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Mon-Sun. 11:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
When there is a line that goes out the door waiting to get a bowl of authentic ramen, then you have arrived at Santouka. Well at least over at the location off Saratoga Rd but I think each one of this chain has a similar problem because this place has the best ramen i've tasted in the Bay Area. Better than Santa (and closer drive) and better than Kahoo, to which I thought had the best ramen and coincidentally is less than 1000 ft away.
When I saw CC's review on this, I knew that this place was a must check out because god knows I'm a big noodle whore. When I got there I only waited like 20 minutes but after having a bowl, it was well worth the wait! The soup is soo tasty and isn't too salty, for my tastes at least. I got the large spicy soy bean and it was so good that I lick clean the bowl.
The place itself is in an interesting location being inside a Japanese super market and I guess it works real well as it can hold up many customers through their food court type seating. As you wait in line, there is actually visuals for the food so you can get an idea of what you want to get and it gives you something to do while you wait because I have never seen this place without at least 10 people in line.
Even as I write this review out, I am already thinking about when I am getting my next bowl so if you like noodles, do yourself a favor and come get in line and see for yourself. It makes for perfect rainy day food and I think it's going to rain today..
Van The Man Must Try : XL Spicy Soy bean Combo with two small styrofoam cups of water
Came here from lunch. This place is literally across the street from where I live and on opening day, the line went around the block, so I am curious how good is the food.
I ordered a spicy soy bean ramen. First thing: nice broth, not too salty, lots of flavor. Second thing: the noodles tasted very fresh, had a little bounce when bitten into (or as Taiwanese would say 'Q'). There was a slight taste of alkaline which I like.
The regular size bowl was quite expensive at about $7. But one could really taste a difference between the noodle here and the other food court store.
Another overhyped establishment thanks to Yelp. Of course, it is no fault to the Santouka people themselves, since they never asked for such attention, but it may also ultimately hurt business, as it sets up greater than usual expectations that can rarely be met.
I'm not going to lie. I always walk into a restaurant with as clear a mind as possible, but obviously, if the source from which I learned about the place boasts such high acclaim, even the best of us can be influenced. Alas, here I was at Santouka.
It was a planned trip from weeks in advance. Not wanting to brave the massive crowds, I decided that a weekday would be a better time to visit, but when would I have a free weekday? Veteran's Day! I guess there is a joke somewhere in there about eating Japanese food on Veteran's Day, but I'll save that for someone else.
Since my favorite Yelper also had the day off, we both hauled arse on down to the South Bay in high anticipation. When we arrived, the line wasn't particularly long to the naked eye, but ... well, this issue has already been discussed ad nauseum by everyone else, so I won't get into the details.
We ordered one of each of the shio and miso ramen with pork, with a side of salmon roe. After that X amount of time feeling like I was at the DMV, the moment had come for what I had thought would be a piece of pure zen sex magic.
Let's just say this. It's a good thing Santouka is inside Mitsuwa because I had to literally stock up on the beverages shortly afterwards (can't go wrong with Kirin mik tea). This ramen was SAAAL-TYYY. And this goes for both of ours. Now, I'm definitely not one of those sodium averse individuals, nor do I get dry mouth easily, but man, this stuff had me drinking water like a camel for the rest of the day. To top it off, the pork wasn't even soft, and actually quite dry.
To this day, I had never cursed any establishment I had discovered through Yelp, but this time I was getting darn close! Now, don't get me wrong. The ramen here certainly isn't horrible, but worthy of the praise shown here on this very website? Hardly. Had I just stumbled upon Santouka while shopping at Mitsuwa, I wouldn't have minded the taste, and probably would have thought it was pretty darn good.
Hey, we all get caught slipping every once in awhile. Despite my knack for not letting opinions sway me, I must say, I really got duped this time. With all these Yelp testimonials of the highest regard, I was expecting nothing less than the finest darn noodle adventure I had ever embarked on. This proves without a doubt that high ratings on Yelp are not always a blessing for some establishments. (most of my favorites average around 3.5 - 4 stars.)
To Santouka's credit, the salmon roe was rather scrumptious, and I had a blast bursting them in my mouth. However, it was far too little to salvage the meal as a whole, and the ultimate 2.5 star rating from Eric W.
P.S. I have just noticed that more recent reviews have brought the score back down to earth. The average was a bit higher when I went.
Best Ramen Place yet for me, and I've tried about six or seven of the usual hyped & non-hyped spots on the SF/Peninsula. I am SOOO happy that they've opened this one inside the Mitsuwa Supermarket in San Jose. Be warned: As this restaurant replaced what was essentially a refrigerated self-serve sushi counter, dining accommodations are spartan. They also share seating with another Japanese place (good for curry rice, etc) in front of the supermarket checkout counters. I went during the middle of a weekday - around 2pm, and I still had to stand behind about ten other people in a roped-up squiggle line before making my order up at the counter. Once you order, they give you a number, so go find a seat and wait/salivate - just like In-n-Out, but for RAMEN!! Don't mind the scene - just enjoy the GREAT ramen!
