Ramen Santouka

Have heard about the long queue at the outlet at Central so was quite curious to try and new outlet at Cuppage. Having the 1-4-1 coupon from 8Days helped of course.

They don't take reservations so had to leave my name at 7pm on a weekday evening for an indoor seating. Small seating as well so the place fills up quite quickly.

Tonkusen Toroniku ($16.80) - this came with 3 choices of soup base: shio (salt), miso, or spicy. I picked the shio after reading up prior to my visit and found it very nicely balanced, with just the right amount of fragrant but not overbearing milky porky broth. Didnt taste like there was an overkill of salt as well.

The ramen itself was a bit thinner than most but had the right amount of spring in it and thankfully not overcooked.

The supposedly highlight of the dish was the pork cheeks which came on a side plate, as with all the garnishes. Clever of them. It was the first time I had pork cheeks and my first piece tasted wonderfully tender and rich. But the salt quantum and fatty bits took a toll on me a few pieces later, with me carefully scrapping off the fats for the last few and ultimately not finishing it.

I had a taste of the spicy base also, which I thought was quite good as it had the fragrance of the bean paste. Nice.

Despite the pork cheeks being overly salty, I will still pick this over Ippudo in general. Better soup and better ramen :D

Heard many good things about Santouka or らーめん 山頭火 since its opening at Central a couple of months back so popped by for dinner one weekend. Santouka originates from Hokkaido and has a chain of about 50 stores in Japan. Their shio (salted) ramen has been praised by many as one of the best around.

Hidden in an obscure corner of Central just behind Grains, Santouka occupies a small dining area which overlooks Clarke Quay and the river. Sitting capacity probably peaks at about 30 pax so queues are a common sight. Just for the record, I had to wait for a good 25 mins for a table at 745pm on a Saturday evening.

Char Siew Rice Shio - This came as a set consisting of char siew rice, char siew ramen (shio) and an egg. Honestly, the ramen looked like instant noodles to me but thankfully, it tasted a whole lot better - springy and light. The milky pork base broth was rather rich and intense in flavour and had a very distinctive pork taste. Not that its really a good thing though because it made me nauseous after a while. The char siew slices were a little too soft for my liking and it didn't help that they were salty. The char siew rice was average, but at least the rice helped to neutralise the saltiness of the char siew. As for the egg, I've never eaten such stuff before but I didn't quite take to it as the texture of the egg white was a little jelly like, which turned me off.

Toro Niku Shio Ramen - Toro Niku is precious cheek meat from a pig and is said to have the right amount of fat and tenderness. I agree to a certain extent. Right amount of fat, yes. Tenderness, a little too tender if you ask me. And it was plain salty which made me uneasy after a while. It definitely didn't help that the broth was rich. Salty and milky equals a recipe for nausea, for me at least. As with the char siew shio ramen, the ramen itself was springy and light.

Tokusen Toroniku - This was a side order of the beef cheek, which did seem like a mistake after all. A little too tender and salty, just like the ones that came with the Toro Niku Shio Ramen. And $8 for 6 slices of meat isn't exactly value for money honestly.

Dinner for 2 came up to a nice round figure of $50 and we walked out feeling nauseous. That's too much milky and salty stuff for you. In all fairness, the ramen was actually very decent but I still prefer Tampopo's rendition, if anything, for the pork. For me, once is enough. I really don't fancy queuing up for 30 mins just to have a go at Santouka again.

See all my pictures here.