Hokkaido Ramen Santouka 山頭火

There are so many ramen restaurants in downtown Vancouver that I have not even tried them all yet. However, I love ramen, especially on a cold, rainy day; It's fast, filling, flavourful, and satisfying. 

Ramen Santouka has locations all over Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the US. They say that they monitor the cooking standards at all their locations, so you can probably expect an authentic bowl of ramen. Though ramen may seem simple to make, but apparently the pork bones are simmered for 20 hours to make the rich, fatty soup base.

Watch the chefs prepare ramen

Round table to share

Other than small tables, Ramen Santouka also has a large round table where they sit together strangers. This reminded me of the cultural in Asia as that would be typical in a restaurant.

The 3 most basic ramen you could get is shio (salt), miso,  and shoyu (soy sauce) for $8.95 a bowl. I got the shio ramen which came with a Japanese pickled plum, pork, fish cake bamboo shoots, scallions, and cloud ears in creamy soup. You also had the option of adding additional sides for an additional charge.

Shio ramen

The pork was too fatty for my liking. The noodles were flavourful and a nice combination with the ear clouds.

Shio ramen 

The shoyu ramen has a soup base that is less creamy as it's made with pork broth and soy sauce. It came with everything that the shio ramen had except the pickled plum, and besides the ear clouds, it came with seaweed.

Shoyu ramen 

They have some special dishes that are only served during the summer months. Now, I've said that a hot bowl of ramen tastes especially good on a cold day, I wonder how a cold bowl of ramen will taste on a hot day.