Today's choice for me was the Soy Paste Ramen with extra Char Siu Pork. I ordered the regular size because I also wanted to sample their pork over rice side dish ($2.49) as well. The bowl of ramen looks deceivingly small due to the small diameter of the bowl, but it was a DEEP bowl of broiling super tasty thick and flavorful miso/soy paste broth with ramen, thick slices/slabs of fresh super-tender char-siu fatty pork and a few extra condiments (bamboo shoots, seaweed, and a little slice of fish cake). Accompanying my bowl of ramen was the "pork rice" which was basically little bits of marinated tender pork (falls apart in your mouth) over Japanese rice. Perfect texture and complement to the Ramen. Very tasty as well. I thought I was going to take some of it home, but hey, I couldn't stop. =) SOOO Delectable.
I guess it also helps that I went here "blind" - no reading of other reviews and without any prior recommendations, so my expectations were moderate at best going in. So just forget what I've said, and what I'm about to say, and just head on over there!
As far as I am concerned, Santouka is my new favorite ramen spot. Shame I gotta drive all this way from up north to savor it, but I too will be back for more.
Kokono Ramen mechakucha oishiiyo!!
Translation: The ramen at this place is super duper yummy!!
This ramen spot in the south bay is probably the best in the entire Bay. I've gone to a dozen "good" places, but this place has to be the best. I've gone to at least 65 different ramen spots in Japan in the years I've visited, and this place... it's good. :)
I hear they have another location down in Los Angeles too... probably their original location. Friend says it tastes the same! You order and you pick up when they call your number. You seat yourself and there are folks that will take your tray after you're finished. If you go on the weekend, get ready for a line. The bf and I waited in a line with about 10 people in front of us when we got there around 3PM on a Saturday. Then we waited about another 15 minutes to get our food so we were able to get a seat while we waited. We've tried the spicy miso and the regular miso with extra cha shu. Their pork is fatty, oh SOOOO yummy!!!
**NOTE** THEY ARE CASH ONLY!!! They have a BofA ATM machine in there and the cashiers at the grocery store DOES NOT give cash back on Debit Card purchases!!
I love that they're in the Mitsuwa grocery store, since you can grab a yummy Japanese drink from their refrigerated area and bring it back. AND of course you can go and shop for great Japan imported groceries after you stuff yourself with ramen.
I can't wait to go back!!! *drool*
I liked the miso broth, and the topping. The noodles were a little too soft for my taste. Of course they didn't have the combination of sides that I wanted so I had to go ala carte.
The bowl of marinated pork over rice was fantastic. I could have eaten a bowl for dessert.!
I don't like the tiny waters they give, and I couldn't hear the numbers being called, and cash only is a little irksome, but all in all, a good noodle experience.
This place is certainly hyped up enough, don't you think? I finally found some time to get over there. I arrived just after they opened and there was no line - yay!
I had the #12 - think that is the Soy based soup. It was very good - I liked the texture of the noodles, and the green onion. Maybe a few too many sesame seeds for my liking.
What else can I say that the other 209 Yelper's haven't already said?? It was good. It was a bit expensive for the amount of soup. And it left me pretty thirsty. But I will go back again, and try another broth and get a larger bowl this time.
This rating is purely for the food.
Santouka is inside a Japanese grocery store. Yes, I said inside a grocery store. Place your order at the counter, might I suggest the ramen in salt broth. This little japanese lady said it rivals the broth in Sapporo Japan. Thank you obachan, I know what I am going to order now.
After you place your oder head into the grocery store to find yourself a japanese drink. My favorite is Oi ocha. Find a seat in the cafeteria style seating and wait for your number to be called.
This is some of the best Ramen ever! The pork is tender, the fixings are fresh, and most of all the broth is delicious. Slurp away and enjoy!
FOOD:
Ramen - Dang I forgot what broth I got. Prolly Shouyu.... Gah it looks just like Naruto ramen! It has all the toppings I like! And it was all just so yummy ^______^ yatta! Finally found a Southbay Ramen place I like!
SERVICE:
Order and pickup at counter.
ATMOSPHERE:
It's in the Japanese grocery store :P So not really much of an atmosphere. Unless you actually like pretending you're in Japan like me, coz everyone else is kinda Japanesey. It's cute tho, like watching Japanese families eating lunch, or like one time seeing a grown man sitting alone reading a manga. haha. But the food is worth it. Plus if you wanted to pick up Japanese groceries or browse the lil Japanese nick nack store, or the Japanese book store in the next building over.. Then's all good.
I eat here every Monday for a little tradition I started called Ramenday, which is exactly what you think it is.
It's the best ramen in the south bay and I'm glad that the guy who used to only make ramen once a year for that festival thing decided to open a shop in the food court.
You order and pay up-front so there's no need to wait for a check or a table. Buy yourself a drink in the market (preferably Mitsuya Cider [because it tastes like Japan]) while you wait for your order.
