The Ramen Diaires: Ramen Santouka Hokkaido - The legendary ramen chain arrives in Manila

 If life is getting you down, cheer up with a bowl of good ramen.
Originating from Hokkaido, Ramen Santouka is one of newest ramen players in Manila.
They now have two branches, one in Glorietta 2, near Outback and one in MOA. I personally have tried both branches, and both have equally good-tasting ramen, although I feel the one in MOA is rather cramped.

When you're here don't miss their famous Shio ramen. It has a milky soup base, probably due to boiling to pork bones for a very long time. The main ingredient is shio or salt in Nihonggo, proof that the best dishes don't require fancy ingredients.

Santouka has 3 basic ramens. Shio, Miso and Shoyu.

Miso is of course, soybean while shoyu makes use of light soy sauce.
Among the three, Shio is their bestseller and I like it best also. Although my little one likes the shoyu soup so much, she finishes the soup before the noodles. There's also a spicy variant named Kara-Miso.

Ebi Furai with Shio Ramen Set P490

If you're dining in 2's,I recommend ordering their Shio Ramen Set with the Ebi Furai
This comes with a bowl of rice, side dishes, Chawan Mushi (Egg custard - tastes "fishy"), tea,and salad. The Shio size here is just the small size, so you can opt to add P60 for regular/ medium bowl and P100 for large.

ebi furai

The Ebi Furai is composed of 3 breaded deep-fried prawns, which I like better than the Tonkatsu. Add an order of their blended iced tea and you're good.

I like the Shio ramen, the noodles, which look like instant noodles taste good when served hot, "malasang-malasa yung sabaw" But you have to finish this quick, because if you let the soup stand, a thin plasticky layer is formed (must be the fat/ sebo). Try it, it's good but while I'm all for Kokoro Ramen-ya's (boiled for 8 hours) Hakata ramen, Santouka's Shio ramen is also very good.
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I also recommend the Pork Cheeks, a side dish consisting of the tenderest choice cuts of pork cheeks. 5 big pieces in a plate.P 250. Release your inner Hannibal :)

Expect lines in both branches, but the line in MOA is faster.
By the way, they have kids meals and Gashapon machines for your little ones.


Glorietta branch 
Address: G4- Grnd Flr, Glorietta Mall, Ayala Center Makati
Telephone: +632 728-1381

MOA branch
Address: 2nd floor Mall of Asia,

Website: http://www.santouka.co.jp/

Spoon rating:
3.5 out of 5 spoons