A Bowl of Ramen (and More) from Santouka

January 22, 2014 Ruth Dela Cruz

What is good to have in this cool weather? Well, aside from some good loving, a hot bowl of ramen would be nice.

We found an interesting bowl in the newly opened Santouka Ramen in Promenade, Greenhills.

Side note story – It has been ages the last time I was in Promenade, and I am surprised to see an extension of the building where the new Starbucks is located. It houses new cinema and nice restaurants. Anyway, that’s not where we found the Santouka Ramen – it is at the second level of the original Promenade Building (the old Burgoo restaurant)

Back to Santouka story – I was not really a fan of soups and ramen, but I am greatly surprised with myself that lately, I am finding joy in eating this kind of food (must be the weather?). I actually had a good bowl of organic soup for dinner.

So we were in the opening of the Santouka Ramen in Greenhills, and the place was packed! There were people in the waiting list – and looks like I didn’t need to taste anything to know that Santouka Ramen is serving good food.

A little history, Santouka Ramen originated from Japan in 1988 and has stores in Canada, USA, and now in the Philippines! What makes it popular is that, they do not boil their broth, but only simmer for 20 hours to get that distinct taste.

It was our first time and the menu is overwhelming, we want to try everything. We said yes to the recommendation of trying the Shin-Aji Ramen (Php350). It is Cold Noodle with Hot Instestine Flavored Dipping Sauce. What is interesting is that they are only serving 15 bowls of this everyday, so make sure you come early and order a bowl. The quantity is limited because the ingredients, especially the meat are from Japan – to guarantee the quality of food. As for the taste? It is on a bit of a tangy side, but it is all good for me since I love spicy food.

Shin-Aji Ramen (Php350)Cold Noodle with Hot Instestine Flavored Dipping Sauce

Click Read More for more stories and ramen…

We wanted to try as much in this new restaurant, so we ordered from the set menu. I had the Small Ramen and Pork Cutlet & Small Rice Bowl Set (Php520).

Tonkatsu (Pork Cutlet) is tender and not oily.

Set consists of :

– entree dish

– small ramen (choose flavor from Shoyu, Shio and Miso)

– rice bowl

-1 komi – tamago (egg custard)

– 1 tsukemono (pickled veggies)

– 1 salad

– tea

I tried the Shio Ramen (Salt Flavour), as recommended, which is very light, yet flavorful.

Here’s the Fried Salmon and Tempura from a friend’s set.

Our new friend, Josephine was raving about the Shio Tokusen Toroniku Ramen (Php445) that night. She said it is like eating the meat that melts in your mouth. She was right. These are roasted pork cheeks which is good on its own. Very valuable parts – which I think goes well with cold beer 😉

More food in our table 😉

I love that the set comes with free tea as the place was freezing cold that night. Not sure if the temperature was set that low on purpose to let us enjoy our ramen more. 🙂

We didn’t need to leave the place to have dessert.. we had – MochiCream!

I tried the Tiramisu flavor and it is chewy with good creamy filling inside. It is not like most of the Mochi Ice Cream balls that we see in the malls. Most are like jawbreakers.

So this is how the authentic Mochi should taste like!

For those who want the usual cake and fruits as desserts, you can have

Matcha Roll Cake (Php200) which comes with Iced Tea

Mixed Fruits Annin (Php150)

I also love the Creme Brulee (unfortunately, wasn’t able to take a picture). Something reminiscent of local dessert, leche flan and taho.

There is still a lot to try in the menu, so we will be back (and we will sure bring jackets ;))

WheninManila.com writers 😉

Visit!

Santouka
2/F Greenhills Promenade, San Juan, Philippines
Mobile: +63 915 874-1990
https://www.facebook.com/RamenSantoukaPH

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