Mia's Review: Santouka Ramen

I've always claimed to be a huge ramen lover and especially a fan of Santouka. But then I realised, over the countless times I've visited the branch at Cuppage Terrace, I've never done a review on them! So now's my really late review on Santouka, The Central branch.

As compared to the branch at Cuppage Terrace, this branch at The Central is a lot smaller and hidden right at the corner most area of the mall. It's pretty hard to find it even if you're determined to (especially if you do not have a good sense of direction) much less to say 'bump into it'. So to be full house at such a secluded location on a Sunday evening, it already hints you that your ramen can't be bad, yeah? :)

 Here's my usual order at Santouka, Kara Miso Ramen - approx. $16

Even though it looks horribly oily and fiery red, fret not! In comparison to many other ramen places, Santouka is considered one of the lighter taste ramen I've tried (which includes Tampopo, Marutama, Ippudo and Keisuke). The noodles are more to the soft, chewy side (I know some will prefer harder noodles, but not me) and their broth flavourful yet not overpowering. If you're a fan of strong taste (like Ippudo), you'll probably not like Santouka as I've friends who love Ippudo commenting that Santouka is too bland. IMO, Ippudo is just too much for me, and Santouka is just right. For their Kara Miso, the spiciness is just nice too! For an average spicy-eater like me, I can easily finish up the entire bowl of ramen without reaching for the water. The charsiu is also mildly flavourful and extremely tender, having a good mix of lean and fatty meat. It simply breaks apart at the first bite and the fatty portion just melts into your mouth as you chew on the lean meat.
Santouka's best ramen has got to be their pork cheeks ramen, but being not a very huge fan of pork in general, I do not see the attraction of paying that few dollars more for it. I'm satisfied with just their 'average' charsiu in my kara miso. :)

 

Although their ramen does come with bamboo shoots, I've decided to add on more, on top of the usual flavoured egg I'll order. Yes, Santouka's ramen do not come with flavoured egg, you got to add on an order for it. But it'll definitely be worth your money! Just look at that glistering sheen of their runny yolk peeking out from the cut. 

However, I'll recommend that you give their bamboo shoot a miss. This is the first time I've add on an order of bamboo shoot at Santouka, with the memory of those brilliantly tasty ones I've had at Daruma, and I was totally disappointed. Their bamboo shoots were served cold and utterly tasteless, with inconsistent tenderness/toughness in every piece. Not even worth a place in my tummy, much less to speak of the money. 

Just showing off the pretty flavoured egg. 

Their yolk, as i've said, is runny throughout with a pretty orangy yellow colour, and their whites thoroughly (yet soft) cooked. Very well done indeed!

Black pork gyoza - price forgotten

I'll say their gyoza is pretty mediocre, with the filling just being okay (almost not flavourful enough for me) and their skin thin, yet lacking the bite. Plus, we were recommended the more expensive black pork gyoza, which its taste really didn't justify the extra money spent. Even if they're actually handmade in the restaurant, a good brand of frozen gyoza could have easily tasted the same.

So, mehhhh.... stick to their ramen and flavoured egg while you're there at Santouka. Yes, you can try out their chawanmushi too, if you're in for more eggs. :)

Till then,
Mia

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Mia's Review: Marutama Ramen

 This is an extremely late post, for I've visited Marutama @ The Central with Airmeli after our diamond lash workshop held at Blisshouse. I've long heard about Marutama Ramen, it's always one of the names that pops up alongside Santouka (still my favourite!), Ippudo (urgh, too salty) and Tampopo (not bad) when you ask for ramen recommendations. So when Airmeli led me to the ramen shop, I was really excited and cheered, "Oh yay, Marutama!"

 

Their choices of ramen flavour is not really extensive. A very typical menu of an authentic humble ramen-ya. I ordered for myself a daikon and their Nama Karashi Ramen while Airmeli got a Tori Dango and their Aka Ramen.

