! I’m glad I had the ikura gohan teishoku with the shio ramen but next time I’m going to focus on ramen alone because the combo was too filling.
ranmen is forever the achilles heel in my diet
wish I were there (sob)
Rebecca,
come! I take you!