Location: 1690 Robson St.Vancouver,BC V6G 1C7
Phone: (604) 681-8121 | Hours: 11:00am – 10:00pm
Website: http://www.santouka.co.jp/en/index.html
Last week, my mom and I were in downtown because I had to driver her to her doctor’s appointment and so we decided to stay in downtown for lunch. The weather that morning was on and off rain, but it was super cold! Well, cold for the normal Vancouverite. Normally we would go for dim sum because she’s a hardcore fan of “yum cha” (dim sum in Chinese). But, it was too cold. So, we decided to go for a bowl of hot ramen. I took out my BlackBerry while she was doing her check-up, and searched up ramen places in Vancouver and found Santouka Hokkaido Ramen on Robson. I had Kintaro on my mind, but I was in a mood for something new.
We walked in 5 minutes before noon, and got seated right away. The restaurant was 80% full then, since it was lunchtime. But after we ordered, it was packed. There were at least 10+ people waiting in line. My mind quietly said, “yes! we beat the crowd again. Grin!” One thing that I didn’t really like about this place is the lack of room for your jackets and bags or whatever you may have. They have baskets on the sides (you can vaguely see one on the left-hand corner) for your belongings, but not much. Especially on a cold winter day.
The setup of the cutlery on the table reminds me of many Pho places in Vancouver. You’ve got your chopsticks, spoons, spices and napkins. It’s pretty much the same at Santouka, but they also have toothpicks! I wonder what could be stuck between your teeth when you’re having noodles. I was rather intrigued by the setup, it was just too nicely stacked.
On to the food.
I decided to go with the originals. I think there’s a tactic with trying new food, if they can’t make their original menu good, they can’t be far off with their special menu. Their originals included Shio Ramen (Salt Flavour), Miso Ramen (Miso Flavour), and Shoyu Ramen (Soy Sauce Flavour). There was also a Tokusen Toroniku Ramen (Choice Pork Ramen), which was pork cheek (jowl) meat served with their signature ramen. I decided to for their Shio Ramen. A signature ramen which is served with a mild and creamy soup seasoned with salt. It’s served with 2-3 slices of pork, and topped with a Japanese pickled plum. I thought the broth was rather salty for my liking. It was really creamy though, which I liked. You can pick from a regular size or a large size, this is the regular. I think the large size is mainly more noodles and a bigger bowl, not necessarily more ingredients. The regular bowl was a good one person serving, I wasn’t stuffed, but I also wasn’t hungry. It was just the right amount.
When it comes to food, my mom is quite the expert! And quite the adventure type as well. She ordered the “Dan Dan Men”, which was the chef’s special only available in winter. I was actually quite surprise they served this at a ramen store. In Chinese, we also have this and it’s also called “Dan Dan Men”. I had a small spoonful of mom’s broth, it was not too spicy. Actually, not spicy at all. There was no meat in this bowl of noodles. And I was surprised they served this with the same ramen from their normal ramen bowls. For $10.95, I don’t think it was quite worth the whole 11 dollars. But, it was a good try.
Overall, good food. Prices are on the more expensive side for a bowl of noodles, which makes value only fair. The temperature inside the restaurant was hot! I literally had to take off all my clothes, just kidding! The lack of space for belongings needs to be improved. The ambiance is quite modern and clean for a ramen restaurant.