Ramen Weather - Santouka and HiroNori Craft Ramen Revisited

Yep, well the cold weather (it's all relative) has settled in. If there's one thing I enjoy about winter here is that it is cool enough for me to head out and get ramen. Heck, even the Missus was wanting some ramen.

And of course She chose.....

Santouka:

Man, can you believe that Santouka has been open for over 16 years already? And even with the influx of all the ramen shops over the years, the Shio Toroniku from Santoua is the the Missus's favorite.

Which is now $16.95. It was $15.95 on our last visit in February of last year. Still, the Missus and I will split one bowl and also get a rice bowl. On this day, the Missus chose the Chashu Gohan ($6). Guess She was feeling in a "porky" kinda mood.

The ramen was as usual; that bowl keeps the broth hot for the entire meal.

  Santouka has been fairly consistent over the years. Of course that consistency is a two way street. Santouka has probably the worse tamago. And yes, it's always been terribly overcooked. But hey, if you want consistency, that egg was just as bad at Santouka's original location in Asahikawa!

The broth was rich and tongue coating, savory with just enough saltiness for us.

The pork cheek (toroniku) was a bit tougher this time around and didn't start melting away in the hot broth like we enjoy. Still, it was delightfully porky.

Speaking of porky, we both enjoyed the Chashu Gohan.

Nicely flavored, fairly tender pork, over hot rice. Since we're not big eaters, this was enough for both of us. 

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

A few days later, I was craving some ramen, and decided to head on over to another favorite; HiroNori. After all, the last time I visited was almost exactly a year ago. To be perfectly honest, these days I prefer the ramen at HiroNori to Menya, which has been somewhat inconsistent and much too busy these days. And let's not even go into the crazy prices at Baikohken. I also had thoughts of heading to UTC....perhaps I need to do a ramen rumination of all ramen places in Westfield UTC? But that'll have to wait until after the holidays.

So, it was off to try and find parking in Hillcrest. Which I magically found a few blocks away on Robinson and Third.

HiroNori Craft Ramen:

My timing worked out pretty well. The clock struck 1130 just as I crossed Fifth Avenue and I sauntered in; the first customer of the day.

I ordered my usual here; the Shoyu Ramen, now priced at $16.45, it was $15.10 at this time last year. I also got some moyashi ($.50). 

    I prefer the savory, somewhat salty, barrel aged shoyu broth to the tonkotsu here. It has nice soy-savory complexity and the broth has a decent velvety tongue feel.

The tamago had been nicely marinated and the yolk was warm. An ice cold egg is a pet peeve of mine.

   The chashu was porky, with a nice shoyu flavor. It was so soft and buttery; the best I've had here to date! I decided to get the noodles katame; firm, and the woman working nodded in approval. The noodles were indeed firm, slippery, but also did a great job "picking up" the broth.

This might be the best bowl I've had here to date!

For me, this is a great option to the typical tonkotsu broth that is everywhere. Which leads me to something interesting I noticed during my meal. There were three parties of folks who came in during my meal. They all ordered "tonkatsu" ramen. The Japanese woman working didn't blink an eye....I guess this is the norm here in Hillcrest. "Tonkatsu" ramen.....

HiroNori Craft Ramen
3803 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103

So, two bowls, both of them winnah's. It's a nice start to "ramen season" for me!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Comments

[Sandy]

I liked the ramen on my one visit to HiroNori, but the parking situation always deters me from returning. I don't think I've ever had Santouka's ramen.

I was hoping someone (like you) would do a UTC ramen review!

[Kirk]

Yes, parking is terrible in Hillcrest unless you want to pay $$ Sandy! I'll work on a UTC compilation once the holidays are over. Hopefully Ujin will be open by then as well.

[Peter]

Ah yes -- looking forward to your UTC ramen cook-off! We've settled into Ramen Nagi as our favorite. The line can be daunting but it always seems to move quickly.

[Kirk]

I had really thought of going to Nagi, but ended up at HiroNori Peter! I just don't want to deal with the holiday crowds.....though considering how parking is in Hillcrest.....

[kat]

nice you are getting your ramen fixes! cold anything in a ramen bowl is a no no

[Kirk]

Yes, totally Kat....I hate cold tamago and other "stuffs" in my ramen!

[Som Tommy]

Hironori looks really good. Our coworkers are hooked on the garlic ramen from Buta. Would like to know what you think about it.

[Soo]

You are a real rebel ordering shoyu ramen.

[Junichi]

Nice. I remember when Andrew Zimmern reviewed Ultra for his TV show he famously exclaimed "Best tonkatsu ramen in America might just be in San Diego!"

[Kirk]

Ok, Buta is fairly close by so let me check them out ST!

Lol Soo!

Yes, I totally remember that Junichi! ;o) Drove me crazy....

[Franklin]

Ok, Tommy already asked abt Buta!

[Mar]

Love HiroNori!

Yes I think "tonkatsu" is the normal pronunciation by people not familiar with the Japanese language, that's how all my Mainland friends here say it :) That, and "musubi" is "mah-sue-be" lol

[Kirk]

Yes, thinking about dropping by next week Franklin!

Mah-su-be...Lol Mar! Reminds me of one of my old coworkers who used call the dish "beef strokin-off"! ;o)

[Dereck]

I had exactly the same bowl order at Hironori that you had. Wow. That hit the spot and was so yummy. We got there right at 11:30 when they opened and it was empty and by the time we left it was full. The fact the trolley doesn't go through hillcrest is the height of stupidity.

[Kirk]

Glad you got your fix Dereck! Man, if only there was trolley service to Hillcrest and North Park. I recall seeing the old trolley tracks on University and 30th when they were repairing the road there! And also the Kearny Mesa area....like up Balboa from the trolley stop to Convoy!

[jack]

I don't go out for ramen much these days but Santouka has always been my most consistent bowl over the years too.

If you're craving a bowl of Khao Soi, Buta makes a pretty good one called Golden Curry Ramen

[Kirk]

I'll check that out after I try the garlic ramen several folks have recommended at Buta Jack!