Santouka: Hokkaido Ramen @ Pavilion, KL

I've been craving for some ramen ever since I got back from Japan. It's funny because prior to that trip I hated ramen. Blame it on a bad first experience in a shop-that-shall-not-be-named that excluded one of the core ingredients, pork. But my, once you get a taste of the real thing there is just no going back.

Tasting it for the first time in Japan, I was just blown away by the flavorful pork broth. And the noodles has its own bite which is a nice discovery as opposed to the usual yee mee noddles we get back here in Malaysia. Bottom line. I love ramen.

There's been some buzz about the opening of the new Tokyo Street in Pavilion. I was particularly interested when there was word about this particular famous ramen restaurant opening a branch there named Santouka, that serves Hokaiddo style ramen. So I headed down there last Sunday with my parents right after church.

It was so good. Mom had the classic ramen with the spicy soup. Dad and I got the chasiu ramen. His with the original broth, mine with soy sauce. My favourite ramen shop is the one at the Tsukiji Fish Market which is soy sauce based, hence the choice. But more on that another day.

The line of people waiting to get in is crazy! I had to wait a good half an hour just to get a table. Perhaps ramen is slowly becoming a thing here in Malaysia. The ramen at Santouka comes close to some of the best that I've had in Japan. Only difference is that here I eat it nicely with a nice big soup spoon. In Japan you only get chopsticks so you slurp up the long and delicious noodles noisily. Mom wasn't too bowled over with her spicy ramen. I'm guessing that the spiciness of the chilli overpowered the natural flavours of the broth so it ended up tasting more like a kimchi based soup. Still good but does not do the pork justice.

Pricing is pretty steep as lunch was Rm 100+ for just the three of us. So yes, I will be coming back but only when I'm really desperate for a good bowl of ramen. On a side note, the people who were eating next to our table are Japanese. And according to the staff the core ingredients like the noodles are shipped in all the way from Hokkaido. So I guess that justifies a little bit the price they are charging. Just a little bit.





Santouka: Hokkaido Ramen
Level 6 Pavilion KL,
168 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.