You should start here first – this is a #ramen marathon.
Santouka’s mild and creamy soup is made by simmering pork bone and pork rib broth for 2 days. You also have several choices of broth, but to be consistant, we again went with the Miso Ramen. Here, you also have the option of doubling the portion of meat upon ordering.
What sets this place a part is the option to substitute the usual pork belly for Toronikia (simmered pork jowl). Because we wanted to compare apples to apples, we stuck with the pork belly, but had to add a side order of the pork jowl to try.
It came presented beautifully!
The soup was a bit too salty, but very tasty. While the pork belly was also good, the Toroniku was the real star of the show. Very very tender. I would say this is a “must” when eating here.
All the action happens in an exposed kitchen which is visible through a glass partition, but you will be glad as it gets pretty hot by the boiling base broth. The restaurant is pretty busy, but the service is fast.
Overall, the soup, noodles and pork belly were good, but I’d have to say Kintaro was better. The one place Santouka beats Kintaro is the pork jowl meat. It’s good enough to make you come back.
photo:shermanfoodadventures.com via urbanspoon.com
Hokkaido Ramen Santouka
1690 Robson St
Vancouver, BC
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