Tuesday 4 December 2012

Santouka

It's becoming impossible to keep up with the openings of all these new Ramen places around town. 

And of course, who can forget the rush hour line ups?
I love what they've done with the building! I usually don't like heading east on Dundas, but it definitely feels like Santouka is helping to revitalize the area.


The kitchen! Where all the cooking goes down...

Bootleg shots of the menu:



When I was going through the menu, I thought the best value would probably be the combinations - you get a bowl of rice with a topping and a bowl of ramen for $14.50-$15.50 (compared to paying $11 just for a bowl of ramen) and it'd probably be more filling.

Negi meshi and kara miso ramen
The kara miso ramen was a pork broth seasoned with hot spices and miso. I found the broth spicy, but my friend thought it was pretty mild. The bowl also had bamboo shoot, green onions, cha-shu and jelly ear (black fungus) and I think they were all done well. 
The negi meshi had green onions, bonito flakes and seaweed in a rice bowl, the waitress mentioned something about tuna? But after we tried a few spoonfuls of the negi meshi and rice, we didn't see any evidence of tuna in the bowl. 

Shoyu ramen with Toroniku cha-shu

Shoyu ramen has a soy sauce and pork broth, but I found that the broth wasn't as full-bodied or fragrant as Sansotei's. It was still tasty, but I found it on the saltier side especially with the dried seaweed and soy sauce base. I really like their cha-shu (both in the toroniku and the ramen bowl) - it was tender and packed full of flavour. The fish cake, green onions and bamboo shoot also complemented the ramen nicely and I actually really enjoyed the noodles when they were a little soggy (I like soggy noodles more than al dente - but that's just personal preference). 
The cha-shu bowl was made with toroniku cha-shu which is simmered pork cheek meat and OMG it was melt in your mouth deliciousness - it almost made me overlook the fact that there was a little too much soy sauce mixed in with the rice.

Overall: The toroniku was delicious! I would definitely go back for that, but I found the ramen broth really salty and a bit overwhelming. The line ups are a little crazy, but I found the service is pretty fast. 

Website: http://www.santouka.co.jp/en/

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