Hokkaido Ramen Santouka 火頭山

Ambiance: Casual, Japanese 

Seating/Wait time: Line up's out the door! Turn over rate for patrons is pretty good.  People rarely sit and linger.  Eat and Go.

Dress Code: No shoes, no shirt, no service! Very Casual
Crowd: Everybody

Meal: 

Tokusen Toroniku Ramen (Choice Pork Ramen)
Large $13.45

Soup is very rich in flavour, it is a bit on the oily side and after you finish eating your noodles and drink the soup, it' definitely going to fill you up.  I couldn't finish drinking all the soup.

There wasn't anything special or different about the ramen noodles here compared to any other restaurant.

Tip: Put all the stuff from this plate into the noodle except the Pork (there's green onion, sea weed, bamboo shoot, and a Naruto ninja star).

The menu says "Toroniku Cha-shu is simmered pork cheek (jowl) meat.  Pork cheek meat is very rare and only 200-300 g can be taken from each pig.  It has a very rich flavour and it is tender like fatty tuna.

Did this dish live up to the description? YES! It definitely did!  I recommend this dish to everyone! The pork is very tender, I can't say it was like fatty tuna because in my opinion it wasn't.  

When you put the pork in your mouth, let it sit on your tongue and just let your salivary amylase attack the pork.  The pork is so soft that it just melts into tiny pieces and the flavour or the pork releases into your taste buds.  *Sensation for each individual may vary.

Ikura Gohan $5.45

Okay $5.45 is quite pricey for a bowl of rice, but it's a bowl of rice with bean sprouts and roe! Yeah on paper this thing is very expensive.  So, split it with a friend just to try it out!

This is as fresh and delicious as it looks!

Personal Remarks:  My best friend brought me here because he said the broth is amazing and I must try this place out.  He said that even though this is a chain restaurant, the quality is maintained to a very high standard unlike Ajisen Ramen. 

Deciding on what to order was easy because my friend ordered for me.  I wish there is always someone to order food for me whenever I go to a restaurant I've never been to.  Sometimes, you just want to go straight to eating without looking at the menu and just eat the best tasting item available.

Santouka is "Fine Dining Ramen" in terms of price.  A bowl of ramen is $13.00 compared to some of the other restaurants charging between $7.00 - $9.00.   But is it worth the $13.00 or are they just overcharging?  From the line up outside that never seemed to end, if they are overcharging then you're not the only one falling for the hype.  I find the taste is here but I wouldn't come here everyday because it is very expensive.

Ramen in Vancouver is hyped cross culture trend, just like Pizza in Shanghai.  Pizza Hut in Shanghai is seen as "Fine Dining" where they would eat pizza with a fork and knife and drink wine too.  However, in Vancouver, pizza is seen as fast food and is eaten with our hands and by no stretch of the imagination can we. "locals" regard Pizza Hut as "Fine Dining".
 

I enjoyed the ramen and the pork was amazing!  My friend said it's so popular that they frequently actually sell out of the pork, which is a good thing to hear because it means that it's freshly made when there is a high turnover.  The price won't bring me back often, but I will come back on days that I know I have some room in my budget to "treat" myself to a fine dining bowl of ramen.  

Value: 3/5 Overall: 5/5