Ramen Santouka

The restaurant is pretty small and that may explain why there is always a queue during peak hours. They cook up a pretty good bowl of ramen and the broth is pretty thick. the Char siew is soft and well-cooked. The eggs are the usual ramen standard where the yolk will be soft and sticky.

Do take note that the char siew rice comes in a pretty small version. The Pork Cheeks ramen is a must try.

The restaurant is simply furnished, with the usual open kitchen which one usually sees in ramen outlets.

2013-01-12

SGD 25(Dinner)

The Ramen restaurant is actually located at a small corner near the escalator of the building. This restaurant is actually quite small and cramped with tables near to each other and walking is just one straight line of in and out (Just good for the staff to bring you the food.) . The air-conditioning inside the restaurant is not any better too as it is very warm inside too (Maybe is due to those hot ramen at each tables) and I actually check with the staff over there and they said nothing can be done as it is centralized air conditioning system by the building.The soup base is one of the best that I have drank so far for Ramen as it consist of Salt, Soy Sauce and the soybean. Better taste than miso if to state more clearly but still a bit too salty if you drink too much of it. Ramen itself is as good as the miso but this one include with a small bowl of rice which you need to pour it into the soup base to eat after you have finished your Ramen. New experience and taste nice but I would hope the taste will not be so salty (At least for me).The miso soup base is nice but might be a bit salty if drink too much while the ramen is not bad with half cut boiled egg.

2012-09-29

Im a big fans of ramen,been going around to try differences store,
Long heard of this,i saw there's deal for this last month so i bought it
Last week went there for dinner,arrived about 6.45pm,there's totally no queue at all,but after we are done,going out ,we saw the queue was super long
The set cost $9.80 cause i bought the deal online
It come with a small bowl of rice,ramen & tea
The bowl of rice tasted normal
Ramen -the noodles was not nice,not QQ enough,but the soup base was really nice,very rich but not oily,
char siew was soft & tender,The egg was just nice,won't overcooked
Service was just so so,Once i show the staff my coupon,she just ask me what i want,never show me menu,serving time was very fast
Overall i rate 8/10

Having heard so many people rave about Santouka's ramen, and seeing frequent long queues during dinner time at its Central outlet, made me wonder what is so good about the ramen this restaurant serves. Since I could meet my friend for an early dinner, I suggested to check out this ramen joint as the dinner queue would not start so early.

On the menu, the chef recommendation is the Tokusen Toroniku (Pork Cheek) Shio Ramen, however I didn't feel like spending too much that day and hence decided to give it a miss, but try out the Mixed Soup Ramen ($14++) instead.Why is it called Mixed Soup Ramen? This is because they mix 3 types of soup base into 1 bowl: Salt-based, Soy-based and Miso-based. There were bamboo shoots and char siu as well as a tamago in the ramen. Furthermore, as seen from the picture, a bowl of rice was also given, which is meant for one to pour into the broth after finishing the ramen. I thought it sounded interesting when I was deciding which to order.

The char siu slices were quite fatty. They tasted more like lap cheong (chinese sausages) and my friend didn't like the taste, but I am ok with it, just thought was a bit funny to have such taste in Japanese ramen! There was nothing to rave about the tamago, I like the yolk runny like this, but the ones they serve here weren't marvellous. We couldn't really figure out the 3 types of soup base in our broth, just knew that it was salty. Haha

There was a lot of ramen and by the time I finished it, I was already full (although I started my meal with a hungry stomach) and did not pour the whole bowl of rice into my broth. Instead I only scooped 2 spoonfuls into the broth to try out how it would taste. Not sure if it was because I was already full, I did not find anything special by adding the rice into my broth.

After this meal, I am not sure why Santouka is so popular as I think I definitely have tasted better Japanese ramen in Singapore. Don't think I will queue for it to satisfy my ramen cravings in the future too.

2012-04-05

SGD 16.50(Dinner)

Its my first time together with my friend to this restaurant.
And my friend said it was nice so i came along and order this : tokusen toroniku ramen.
Before we were being served, you can see their service to the other consumers are very polite and sincere. The environment inside is nice and cozy.I think that the soup base is not oily and is tasty with the ingredients put inside! And when you drink the soup, you wouldn't think of the msg or what that is inside, because it is simply delicious together with the ramen and the meat inside. Hence i finished all up!! (:
It's worth the money!

Salt flavour (Shio) Ramen is the signature soup noodle of santouka.

More pic at http://monsoontravel.blogspot.com/2010/09/santouka-hokkaido-ramen.html

The tonkotsu soup is rich and strong in flavour. Besides the pork taste, you can actually taste the salt after slurping in the soup.

We ordered the signature pork cheeks salt flavour ramen. They serve the pork cheeks in slices, its tender, smooth and the fats on the cheeks are yummy. Only realised those fats when we flipped over the meat slices

The third stop of our tour - Ramen Santouka or らーめん 山頭火. As mentioned in my previous writeup just a couple of weeks back, Santouka is known for its shio(salted) ramen which has been consistently ranked #1 by Japan's media and magazines.

The place was rather quiet as it was after the busy lunch period, a far cry from my last visit when I had to queue up for about 25mins before I could get a table. The view itself is worth a mention if you happen to get window seats. It overlooks Clarke Quay and the river in between, which definitely beats staring at blank walls.

Shoyu Ramen - We ordered all 4 different soup base ramen to try, with the first being the Shoyu (soya sauce) ramen. I personally found the shoyu base a little unsettling because it was rich and milky yet had a very distinctive soya sauce aftertaste. Not exactly my cup of tea. The noodles were springy and looked uncannily like instant noodles though. The toro niku didn't seem as salty as my previous visit, which was a welcome relief of course, especially for someone who was already stuffed to the brim from Wakashachiya and Ma Maison.
I was too full to try the salmon rice but I understand from one of my dining partners that it was quite good, but then again it might be biased because he likes salmon.

