The next noodle/ramen shop is Santouka on Robson. I've been to Santouka a couple of times but never really think about going there since I always default to Kintaro for ramen. But this time, I didn't feel like anything too heavy and thought about Santouka since their broth there is lighter and less greasy than Kintaro.
Another reason why I don't frequent Santouka is that the prices for their ramen there is slightly higher than most ramen places. It ranges about $10 to $13 for a bowl of ramen, $5 for gyoza and they also charge about $2 extra for corn, an egg or seaweed. The good thing about this place is that there are rice combos where you can add a bowl of salmon, ikura (fish eggs) or cha shu (BBQ Pork) rice to your ramen. The rice combos will run you about $15 per set. And also for $1 more, you can upgrade your ramen to a large size.
We ordered Gyoza, Toroniku Miso Ramen and Cha Shu Miso Ramen.
Gyoza
I like the gyoza at Santouka better than at Kintaro. The gyoza was cooked just right and you can make your own gyoza sauce!
The Toroniku Ramen is simmered pork jowl meat and a specialty at Santouka. The meat and toppings are served separately from the ramen.
I really like the pork. It was so tender and flavourful. And surprisingly, it isn't that fatty. I find that pork jowl is usually really fatty, but this one isn't at all.
Mmmmmm tasty.
This is the large size cha shu miso ramen. The miso broth was a bit grainy and bits got stuck in my throat when I drank the broth. The broth isn't as flavourful as Kintaro's. I prefer Kintaro's miso broth over Santouka's. But I prefer Santouka's Shio broth over Kintaro's. Santouka's Shio Ramen is much better than their Miso Ramen.
The noodles had a bit of a consistency that reminded me of packaged noodles.
Overall Impressions: I find that each ramen place does certain aspects better than others. At Santouka, I like the gyoza, and the Toroniku Shio Ramen. The broth is lighter here and isn't has heavy/greasy as Kintaro's. If I'm in the mood for a lighter ramen, I would definitely head to Santouka.
Hokkaido Ramen Santouka
1690 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC
Phone: 604.681.8121
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