After you eat, go home and fall asleep. You will without a doubt have a wonderful dream.
I must say this place seems overhyped to me. I have very salty taste and prefer my food quite salty, but goodness their broth is SALTY! At first I thought it was delicious, but 3/4 of the way through my bowl, I couldn't have anymore because it was so salty. Their noodles are hard and not chewy, and they boil pre-packaged portions instead of using fresh housemade noodles like Maru Ichi does. They give you only 2 small pieces of meat on your ramen unless you pay for extra, and their other toppings are the canned/dry variety.
I've been back a few times and have tried three broths and two of the side bowls, and still am not a huge fan. Maybe I had high expectations. Overall, not horrible though, I just prefer Maru Ichi and Ryowa. Santouka is still better than some other ramen places that I won't call out though! Therefore a rating right down the middle: three stars.
I am very curious to try the one in LA to compare!
We made our way over the Santouka after a full hour of tiring trampoline jumping, ball dodging, and other shenanigans. I've heard many great things about this ramen place, so I was psyched to finally be able to check it out.
It's inside of an Asian supermarket! Whoo, so unpretentious!
I thoroughly enjoyed my spicy ramen (#31 - http://www.yelp.com/bi...). And the fact that we can walk into the supermarket to choose our drink and then sit down is awesome.
FYI - you can't drink beer at the seats. The security guard came over and gave our friends paper bags =X
This place is hard to find unless you know Japanese. Despite the menu is bilingual in English and Japanese, there is no English sign that say Santouka at this restaurant. The Japanese signage is pretty authentic, the Japanese words Santouka Ramen (lit. hill top fire) are written vertically on couple of flags, and horizontally from right to left on the banner over the counter. The banner looks like a calligraphy art work endorsed by its main store in Japan. http://www.santouka.co.jp/ Definitely not typical westernized signs that read from left to right. Go through the photo section and memorize how the Japanese sign looks like because you won't see Santouka even if you are right in front of it.
My friend told me about this place. But as expected, he could not tell me the name because there is no English sign he could refer to. We found this place by description. There are two similar places inside the Mitsuwa supermarket. The long line on the left gives this away.
The ramen was good. The pork (chashu?) was the best I have had. Even better than that from Ramen Hulu a few blocks away. The soup base was pretty heavy. We sat at a table where we could peek into the kitchen. I saw that guy put a generous scoop of miso on the bottom of each bowl. If you order the miso flavor, you can expect a rich thick, almost paste like soup at the bottom where the broth and miso paste may or may not mix well. Next time, I would stir the noodle crazy before eating. BTW, the miso paste gave me some MSG reactions, though not too much. I believe MSG is a natural by product from the miso brewing process. I read another yelp review here that say the salt flavor soup is way too salty. So it is the lesser of the two evils, salt or MSG? I think they also have shoyu (soy sauce) flavor.
Almost forgot. Price is around $9, bento with a bowl of rice is 10 something or $11+ after tax. It is like food court style seating. No waiter, just bus boys.
My review is for the RAMEN place in the market. The ramen place is a well-kept secret that only Asians in the South Bay know about. The ramen is excellent, on par with Santa Ramen in San Mateo and other great ramen places. (Don't confuse the ramen place with the regular Japanese food counter next to it. The ramen place is to the left when you face the counters.)
The salt pork ramen is the best with the spicy one a close second. This place gets insanely crowded during rush times so if you don't want to wait an hour for ramen, get here early. The cook and counter people are all Japanese (this place is authentic!) so don't ask too many questions or get real picky. It'll throw them for a major loop and people behind you will not like you very much. Their soy sauce eggs are awesome too. I usually get the extra pork salt ramen (make mine a large!) and while I wait, I go into the market to buy a yogurt drink. The ramen here is worth a drive from other parts of the Bay Area, unless you live in Japan Town.
Sometimes people get frustrated with the line for ramen and will go next door to the other Japanese counter. It's not as good although if you're starving I wouldn't blame you for trying it. Don't confuse the two places or you'll miss out!
Talk about off the beaten path .... this is certainly off the beaten path for this native midwesterner. The ramen at this place is apparently very good for the Japanese-prevalent patrons of the Mitsuwa Marketplace (which, by the way, has the most extensive selection of rice cookers I've ever noticed under one roof!).
The ramen soup was excellent at Santouka! Was it really $10 or so great? Well, I'd say it could use a little more meat and stuff, but the overall taste and fulfillment were pretty darn good.
The line was pretty long ... and it took while, because of the many orders ahead of us, to actually get the ramen ... but it was totally worth it. I don't know that I'd make a special drive from San Francisco, but if you happen to be passing through ... or want to give a culture shock to some out-of-town visiting friends/relatives, this is an excellent place to visit!
An Asian friend dragged me here promising that it's the greatest ramen on earth, or at least in the bay area. I guess with such high expectations set it's difficult not to be disappointed.
