Finally, a post showcasing one of my favourite ramen restaurants i.e. Santouka! I've been to both branches at Cuppage Terrace and The Central and am glad to report that standards between both locations are largely the same so it probably doesn't matter too much which outlet you go to. However, the Central outlet is a bit more difficult to find since it's at a corner of the mall so you might need to spend a bit more time locating it.
The first time I went to Santouka, I had ordered the shio ramen which I felt was light enough not to have a lingering salty sensation and yet was rich enough for me to taste the flavours of what went into making that stock. Even though I did not order the specialty toroniku then which is supposedly available in limited quantities only, I thought that its normal chashu was already quite good i.e. tender, of the right thickness and not too fatty.
This time, I tried the famous toroniku ramen in shoyu stock. Compared to the shio version, I thought it was a tad heavier on the taste buds but thankfully, it did not leave me scrambling for water in the aftermath. The noodles were also of the right thickness and absorbed the stock well in a way that they did not turn soggy too soon. Sometimes, very thick noodles are used in Hokkaido-style ramen which is not really my cup of tea especially if they can't absorb the stock.What really impressed me was the toroniku i.e. the pork cheeks which were so tender and juicy that I can understand why it's pricier than the usual chashu. Once you've tried this version of the toroniku chashu, I think you might feel that most of the chashu offered in other ramen chains would not make the cut anymore.
As usual, any visit to a ramen place would involve a taste of their gyoza. The version I ordered this time was the kurobuta version which had a nice fragrance when the dish was served. Despite the skin being of the right thickness and having a nice crispy golden-brown surface on one side, I thought the filling was a bit lacking. The kurobuta version certainly didn't taste any different from the usual pork gyozas I've tried at other places before so I do wonder if it's worth paying a bit more for this version. I vaguely remember that the ordinary pork gyoza I tasted during my first visit at the Cuppage Terrace outlet was better though. It could be that the texture of the kurobuta wasn't so noticeable given that the meat was minced and the portion in each gyoza was relatively small. Nonetheless, I was expecting a bit more from this but was slightly disappointed. There's also the chicken version which I've not tasted before so I might give that a try next time. It's really not easy finding the perfect gyoza where the skin and filling meet my expectations.
This was the first time I tried the ebi-fry here and appearance-wise, it looked rather appetising and appealing. In terms of taste, I thought it was passable but I would have wanted to taste the freshness of the prawn underneath that batter. Unfortunately, I got a bit sick of this version after a few more bites because the prawn filling was kinda tasteless. If not for the mayonnaise, I think this would have fared worse in my personal views. It's not to say that this version is lousy but you can probably get something like this in any other Japanese restaurant so it's not really a must-have item here in Santouka. Well, as long as the ramen continues to impress, I'll be back for more ramen.
In all, I would say that Santouka does a great job in its core ramen offerings but it still has a bit of work to do for its side dishes especially if it expects to draw more customers to order items other than ramen only.
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