Ramen Santouka

Ever since Marutama entered the ramen scene, there hadn’t been a new entrant that created such a wave of euphoria as one like Ramen Santouka. Touted as the 1st place winner in the most delicious ramen noodle salt-flavoured soup category by the popular magazine “Hokkaido Walker” in the year 2006, this place is also famous for its house speciality of Tokusen Toroniku, or Choice Pork that is said to be limited to 60 servings per day! This is because only 200 to 300 grams of this highly coveted pork cheek, known for its taste and tenderness, can be found per pig.

After hearing so much rave reviews of this place, my cousin and I set off for dinner at The Central. Finding this outlet is a little tricky – hidden away in the corner of 2nd floor, one would need to cut through Grains, which occupy both sides of the passageway to get to it. What greeted us was a nice frontage that grants one a view of the Singapore River, but inside was a pretty small outlet that I suspect, sit not more than 20 pax.

Beside their award winning Shio, or Salt Flavoured Ramen, Ramen Santouka also offers Shoyu, or Soy Sauce Flavoured Ramen and Miso, Soybean Paste Flavoured Ramen, along with Kara-Miso, or spicy version of the Miso. We pick the Shoyu and Miso ($12.00 each), along with sides of Tokusen Toroniku ($8.00), Gyoza ($5.00) and Komi-Tamago, or Flavoured Egg ($1.00). The Choice Pork was the first to arrive and I was surprise by its tenderness despite the lacked of marbling fats. This result in a texture that provides one with a bite before the meat disintegrates into the mouth. However, Marutama’s Char Siu is still the one to beat in terms of tenderness IMHO.

The Flavoured Egg was next to arrived and to say I was disappointed was an understatement. In fact it was done so badly that ‘disgust’ would be a better word to describe it. The yolk was way too overcooked till the side has hardened, and there was hardly any flavour on the white. It was so bad that I did not even finished it and definitely not even worth the dollar I have paid for it.

The Ramen was served next and the first remark my cousin made was “Oh, certainly looks like Maggie Mee to me”. The noodle was fat and curly, similar to Miharu, though texture wise a tad rougher. My bet on why people are coming back lies on the milky Tonkotsu soup based. However, before one complains that the soup does not come piping hot enough, be made known that it is intentionally done so that elderly and child can enjoy it better and reassured that it is also within this temperature that their soup is most delicious. The soup was so rich and intense, that I rate it slightly better than Ichiban-Tei, but too much of it and one might find it greasy. Both of us agree that the Shoyu was also slightly better than the Miso.

The Gyoza eventually arrived after a wait but it was nothing to shout about. Not that it was bad, but nothing noteworthy to mention really.

Overall, my preference is still Marutama on the 3rd level, despite its not so intense soup. The only reason I can see why I should be back is to sample the award winning Shio version, otherwise it would not merit a re-visit especially after the explicitly outrageous experience of its Tamago.

You can view the all photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.

The house specialty, Tokusen Toroniku Ramen,that many have written about here, is well worth every cent!
It comes in a set, of a bowl of ramen and an accompanying platter of thick generous succulent slices of roasted pork cheek slices. Though the pork cheeks are supposedly roasted, the meat is not dry or grilled hard at all - rather it is very tender, succulent, melt-in-your-mouth and absolutely sinfully dee-licious! there are side condiments of tender bamboo shoots, naruto (fish cake), kikurage (jew's ears or black fungus) and spring onions, which you can tip into the soup. The ramen comes in a flavorful soup - you have a choice of miso, karamiso (spicy miso), shio (salty) and shioyu (soysauce) flavors.
Pork cheeks are extremely valuable and a highly coveted delicacy, as only 200 to 300 gms may be obtained from each pig!
My dinner companion and I had chilled Sapporo beer with our meal.
At the moment, the restuarant is tucked away in the back on the second floor - the bonus is that if you come early in the evening and get a table by the window, you get a lovely romantic view of the Singapore river, watching the sky above the old shophouses across the river change color as the sun sets, and then the night lights on the river comes on!

One night after swimming, my wife and I craved tonkotsu ramen. Thankfully, our pool was near to Central and I vaguely remembered this tonkotsu specialist. After searching the mall for this elusive outlet, we were delighted by the moderate and saner queue (compared to the insane amount of kiddies queuing at Marutama).

Looking at the menu, I immediately decided on trying the toroniku; we could never resist Japanese style fatty pork. However, I sadly recalled that Santouka only served limited quantities of the pork and my watched showed 8.30 pm. Hope faded away like William Hung.

We were seated after 10 mins of sitting on drool covered benches. We promptly ordered a toroniku set, clenching our eyes in anticipation of being told it was all finished. By some stroke of fortune (or good business sense by stocking more servings), it was available! I had the shoyu, while my wife choose shio.

The toroniku came first, along with toppings for the ramen. The pork itself wasn't as spectacular as I expected, but it was still delicious. It was smoky, salty, tender, and the fat was delightfully gelatinous and fragrant. My wife said it reminded her of canned china pork belly, in a good way.

When our ramen arrived, I was pleased to know that Santouka doesn't believe in oversized crockery. I hate eating a smattering of food served in a huge plate, I think it's an insult to allow the crockery to outshine the food.

The soup was hot, unlike its advertised 'moderate' temperature. No matter, I adored boiling soup, thanks to my ironclad mouth. The noodle tasted fresh and certainly one of the best ramen noodles I have tasted in Singapore. Not soggy, didn't clump and smooth to slurp. And doesn't stick to the teeth when chewed. Excellent.

The shoyu soup was exceptional - smoky, full of umami and a hint of milky tonkotsu goodness. But my wife had special love for her shio because it was unadulterated tonkotsu, milky without being offensive and flavourful without being 'jelat'.

I cannot account for why so many reviewers here find the soup so salty. Personally, Santouka's ramen was the least salty among outlets such as Osho, Waraku, Tampopo and many others. Maybe they are too used to Tokyo styled clear soupbase. They should have tried ramen from Kyushu. During my trip to Nagasaki and its vicinity, the ramen I tasted there were bold and uncompromisingly salty, spicy and you could hear the pig oinking in their tonkotsu. Probably grew some hair on my chest too. By contrast, the ones I had in Tokyo were mild, unoffensive, and comparatively lacking in character. To each their own, I guess.

About the other stuff, ambience, service... seriously, I cannot really remember. All I recalled was the ramen, the pork, and even the nice and simple bamboo shoot that so many outlets in Singapore do such offence to.

So, here's my vote of confidence. I will definitely be going back and if there are less people who like it, it means I will have less time to drool while waiting. Give me my toroniku...

PS I like bak chor mee too...