We didn't experience the long lines like others have written, so that was good, but otherwise the ramen was just a-ok. I had the soybean based broth, and my friend had the soy-based broth, which I got to taste as well. Both were decent, but nothing earth-shattering like some of the other reviewers have said. I guess it's truely different tastes for different folks.
The prices were on the expensive side, though. Ten dollars for extra pork? Wow.
All in all, it's an ok place, but nothing amazing like the other reviewers believe.
/Shrug
1 star for the toroniku, super amazing melt in your mouth pork with ramen
1 star for location, local to me at least
1 star for overall ramen goodness!
MUST get Toroniku! The pork is amazingly cooked. If I could just buy the pork I would.
Also ordered the Miso (soy) ramen. The pork slices are normally cooked (nothing amazing); soup base was a little too oily for me. LOVE the bamboo shoots that come with the ramen.
This place would get more stars for me if the lines wernt so long and if the place wasn't so crowded. For reference, this place is like a food court style place, with only 2 choices.
This place is all hype and no bite. It could very well be the most overrated place listed here on Yelp.
Let me list the reasons as to why this place sucks:
1) Absolutely no value. I paid $8.64 for a small bowl of ramen that costs ten cents at the store. This very small bowl of ramen was very salty, had hard noodles, and two measly pieces of low quality pork. It shouldn't cost more than $1.50 to make it. Go ahead and charge me $5 or maybe $6, but $7.99 plus tax is ridiculous!
2) Not Muslim friendly. Please do not take any of your Muslim friends here. Everything here is pork based. The pork miso broth is way too salty. Plus, the pork itself was low quality and not that good. I'd rather eat a Sausage McMuffin.
3) Most importantly, it was not La Novia friendly. She doesn't eat red or the "other" white meat. Just chicken and seafood. So she had to watch me eat something that wasn't that good.
In the end, I would have given this place 2 stars since the food was somewhat edible. But the fact that is way overpriced, makes me drop the ranking to 1 star. Sorry, but that's the Yelp goes sometimes.
After getting about halfway through my meal of salty broth, hard noodles, and two little pieces of crappy pork, I gave up on it. It just wasn't that good and wasn't worth the potential heart attack.
So La Novia and I ran off to go eat some Pho. It was more bang for my buck and MSG never tasted so good.
In the end, Santouka is basura!
Ever been to Japan?...I mean the REAL Japan. Well, you can save the airfare and come here to the Mitsuwa Marketplace in Saratoga. It feels so much like a suburban Tokyo supermarket that I felt like I was late for the bullet train to Okayama. Somebody get me the white gloves, so I can shove my suited brethren into a subway car. Santouka is exactly the type of noodle house you'd find in one of these supermarkets - neatly tucked away with a snaking line waiting to make their orders of ramen. The tables are crowded with so many fellow Japanese-Americans that I felt at home.
Jamie W. and I were on our way back from the Gilroy Discount Outlets when we stopped in and saw the streams of crowds. I was ready to turn right around, but I said to myself, "Dammit, stop being a wimp, and order up some ramen for you and your guy." I stared quite a long time at the plastic replicas of the ramen bowls in the display case before settling on two orders of the $10.45 Extra Pork Large Size bowls with soy sauce flavored broth and two smaller bowls of rice with slow-cooked pork, green onions and sesame seeds ($2.49 each) (see my photos). Squeezed in our little plastic chairs in a densely populated seating area, we waited a good half-hour before our ramen was ready.
It was very good but in a different way. The ramen noodles were cooked al dente with a slight chew to them, and the pork was sliced thinly over the top. The soy sauce flavor lent a creamier texture than I expected, but that may have something to do with the skin of grease on the broth, which I assume helped keep the ramen at a warm temperature when served. That's kind of the same logic used to justify freezer burn on a tub of ice cream, isn't it? Oh well, this type of ramen apparently comes from Hokkaido (the northern island of Japan, you plebeian) - so I'll give in to tradition as well as my penchant for grease.
The pork bowl was a nice complement since it was like bacon in a bucket. The nice thing is that you can dump it all into the leftover broth and continue enjoying the ramen. I'm not sure if I broke any dining etiquette rules there, but I noticed three people do the same after I did it. Such a trend setter I am, or a bad influence. I can't decide. But alas, I must leave Tokyo for now since we have an hour's drive ahead of us. Definitely worth a stop down here if Tampopo has let you down lately.
FOOD - 4 stars...snow country ramen is what I'd call it with al dente noodles and a creamy broth
AMBIANCE - 3.5 stars...like a food court in a suburban supermarket...in Yokohama!
SERVICE - 3 stars...just point and pay (just cash, no cards)...everything looked pretty good to me
TOTAL - 4 stars...the South Bay has ramen houses worth checking out...don't be a snob.
