Santouka Ramen

Price: 2/5

Taste: 3/5

Authenticity: 2.5/5 

Atmosphere: 4/5 

Service: 4/5 

Santouka Ramen, another famous ramen place located in the heart of Toronto. It's a small but cute restaurant and when we went at 5:00 pm, it was starting to get busy already! 

One thing that I really admire about this restaurant is the fact that they understand women's frustration when it comes to their purses. When it comes to cramped spaces in restaurants and chairs with huge holes at the back, girls ultimately turn to holding their purses in their lap and reaching OVER them in order to eat their food. Santouka provides a simple solution to the predicted eating discomforts by offering a basket to put our bags in which then is placed either beside or underneath our table. It is a very simple but greatly appreciated solution! 

This is what I ordered: 

Shio Ramen

• menu description: mild and creamy soup seasoned with salt topped with a Japanese pickled plum 
• thoughts: 
• Their ramen noodles are chewier than other ramen places I've tried and I personally like the extra chewiness that comes with it. 
• Their soup was nice and cream, but there was nothing special about it; I've had better soup bases at other ramen places like Kinton Ramen or Sansotei Ramen
• There was less toppings (like beef for example) than I expected and I personally wanted more of that
• the size is SMALLER than expected and simply one bowl of ramen would not be enough for the average person 
• luckily, they offer larger sizes for the ramen AND combos that come with rice, salad and other components (but of course all of that comes with money) 

Overall, I don't think this is the best ramen place that downtown has to offer. For the price that you're paying, I would expect more in that bowl that would fill me up. I definitely LOVE the noodles here because of its chewiness but other than that, I would prefer other places.