Hokkaido Ramen Santouka review

Pretty good

Store front of Hokkaido Ramen Santouka

I’m starting to go deeper into the ramen cave in Toronto. Hard to say when I’ll run out of places to visit, but for now there are still plenty.

This time I went to Hokkaido Ramen Santouka, close to Yonge and Eglinton. For brevity, I will call this restaurant Santouka Ramen or just Santouka. I was hungry this time, so I decided to splurge out a bit and go big. This means I paid more relative to other ramen places, but this won’t negatively affect the review.

Santouka has cheaper ramen that start at around $16.5. You can upgrade to a large portion for $1.5 extra, which I think is worth it. The menu also is rather large. You can order rice bowls or even combos. Santouka Ramen also has physical menus, which is a big plus to me.

Food

Toroniku Miso Ramen (Large) ($23.25 + $1.5)

Large Toroniku Miso Ramen

The Toroniku series ramens are the most expensive that Santouka offers. All toppings are provided on the side, and there’s a lot of them. The broth is pork based and is on the richer side, you can see the lard slightly solidifying on top of the ramen.

Still, I thought the dish tasted good. Miso ramen tends to have a milder, less salty taste than shio and shoyu. I’m fairly weak against oily and creamy foods, but I didn’t have any trouble eating this ramen. I dumped all the toppings into the bowl and ate them with the broth. The pork was soft and juicy, and it combined nicely with the broth.

Thoughts

While on the pricier end, I think the extra large portion and meat made the Toroniku Miso Ramen worth it. If you look at the less expensive ramen dishes, Santouka can compete on price too. I think Santouka doesn’t win on taste, but it’s still pretty good. Santouka also has a pretty diverse menu, so they can appeal to people that might want something other than just ramen.