This place mostly gets four stars because I loved the Santouka in Japan, so eating it here kind of reminds me and my boyfriend of our adventures in Tokyo. We ate at Santouka in Shibuya, and Shinjuku in Tokyo. Some of the biggest differences? The broth here is not as thick and hearty, and they're always running out of the toriniko (the special dish that always says SOLD OUT and is pork cheek that is sliced and placed in a separate dish than the ramen bowl). In Japan you could get toriniko at all hours of the day and the broth was so thick it was great.
In addition to the best dish always running out, the lines here are long, the hours are unpredictable (they were closed today on a Friday night as of 7 pm - um, really?), and it's in a shopping plaza, which makes parking a nightmare. You get to eat in a food court like area while watching shoppers wrestle groceries, children, and family out the door (or sometimes into the eating area). When the lines are long, there is no where to sit, and you can't exactly eat ramen on the go.
Inspite of the shortcomings, we've been here to eat twice. We've ordered the shio and the spicy miso. Still really great thick soup, chewy noodles, and flavorful and tender pork. But it's no Tokyo ramen!
Last time I had natto I thought something crawled into my roll and died. Being the taste tester for Andrew Zimmern made me re-think that last experience and to give natto another try. This time it came to me in a bowl and it looked alive...bubbling, sticky, and ready to strangle my taste buds. Let's just say it will be another 15 years before I try it again.
We all expect greatness from things that are hyped up. Yelpers who set the bar high didn't do this place justice, because I came in here expecting great. What I got was good.
The miso base was great, and so was the pork. Noodles were average, and the bowl of natto was.......well.......natto my liking.
I'll give this place another try, but next time I'll change my expectations.
So I finally made it out here, after hearing so much about it, and seeing so many reviews on it. I guess I would have come much sooner, but the reports about very long lines kinda made me shy away since I didn't want to wait in line, with high expectations of the food, and then be let down because my expectations were too high.
So ended up here with my cousin for lunch one day since it was close to both of us. So I haven't been to Mitsuwa for a while, so the layout of the place looked a little different to me, and the cafeteria section now has Santouka.
So looking through the selection, I ended up with the set lunch with Shio-ramen and Natto, while my cousin went for the set lunch with ikura.
Well.. natto is natto, and you either like it or you don't. I didn't like natto before, but after having the "natto steak" at Hatcho, I became a fan of natto.
The shio ramen was also very good. I liked the texture of the noodles, and the broth was pretty good. I don't know why I went for the shio ramen, since I normally would go for the miso or shoyu broth if tonkotsu wasn't on the menu. Maybe I was just thinking of something lighter since there was also the natto rice and hard boiled egg in the set menu.
Interestingly, I saw this guy sit down in the table next to us, and it turned out to be our very own, Ron L! He didn't seem to really like the natto that his friend shared with him though...
Overall, it was a pretty good experience food-wise, but the cafeteria setting makes me want to give it a 3.5 star rating, but I'll just give the extra 1/2 star since the food was really good.
Now, the next time I'm over there to eat, it'll be difficult to choose between Kahoo and Santouka! Or maybe I can be like my friend Terry Y. the next day, when we first went to Kahoo, and then he went to Santouka to get another bowl.... :)
My fellow LA Yelpers knows all about Santouka so there's no need for introducing to an Old Friend in this new location that's a first in the Bay Area. I knew it so well I had the menu down before even arriving!
Got the miso ramen with mini salmon roe rice bowl. Delicious as always but I did think the miso base was a bit more salty than I remembered it. My uncle from Laguna Niguel goes to the Costa Mesa location every Sunday for lunch and he always asks for a cup of hot water while ordering so he can adjust the broth. Saltier is always better since you can always dilute, but not the other way around!
One star off for the horrible wait!
After hearing a lot about this place, reading the other Yelp reviews, my friends and I decided it was NECESSARY to try out this ramen spot.
We all had #26 (Extra Pork Soy Bean Paste Ramen - Large).
Much to my surprise, it was pretty authentic and true to some of the "better" (not best!) ramen shops I've visited in my ramen travels.
The Broth: As Soy Bean paste should be, the broth was slightly thicker than what a Soy Sauce based broth would be. It was decently flavorful, plenty of salt yet not overwhelming, with good "stuff" included.
"Stuff": The ramen was most definitely not in-home bagged noodle-status. It was true-to-life japanese noodle... slightly more al dente and a little thicker than conventional shin-ramen type noodles.
"Stuff" 2: The pork had a good mixture of fat and meat. I've always been a big believer in having a decent portion of fat in the pork to give it all the more flavor. While it was pretty good, it was not the best by any means.
"Stuff" 3: Bamboo shoots... bahh, they included like.. 3 small shoots. bahh I say... bahhh!
Portions: $10.45 for the large bowl. It looked very small through the glass, but for some reason, it filled me up. Maybe I was having a bad day... or maybe... I don't know. I think on any normal day, I'd be hungry after that meal. At nearly $11, sad.
The Service: Forget about it! It's like a Fuddruckers... order your stuff at the counter, they call your number, and you pick it up. It's a very algorithmic process:
"Hello! I'll have BLANK"
"NUMBER 24! HERE IS BLANK!"
