Hokkaido Ramen Santouka Pavilion Kuala Lumpur

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka Pavilion Kuala Lumpur

There are two very good Japanese ramen restaurants in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. One is Hakata Ippudo and the other one is Hokkaido Ramen Santouka. This restaurant has been around for a few years but I never had the chance or time to try out their ramen until recently.

Since 1988, Santouka’s founder Hitoshi Hatanaka has been selling his signature Shio Ramen (salt flavour) in Hokkaido. He started off with only 9 seats at his first restaurant and Hokkaido Santouka Ramen is now is available around the world.

I visited the outlet recently for lunch and I ordered their signature Tokusen Toriniku Ramen (RM 37.00). The most interesting about this ramen is the pork cheek meat. If you are a pork lover, then you should know that the pork cheek is tender and soft but it is not as fat as pork belly.

The other important note about pork cheek is they are rare and only 200-300g can be taken from each pig (depending on the size). That’s why some people always love to eat the cheek part when have the whole roast pig or suckling pig as it is very limited but yet delicious.

The ramen is served separately with six pieces of pork cheek. The meat is tender and soft and each piece is reasonably sized and is very tasty.

Their soup is quite interesting as well as I ordered Shio flavour (salt flavour). When I read it first, I thought it just another boring soup with salt flavour but when I tasted it, it was amazingly light and yet so palatable. The noodle is equally good and now I understand why it cost so much for just a bowl of ramen.

Well, I am truly satisfied with Tokusen Toriniku Ramen even it is on the pricey side. I am looking forward to taste the other dishes in the near future. The fact is I enjoyed their Shio flavoured soup as it is light and yet enjoyable while the pork cheek is beautiful. It has been sometime since I enjoyed a bowl of Japanese ramen.