Roaming for Ramen - Revisits to Santouka, Nishiki Ramen, and BeShock Ramen and Sake Bar

It's definitely been ramen weather over the last couple of weeks; so I took advantage of the nice chill (all relative of course) to revisit a couple of ramen places I haven't been to in a while.

Santouka:

Even with wall to wall ramen in San Diego these days; I still count Santouka among my favorites. And though it's no longer my #1 favorite; I'd still take it over just about every other place. Though you can tell that there's been a whole lot of ramen shops opening in San Diego since I don't think I've been to Santouka in over a year!

Still, Santouka was the Missus's favorite, so much so, that we sought out the original flagship shop in Asahikawa.

Foe me; there's just one thing to get here. The Shio Toroniku.

Which is, of course what I got. The noodles were firm, with a nice chew, the broth not overly salty, rich, and scalding in the signature thick sided bowl....a necessity in Asahikawa where the coldest temperature in the history of Japan was recorded. The pork cheek was fairly tender and well flavored, nice soy tones going on. It delivered as expected. I decided to go without the terminally over-cooked egg....which, unfortunately, like that bowl is a signature of Santouka….it was the same in Japan! The one difference I do note is that the broth in Japan has a hint of seafood. I recall it being that way when Santouka first opened here in San Diego; but it seems to have gotten more "pork forward" since then. Not that I'm complaining about that.

Santouka Ramen
4240 Kearny Mesa Rd(In the Mitsuwa Marketplace)
San Diego, CA 92111

Nishiki Ramen:

In the same strip mall as Santouka and Mitsuwa. Calvin had never been and had been asking to go. I hadn't been in a while, so I thought why not.

We started with the Chicken Karaage; which was nice and crisp.

It was too salty and lacked the savory complexity of a good karaage

After my Santouka visit; I decided to put my preference for straight up Tonkotsu style broth on hold and try some different things. So I ordered the "Smoke Bomb Black" Ramen again.

This looked very rich, almost greasy, but it was strangely not. You got a hit of garlic at the front end; but not much other than a bit of pork-poultry....the broth lacked the tongue coating richness I anticipated, it was almost weak, somewhat anticlimactic you could say. The temp was also on the colder than I prefer as well. The noodles were over-cooked for my taste and a chashu tough. I did enjoy the sweet crunch the corn brought to this bowl and the egg was perfectly boiled and not cold.

So now that I've had this twice, I can move on......though I'm not sure to what.....

Nishiki Ramen
8055 Armour St
San Diego, CA 92111

BeShock Ramen and Sake Bar:

I'd been wanting to return to BeShock since I first visited over two years ago. Having two long weekends with no plans on a couple of those days meant I could finally head back and check in at BeShock.

I got there right when they opened and was greeted by two cheerful, smiling faces. The young ladies here were very friendly and efficient.

Being a fan of using Shio Koji in my recipes; I was intrigued by the Chicken Koji Ramen. So I decided to get that.

I expected something on the salty end of the spectrum and this was that; but it also lacked any real complexity. The broth was too thin and really lacked richness; I'd expected that nice umami from Shio Koji; but that was definitely lacking. That dry, flavorless chicken breast didn't help things as well. The egg; while cold, was cooked nicely as were the standard issue noodles. I guess this is "healthy ramen"?

I was thrilled to see Nagoya Teba on the menu. I recalled that the owner was from Nagoya, so I was excited to try out these chicken wings.

Decently, though not evenly fried and the flesh was on the drier side. The wings weren't evenly glazed with the sauce and was really too sweet. It definitely needed that kick of black pepper and more soy sauce, garlic, ginger juice, you name it. You can tell by how light the wings are in color; this needed more....

I thought the service was very nice and I'll definitely drop by again. Though I'll go for a more conventional ramen next time.

BeShock Ramen & Sake Bar
1288 Market St
San Diego, CA 92101

Comments

[kat]

glad you are able to get your ramen fixes!

[Junichi]

Santouka still killing it! I usually get a craving about once a year.

[Kirk]

It's great weather for it around here Kat!

They still are Junichi! Not the most hip, nor "sexy"; but still "top tier" in my mind.

[Derek R]

Nishiki is very hit and miss for me. I've had fantastic noodles and broth and over cooked noodles and weak broth. I don't go out of my way for it but will go there if friends if they're going. Santouka on the other hand is always consistent and solid (like you said). My wife and I used to enjoy Yakyudori too but now avoid it after getting pretty horrible food poisoning.

[Kirk]

For some reason; Nishiki has never been quite as good as things were on my first visit Derek. Men; you got sick from Yakyudori? That's terrible.

[Denver]

Thanks for the ramen report. Ramen Yamadaya is closed now and Ramenchan (I think that’s the name) will open in it’s place. Not sure if same people and menu. Yamadaya was my favorite so I will have to find a new one. Santouka still hits the spot and Menya is great if you’re able to get in.

[Kirk]

Hi Denver - Nice to hear from you. I'd seen that Yamadaya had closed.....I think we're starting to hit critical mass with regards to ramen here.