-The End-
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised compared to some of the other ramen shops I'd visited with "good" reviews, eg: Yojimbo, Maru-ichi, Ramen Halu, Himiwari, etc.
Blah to them... blah!
I finally had the time to try this place.
The last ramen place i went to didn't give me a good impression on ramen.
So, i had to try a second place and of course, a place with good yelp reviews!
This place is located in the supermarket, so at first we thought we were lost.
We came around lunch time (1-2pm) and the line was pretty long. (there's a second place to eat there, but they had no line.. must tell ya something!)
I ended up ordering the combo with pork rice and the soy sauce broth.
The rice was really really good, the pork had this awesome flavor and the broth was creamy. I don't know what they did or how they did it, but at the last place the broth is what turned me away from ramen.
The broth wasn't too salty here and i really enjoyed the whole meal.
The places downfall is the seating and the price for the amount.
Other than that, I'm glad this place saved me from hating ramen forever!
Santouka is exactly what everyone need on a cold and rainy day!! This is one of the best noodle places in bay area!
"Don't judge a book by it's cover" applies here :) It's a little food court place inside the Japanese supermarket! Whatever it lacks in size, it well makes up for it in flavor
- Salted flavor Ramen -- Just love the noodle and soup base!! They take the time and arrange the ingredients prettily on the bowl -- pork, black fugus, onions, bamboo, fish cake etc. The noodle was just the right texture!
Watch out, as they are cash only, and close at 8pm :) it will be sooo cool if they move to their own place then we can take our time with the noodles!!
All this hype about Santouka made me think this was some awesome restaurant.
I finally decide to give it a try and learn that it is a booth inside a market. But that doesn't mean this is a cheap meal! Ramen should really be cheaper.
I WILL say that the broth WAS creamy and full of "flavor" (salty). The broth was memorable and not like any other ramen broth I've ever had. And the pork was delicious. I ordered the #1. The noodles weren't bad - they weren't the same kind of noodles you find in instant ramen packets.
I'm not a ramen expert - but these bowls were better than any other ramen dishes I've ever had.
Warning - CASH ONLY!
Hey Boom, you want some udon?
I know a place....
I've been hearing about this place for weeks... santouka this, santouka that... santouka,santouka,santouka... so here i am with my female half to try out some japanese noodle/broth/beef action!!! Hahahaha, it's apart of Mitsuwa the grocery store. We rolled up into that cafeteria like area right around 11:30am and low and behold there was a lil line and already number of people eating. We hopped in line and tried to decide what to eat.
We got a spicy noodle something or another with extra meat... and my sister got some dish that had the meat and stuff but on the side instead of served in the bowl. Kind of weird but i'm sure there's some reason for the separation. It was all good. I liked mine more than hers.. I think my meat was a touch more tender than hers. My spicy broth was just right. Though it may have been a touch not spicy enough which would have hit the spot on a colder day. She had this salt broth was not bad nor great. It was salty, but it's called salt broth so i figured it's just right. And the noodles.. I love me some noodles! I wonder if they could fry it first before putting it in the broth.... but that aside the noodles are great.
And like that 12:00 came around and with it came a crowd of which would not look out of place at an amusement park (think more like disney land as opposed to santa cruz beach boardwalk... minus those time saving line busting tix machine things). And you know me, timing is important because eating is my business... and business has been good!
;D
We arrived at around 12:30 and there was about 15-20 folks in line ahead of us. I don't know if they've improved their system, but after a 15 minute wait to order, we only waited an additional 5 minutes for our ramen to be ready.
Don't be fooled by the lack of steam rising from your bowl. I mistakenly took this to mean the soup was not super hot . . . wrong! After scalding off half my taste buds with a big slurp of the broth, I've since learned that a nice layer of grease helps to trap in the steam and maintain the temperature longer. This is a characteristic of Asahikawa style ramen.
That said, what I was able to taste with the rest of my tongue definitely hit the spot! I'm not a big shio ramen fan, but it was the only broth option for the toroniku (special pork) ramen. Their signature shio broth served with the toroniku was quite rich and very different than other shio ramens I've had; thicker and cloudier from the pork bones used to make it similar to tonkotsu. The broth also had a distinct chicken flavored component to it, though traditionally it's just a pork and seafood broth. I'll have to come back to see if this is a consistent thing or whether my damaged tongue was malfunctioning for the remainder of the meal :)
The mix of toppings are served on a plate (only the toroniku is build your own ramen) with the pork included mushrooms, bamboo shoots, scallions, a slice of fish cake, and a single ume-zuke (pickled plum). The toroniku pork was pure melt in your mouth goodness. There were about 6 decent sized slices included with the dish. I tried some of the chashu that one of my friends got after she raved how tender it was. No comparison, though it's also twice as fatty as the regular chashu.
