Kuala Lumpur 2012 - Ramen at Santouka Hokkaido Ramen
I have never heard of Santouka Ramen, but apparently they are quite a famous chain of ramen shops in Japan, started in Hokkaido in 1988. They now have an outlet in Kuala Lumpur at Tokyo Street in The Pavilion.
A large light fixture in the middle look a bit out of place for a Japanese joint, but otherwise the decor is simple and cozy. What strikes your attention is the large cloth banner at the entancewith the name of the shop written in very nice caligraphy. Like many Japanese restaurants, they have a display case at the entrance with really life-like plastic replicas of the dishes served.
A large light fixture in the middle look a bit out of place for a Japanese joint, but otherwise the decor is simple and cozy. What strikes your attention is the large cloth banner at the entancewith the name of the shop written in very nice caligraphy. Like many Japanese restaurants, they have a display case at the entrance with really life-like plastic replicas of the dishes served.
I settled for the Ramen Set which was supposed to come with a Salad, A Chawan Mushi, a Rice topped with Char Siu, and a bowl of Ramen. They were out of Chawan Mushi that night, so substituted it with a hard boiled egg (Tomi Tamago) - a bit of a disappointment for me as I love Chawan Mushi !
For the ramen, you have a choice of 3 soups - Shio (salt flavour), Shoyu (soy sauce flavour), or Miso (miso flavour - a bit spicy). You can also up the size of the noodle serving as the set normally comes with a small serving. An additional RM 2 get you the normal size, and an additional RM 6 get you the large size. I opted for the Shoyu Ramen - large size.
For the ramen, you have a choice of 3 soups - Shio (salt flavour), Shoyu (soy sauce flavour), or Miso (miso flavour - a bit spicy). You can also up the size of the noodle serving as the set normally comes with a small serving. An additional RM 2 get you the normal size, and an additional RM 6 get you the large size. I opted for the Shoyu Ramen - large size.
Now for the verdict - the ramen is good ! The soup base has very rich and complex flavours. You can see that they must have boiled the ingredients for a very long time to extract all the flavours out. In fact it tasted a little bit “funky” - the natural gamey taste of pork that is missing from a lot of modern pigs. The Cha Siu made from belly pork was also great - so tender with all the fatty layers that it melts in your mouth.
As for the side dishes - the boiled egg was surprisingly good. It was almost done to perfection - the yolk has just reached its jelly stage and tasted really good.
The salad was nothing to shout about.
The salad was nothing to shout about.
The rice topped with Cha Siu Cubes was a nice accompaniment to the ramen - giving you a different starch to carry the flavours of the broth.
A meal at Santouka would set you back around RM 40 per person. Not really cheap, but you are getting good quality food that has been prepared with a lot of heart and soul. Recommended.
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