Miso Ramen - This soup base tasted like a slightly watered down version of miso soup. And not being an ardent fan of miso soup meant that I had problems stomaching too much of this as well. It certainly didn't help that I was bloated by then. 2 mouthfuls of this and I raised the white flag.

Shio Ramen - The shio (salted) broth suited me best. Rich and milky with a very distinctive pork taste. And since I only ate 2 mouthfuls, there was no chance of it making me nauseous like the previous episode.

I have came across the great reviews of this place from magazines, and finally got to taste it on my own.When you come to Santouka, the one thing you have to order is tokusen toroniku ! The all-time favourite & best selling ramen of the shop!The soup base tasted awesome! So rich and of good flavour! Nevertheless, the highlight of this ramen has to be the pork! The simmered pork cheek meat are so tender and juicy.Surprisingly, that layer of fat won't leave you an oily sicky feeling! The meat is so well-marinated that you will keep asking for more!And while you are there, don't forget to order the onsen eggs.. it's definitely an awesome side dish to add on to your already yummy ramen!

2011-10-15

SGD 21(Lunch)

the set meal at santouka is indeed filling. my friend recommended me and my girlfriend here for some delicious japanese food. in the set meal, there was rice, soup and salad. the rice is really good, very sticky. the soup is a little oily though, but the ingredient is quite a lot. the meat is very tender and juicy. the salad is very light and refreshing, sort of remove the oiliness from the soup.

Had Santouka Miso Ramen for dinner. Went together with a group of friends at Clarke Quay Central , second floor. Long queue and we waited for around 30 mins before getting a seat. Probably because its a friday and it dinner crowd. But all wait was worth it.

The soup base for miso ramen was good and the best part of it was the pork. You can taste the layer of fats and tender meat melts on your mouth and it is sliced to thin pieces nicely presented and cooked.

My friends had the shio ramen and spicy shio ramen, had a try of the soup base, really good. On next visit i will eat the shio ramen because its to my liking and if i were to choose between shio and miso, definitely shio.

Down thing about clarke quay santouka is that the restaurant is really small, and for the 5 of us on a full crowd day, we had the table of four and an additional chair. other than that its really awesome.

Located at Central, Level 2, near to the washrooms and side entrance of Billy Bombers and Grains.The shop’s size is as small as it’s exterior – estimated maximum capacity of 40 persons. Service is prompt and water is provided at no charge, which many dining places are lacking now. Though it’s just water, without lemon or anything, it’s still an added service. Due to the small space, seats are placed very close to each other. Not a recommended place for private conversation or gathering – it’s eat and go. Hmm, nevertheless, I think this is a characteristic of Japanese eateries.

Their flexibility service is commendable too. I asked if the rice in my set could be exchanged for more vegetable salad, the server asked if I would like to have other exchange and recommended the braised egg, which tasted good with my ramen set. Despite a Sunday afternoon, the shop is rather packed with locals and Japanese. I always have this conception that if there are significant numbers of Japanese dining in a Japanese restaurant – the food should be of good standard.Ramen is good – not too chewy and does not have an alkaline taste. But the soup base is what that owes me over – full of flavor and does not has a ‘jer lak’ feeling after gulping the entire bowl of soup down. The pork slices, too, are packed with flavor, soft, and very juicy! Too bad, there’s only ONE pork slice. It’ll be even better if there are more pork slices, especially the prices are a bit on the high side ~

I hereby marking it as one of my favorite Japanese Ramen restaurants. Ops, did I mention that the queue for dinner is HORRIBLY LONG ~

SGD 20

I have heard good reviews about this place and decided to try it one afternoon with my friend. We tried the Shoyu ramen. The soup was really tasty but for those who can't take really salty stuff may not be able to take the shoyu soup base. We ordered an additional serving of the soft boiled eggs. The eggs were really runny and soft, went very well with the ramen. It was a must-have dish with japanese ramen. We had gyozas too. They were a little bit oily but overall, they tasted very good.

SGD 15(Lunch)

We read about reviews before we stepped in this restaurant. It was a compat Jap restaurant, hence very Jap feel. There were local as well as Japanese families dinning.

We tried their limited offer fatty pork ramen with pork bone soup and high in carbohydrate ramen set.

Very first thing we did was spoonful of soup to taste, wow, really good and fragrance, you could taste it was boiling for long hours. The soup won our first love!

I have a bite of fatty pork, it wasn't my type of meat though. It was too soft to my taste. Whereas my set was having the normal char siew and 溫泉蛋, they were good too. The egg was cooked just right, very rich egg yoke taste. Half way of our ramen and soup, we felt full almost, it was tough for me to finish the small bowl of rice at the end. If you need carbo rich food, this set definitely is for you.

Probably the soup base was too rich, it could fill you up. Having said that we were very happy and satisfy with the meal.

After we foot our bill, they passed us a card with a stamp, tempting us to go back. I would like to if I have a urge of authentic Jap ramen.

2011-04-28

SGD 15(Lunch)

Santouka's Japanese egg is very flavourful!The egg yolk itself is very fresh and though the egg yolk is abit salty but tastes just as nice!

The egg white is soft in the inside but tough on the outside. One of the best Japanese egg eaten so far at any Japan restaurants.So delicious that you can even eat it on its own without the ramen.

The noodle of miso ramen is not very springy but overall taste of the ramen is three times better than the aoba ramen at ion which is highly over-rated and overpriced.

Wolfed down the ramen within mintues as it was very nice!The waiter and waitress were very prompt in their service.Thumbs up!