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2013-08-14
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Santouka is tied with Nantsuttei for the top tasting Ramen shops I've tried so far. Today, the shio ramen we had has maintained it's standards. The tonkotsu (pork bone broth) soup base is very flavorful with the right amount of saltiness combined with the sweetness from the pork bones. The hakata type of ramen is also cooked till the noodles are just springy. I prefer thinner noodles for my ramen, hence this suits me very well. Today's ramen egg is also of the type of consistency I like, with th
Since we have been to Santouka so many times before (but not recently), my hubby assumed that the menu has not changed. Hence, he just sat down and ordered 2 bowls of shio ramen with an extra egg each - our regular and favorite order. Now, I was at the ladies so I couldn't provide my input. Later, once I'm back at my seat, he said, "Funny, the waitress asked me if I wanted a regular or large bowl". He thought regular should be what we've always had and that the large bowl might be an up-sized version so he ordered 2 regular bowls. We quickly flipped through the menu to check and realized to our horror that the new "regular" bowl is actually a smaller version! In fact, the "large bowl" is the regular size we were used to, but the price for it has now increased. Perhaps they offered these 2 sizes so they could make changes (i.e. price increases) to the menu? Since my hubby made the order about 2-3 mins ago, we frantically waved to the waitress to get her attention so that we can make changes to our order in time.
The waitress came over and indicated that she'll take the order from the next table first even though we were rather anxious. Well, after that, she then entertained our request to make the changes to our order to the large bowls. She went back to the chef, then came back and told us that "The chef has just started to cook your order, you cannot change it anymore". Now, that's why we wanted her attention so urgently earlier! If she just spared a few seconds to listen to us and make the change first, then this wouldn't have happened!
My hubby was angry because the two tiny bowls of ramen were not enough for us. Granted, the taste of the ramen was as good as before - it's one of my favorite ramen stalls. However, that cannot compensate for the bitter aftertaste we have in our mouths from the bad experience with the waitress. I'm hoping this is a one-off situation. I'll probably give it another try when I'm in a more forgiving mood.
Small bowl of shio ramenPost
