Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

3.5 karaage + shio ramen combo. excellent fatty pork and noodles with a nice bite but very creamy oily broth so have to be in the mood for that. less like a shio. the karaage had nice flavor but skin curled off and thus meat a bit dry. with so many other good choices available, don’t need to come here

Santouka’s pork broth is solid, but I didn’t think anything else about the bowl of ramen was especially amazing. The noodles were well cooked and not over done and the portion of the pork was fair. Their prices are also very average. One thing I do like about this place is that it’s right on top of the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR station so you don’t have to go outside at all. Another thing that was really good is the level of service. I don’t think my water cup was every empty and that’s saying something because I drink a lot of water.
If you’re not too particularly about your ramen and happen to be in iSquare, I would recommend this place.

The Santouka I usually frequent is wedged inside a grocery store. We have to hunt for a table and bus our own dishes there. This Tsim Sha Tsui location is a step up from that in terms of ambiance and service. It is on the 6^th floor of iSquare. As you come out of the elevator, you have to weave around other shops and follow a curve to the end in order to find it. It’s not difficult, just a little out of the way.
The restaurant wasn’t busy at lunch time on the Wednesday we came and we were seated straight away. It felt comfortable and relaxing where we sat. The waitresses were courteous. Our water glasses were filled before they got empty.
We ordered Miso Ramen and Shoyu Ramen. The latter soy sauce flavor was good but I still thought the soybean paste flavor was better. I’m biased? The noodles were al dente. Unfortunately, the gyozas were nice and crispy only on one side. They were just too soft when you flipped them over. I prefer them fried evenly.
One nice thing about Santouka is the consistency of their ramen broth. I haven’t been to very many of their branches but so far the flavor has always been reliable to me, even across the ocean. If I have a hankering for Hokkaido ramen, I know where to get my fix.