Well, it's definitely ramen weather right now.....at least San Diego's version of it. Since She'd had a rather substantial and late lunch, the Missus asked if we could just go ahead and split a bowl of the toroniku ramen from Santouka, which sounded fine to me as I wasn't super hungry. So, we headed off to the Mitsuwa Food Court and wouldn't you know it, Santouka was out of shio broth, just like when I last did takeout in April. Oh well, the Missus went shopping for snacks while I waited for our large shoyu toroniku.
I gotta say; the broth wasn't as salty as the last time I had this.
And that pork cheek....while not as fatty as on previous visits, was so nicely flavored......welcome to shoyu-porkiness!
But, unfortunately, like my last takeout visit, the noodles just didn't hold up and were mushy, lacking in that nice al dente pull and chew. So I guess it really doesn't travel well. The Missus agreed; I think She know believes that Menya Ultra is better; at least for takeout.
As we were both enjoying ourselves at the dinner table, we had one of those "moments". And we both blurted out; "remember going to Asahikawa and finding the original Santouka?"
Yes, we were in Hokkaido at the end of November in 2015, and went to Asahikawa, the city where the coldest temperature in the history of Japan (-42F) was recorded.....I was in search of Otokoyama Brewery; the Missus, the flagship location of Santouka, which turned out to be a humble little shop (photo to the right). We both shared our memories and had a couple of laughs; there were actual snow flurries while we were on the train; we then caught a bus to Otokoyama Brewery, me having to ask the driver if the but went to the brewery....the wonderful bus driver made sure to let us know when our stop came up and when got out and headed in the wrong direction stopped and pointed the way for us! We miss Japan so much. Even though we had to cancel our planned trip last fall; these memories make sure that we'll return when we're able.
Here's hoping it's soon.
Funny how a bowl of ramen can transport you to a place 5,000 miles away and what seems a lifetime ago. Well, it's all we have for now; so it'll have to do....for now.....
Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111
Current Takeout Hours
Daily 11am - 630pm
We hope everyone had a warm, dry, and safe weekend!
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