A couple of minuses were the noodles (which were a bit overcooked) and the boiled egg (extra $0.99) which was extra hard-boiled and dry. It also had that gray/green coloring going on around the yolk (indicating overcooking) which was not very appetizing. The plastic model egg in the case had a nice shiny yolk leading me to believe it would be soft-boiled. Last time I trust the plastic model! ;-)
The flavor of the noodles are so bland... Maybe it's just me, I had the ramen a few days ago and I couldn't get much flavor out of it, if any. I even added soy sauces and a LOT of spicy seasonings to it and I couldn't taste anything.. except I was sweating a lot. Ha, my bad!....
My friend got a curry udon... I think it's weird to put curry in anything but rice (like noodles for instance... it just doesn't seem like it'd go together.. and it didn't taste like it either.) Whatever, she liked it though.
Back to MY review now... Okay, I like the fact that the food is actually quite cheap (most meals under 6 dollars for very large helpings), which brings me to another point -- Very large helpings.
However, there's not many choices to choose from and honestly, to me they didn't look all that appetizing, even for a hungry me who would eat just about anything in a Nomnomnom state.
I think it was the displays, because they looked so dirty and cobwebbed and nasty glossy plastic glazed on the artificial foods.
Oh.. another bad point-- They do not accept credit cards. ONLY cash. I thought it was mostly Chinese people who do that. Maybe the Japanese market is secretly Chinese.... ...which they kinda are, when you look back into history....but getting back onto topic,
Yawn. I got bored eating. ha... how do you get bored eating?
I finally made out to Santouka after several attempts. Last time I was here they closed early on a Friday night as they ran out of noodles so today I made sure I made it there around 6:30 to be safe.
I ordered a large, salt flavored ramen, which according to the cashier was their most popular. It was a solid bowl of ramen with 2 pieces of fairly fatty pork and the standard fish cake, green onions, etc. I'd consider it on par with the other ramen joints I've eaten at (Halu, Maru Ichi, and Ryowa). The broth is a bit fattier than most joints, but I guess that's what makes it so good. This place reminds me of the ramen stalls when I visited Tokyo earlier this year, right down to picking up your own order. I know many people think this a bad thing, but I think it just adds to the authenticity. Just remember to bring cash as they don't accept credit cards.
Santouka is located inside the Mitsuwa marketplace, and even on Sunday at ~3pm, there was a LONG line to order my food. The Santouka, I was surprised to find, is placed next to another eatery as a part of a mini food court inside the store. You stand in line to order your food, (CASH ONLY- although there is a Bank of America ATM located in the food court as well, which helps) then while you wait for your order to be called, scope out a table in the food court to sit to eat. I waited in line for probably ~15 minutes to order, and waited an additional 15-20min for our food to be ready, so expect to wait for you food.
The bf and I ordered 2 combos: 62 & 82 which is: 62. the salmon roe rice bowl and regular sized shoyu ramen with 1 soy sauce egg & 82. the chashu rice bowl and regular sized shoyu ramen with 1 soy sauce egg. Grand total ~$24 for both combos. The shoyu ramen broth was flavorful and thicker than Maru Ichi's shoyu broth. The noodles were tasty as well. The salmon roe was tasty and plentiful, but I couldn't finish it! The chashu rice was delicious as well, and tasted good dipped in the shoyu broth. The soy sauce eggs were typical but tasty, and was a nice addition to the combo. Overall, I was pleased with the food, but didn't really like waiting so long for my food. I'm kind of impatient. However, I would recommend it to try it out!
I came here because I hear that this is the same place as the Santouka in Japan. I came here the other day for dinner and it didn't disappoint.
You can buy a "meal" which includes ramen, a hard boiled egg and a bowl of rice with your choice of toppings. I went for the salt ramen (apparently their most popular broth), with natto on my bowl of rice.
I ate my whole bowl of ramen, and it was delicious. The broth was the right temperature and not too salty (as many Ramen places can be). It came with 2 pieces of pork (which were too fatty for my taste), seaweed, bamboo, a piece of fish cake, and green onions. The ramen also had a great texture. The noodles were on the thinner side, but had a great al-dente texture. Great!
The natto was very good also. If you're not familiar, natto is fermented soy beans. It's an acquired taste as nobody else I was eating with wanted to even try it. It has a bitter-ish flavor, but I love it! If you like bittermellon, you may like this. Go for it and try it. It's a very healthy food and is good for you.
All in all, i'll come here again. I may just opt for a bowl of ramen as it is very filling and more than enough food for me.
p.s. This place is cash only. Also, they say they close at 7:30pm, but on my first attempt to eat here, I came at 7:15pm and they were closed. The woman behind the register told me they decided to "close early" this day, so make sure you come here early or you may be out of luck.
itadakimasu!!
There is a reason why I am willing to drive down from San Francisco to San Jose to eat ramen. Okay i'm lying, I also visit my brother in his dorm but still... It is worth the 45 minutes.
Santouka is cash only, but for those of you who never seem to carry cash because you have a tendency to spend it (like me!) fear not! There is a Bank of America ATM located inside the seating area.
