Backlog Post: Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

Celebrating a reunion? Celebrate it with ramen!

Our liking to Japanese food took us to Hokkaido Ramen Santouka for a reunion lunch with a fellow gastronomer last October 2014. We ordered Set E that included with a small sized ramen bowl, fried salmon and prawn, and a number of side dishes.

Their signature dish is Shio Ramen, pork and seafood broth seasoned only with salt. We were pleasantly surprised with the tasty and creamy broth since at first we thought that the salt flavour might be too plain. The soup’s hotness was just right as it did not burn our tongues when we consumed it immediately after serving. Tender pork slices and mushrooms added texture to the ramen goodness. And just a note, that intriguing red topping is neither a tomato nor a chili. It is a pickled plum that packed a sour punch. Two of us shared the small sized serving of ramen. It was a bit bitin for two. Good thing we still had more food that came with the set.

We had an easy time dividing the furai since the set had 2 pieces of salmon tempura and 2 pieces of prawn. The thickly sliced piece of salmon tempura was crunchy and it did not have that malansa taste. Even better, when we took a bite of the prawn tempura, it was a full bite of the prawn. This one has the meat as its real star of dish and not the breading.

Another item in the set worth noting is the matcha mini cupcake. It did have that leafy-like matcha goodness. For people who would like a tamer version of dessert, this would be good. We do hope it would have bigger servings. Pickled vegetables, salad with sesame dressing, and tea also came with the set.

As an additional order, we tried the salmon fried rice. It indeed tasted like salmon, complete with the fish after taste. Good thing slices of ginger were served on the side to cleanse our palette. It was a good variation of fried rice and would be an okay choice if you want flavored rice but I’d rather order another bowl of ramen next time.

*This is a backlog post. Actual food expedition was made more than a month prior to publishing of this post.

Branch visited located at: 2nd flr, Mall of Asia – Entertainment Mall Veranda, Pasay City