 Daikon - $4

Yes, you might feel that $4 for 2 pieces of radish (although they're quite big pieces) is pretty much a rip off, but I didn't really care much for the pricey-ness of it because:

1. I really love daikon

2. They're really damn awesome!

The daikon is served almost piping hot in a rich & flavourful savoury broth, which tastes like tonkotsu/chicken broth, and is cooked down extremely well to be amazingly soft throughout. Each and every bite is 'stuffed' full of the savoury taste of the rich broth. I need not even chew on them, but just pushes my tongue towards the roof of my mouth to mash it up and release the broth that was soaked up within. 

Heavenly. Definitely a must try for all daikon lovers out there. 

 Tori Dango (Chicken Meatball) - $5

The Tori Dango is definitely a disappointment, and yes, it's not worth the $5. I expected the dango to be of, well, chewy dango texture. (duh!) But the first bite brought nothing but disappointment to my face. Nothing in this meat-packed ball is chewy. Instead, the entire meatball is soggy and crumbly. A soft bite to the surface easily breaks the dango in half and a few more bites just literally crumbles them into distinctive separate chunks in your mouth. Not my favourite kind of texture in a meatball. 

However, from a cooking noob's POV, I also wonder if it's because they're using a lot of real chicken meat and very little flour.

As for the taste wise, I can't fault them on it but shan't commend them on it either. It's a "typical" meatball taste, flavourful yet nothing distinctive that screams: I'm a chicken meatball! I guess the only thing that hinted it's chicken and not pork is the crumbly texture.

Airmeli's Aka Ramen - $15

 My Nama Karashi Ramen - $12

It looks just like a normal chicken broth ramen, yeah? But it's actually spicy ramen! This is one thing that is kinda intriguing to me. A 100% non-spicy looking spicy ramen!

The broth is rich, flavourful and has the spiciness level just right for me. 

I think I'm just an average spicy food eater, and I do not like to eat challengingly spicy food as I believe it doesn't do justice to the ingredients and preparer of the dish. :)

Comparing the richness of flavour to Santouka and Ippudo, Marutama is definitely smack in the middle. I feel that their broth is definitely richer than Santouka's yet still manageable for me, unlike Ippudo's, which almost killed me. 

Went Ippudo once, and plans never to return.

I do get a little thirsty while eating the ramen, due to the salty flavour of the broth, but I'm attributing it to the fact that I'm more of a lighter taste person. My preference for lighter taste is blatantly hinted in my obvious dislike for Ippudo's ramen.

As for the noodles, it hovers between chewy and hard imo, deviating slightly more towards hard. I'm a chewy (softer) noodle person, and Marutama's noodles really came this close to making it right for me. It was just a little bit too close to the hard side, but I can still accept it as well made noodles. 

The char siu was also pretty well done, having a good mix of lean and fatty meat, cooked to a savoury tenderness.

I'm also rather disappointed that the ramen wasn't served with menma (bamboo shoots) and it wasn't offered as an additional topping or side dishes either. 

And as seen from the picture, the ramen doesn't come with the flavoured egg (typical of many ramen shops) but need an additional $1.50 for an add on. 

Just look at the pictures, need I say more? The $1.50 is a MUST SPEND! 

I first poked my chopsticks into the whites and pulled off a huge chunk of it to reveal a fully intact yellowy orange yolk. I thought the yolk and overcooked, but how wrong I was! Look at how beautifully the glossy orange oozes out from the puncture I made with my chopstick! The egg is definitely well braised to a rich flavour and the whites is cooked to the point of having just solidifying. There's no obviously semi-transparent runny-ness anywhere in the egg whites, and yet they're amazingly soft, tears apart at the slightest pressure and runs down your throat effortlessly. 

I do feel that Marutama does their flavoured egg better than Santouka and Ippudo. :)

And in addition, Marutama offers Kaedama for those big eaters. With leftover broth and an additional $2, you can get your noodles refilled and eat to your heart's content! I'm not sure if it's a full portion refill though, because there's absolutely no way I can ever go for a kaedama. 

For those who've tried their kaedama, please let me know in the comment box!

Till then,

Mia

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