My brothers had set #82, soy sauce broth ramen w/ chasu over rice. I went with.. #63 I think? Soybean broth ramen w/ ikura over rice. Both my brothers liked their sets. The soybean broth was perfect. Not too watery or salty , but was still robust full of flavor. Ramen was al dente, and ikura over rice was not overly salty.
Afterwards, I walked around Mitsuwa for snackies and goodies.
Sorry Santa Ramen, you've been had and your 15 minutes have been long up.
My carb of choice is ramen, so when i kept hearing rave reviews about this place, my mouth and stomach were begging me to go try it already. And try it I did. I went with a group of friends early (5:30PM) on a sunday evening, and there was absolutely no line (which is awesome if you think of the lines at santa). We placed our order, found some seats, and had our food in front of us in no more than 15 minutes.
i dove into my shio ramen with great enthusiasm, ready to be wow'ed, but unfortunately wasn't. The ramen was good, the broth creamy and the meat tender, but i didn't taste a big difference over places like kahoo or santa. I mean, at least with other places they give you a choice to add in extras in your ramen too.
i left santouka a little disappointed, and it was probably because i had such high expectations of the place that were not met. I would go back if i had a ramen craving because it is conveniently close to my house, but might prefer kahoo or santa over it anyday.
I was so full of skepticism when I visited this place, wary of the long line, all this and that. I've been to the one on Venice blvd plenty of times, but I guess I never got the right thing!
I was blown away by this ramen, it's wonderful. I don't remember what I ordered, but it was the one ramen bowl where the fixings come on the side. Get this if you have taste and are smart. Delicious. Who cares about a long line? Not me.
"I'm horny for ramen!" and I reached climax. All I had to do was pay $10 bucks.
With my anxious palms, I caressed the bowl in a gentle manner...just like carrying a newborn. After all, everything in the bowl was meticulously prepared.
Before I examined each detail, I slurped the soup. ahh
I knew I had reached comfort food heaven and was floating on Cloud 9.
Few diners around me understood how to really cherish and eat ramen.
For rookie diners, they merely saw noodles and soup.
But like an art lover that examines a revered painting, oh yes.. there is much more.
Whet your lips. The velvety milky soup is a perfect combination of savory and distinct nutty notes. I ordered #1 which was the salty pork ramen that featured UNAMI, the 5th sense.
Shoots add just enough crunch as side actors.
Cooked al dente, the noodle are chewy and tender.
Tender roast pork can literally be cut through with the tongue. Thin layers of fat just give it enough of flavor but does not overwhelm the palate.
Save the hassle, come on the weekdays to beat the crowd.
Having tasted their Los Angeles store, the same consistent WOW factor was on stage. The black chef cooking the ramen is the same guy from down south.
Just came back from there a couple days ago for the Spicy Soy Paste Soup Ramen. The spicy ramen is probably going to be my all time favorite! Yum!
While I was on SJSU Campus, my friend asked me if I was interested in lunch. I said sure but I was… Read more »
I followed the herd over to Santouka for lunch last week to see what all the fuss was about, but I just thought that ramen was ok, nothing spectacular. I thought that Kahoo around the corner was better.
I ordered the spicy miso ramen, and thought that the broth was too thick, and was too salty and didn't have enough vegetables in it. But what do I know about ramen? I've only had it a few times. Don't take my word for it, try it for yourself.
Don't go around lunch time (1130-1230) because the line is insane and you're going to have to fight for a table.
Don't come here on a Saturday evening unless you're prepared to wait. the Saturday that I was there, they closed at 6:45 PM (rather than 7:30 PM) because the waiting time had reached 50 minutes by then. They had 6 people cooking ramen in the kitchen but the wait was still that long. You'll have plenty of time to wander around Mitsuwa (check out the Jsweets Shop) to shop for groceries while you wait for your ramen.
The menu is simple and you can see plastic models of their food. It's basically ramen that comes in 3 sizes and you can get a small rice bowl topped with natto, roe, ikura, or roast pork on the side. There are four kinds of ramen: salt, soy sauce, soybean paste and spicy soybean paste. Keep the slip of paper they give you with your number. You'll need to show it to them to pick up your food.
I had the ramen set with my choice of ramen, medium/regular size (I chose soybean paste), soy/tea egg, and mini rice bowl with roast pork ($10.44).
* Soybean paste ramen: Loved my first sip of the rich, deep broth but then later it seemed to be rather salty and even the noodles seemed oddly salty. It was a good bowl of ramen served piping hot with two tender slices of chasu (good flavor but a bit salty), a thin slice of fish cake, wood ear, and finely chopped scallions. The noodles were firm and chewy.
* Mini rice bowl with roast pork: The pork was really salty and some pieces were on the dry side. I wouldn't get this again.
* Soy egg: Nice, not boiled too long, the yolk was creamy.
Takeout isn't available but they have takeout containers (for leftovers). Cash only.
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