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Santouka (Mar Vista, Los Angeles, CA)

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I’ve been on a little hiatus and doing some traveling, but I definitely haven’t forgot about my readers! I have some great places to share from San Jose, CA and Chicago, Il!
First stop…Santouka in Los Angeles, CA.
For those who aren’t familiar with ramen, it’s a Japanese style noodle soup containing homemade ramen noodles, Chashu pork, seaweed, and boiled egg. Every restaurant has their own take so occasionally you’ll see different cuts of meat or a sous vide/soft boiled egg instead. Imagine pho….but Japanese style. Quick and fairly cheap eat.
Santouka is located inside of the Mitsuwa Shopping Center. Ramen is pretty popular here in the Bay Area and there’s almost one on every corner. There’s actually another ramen place right around the corner from the Mitsuwa Market called Kahoo, but we decided to try Santouka first…

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Consistently long line at Santouka inside of Mitsuwa Market. 

 

 

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Cute display menu. 

The setup is cafeteria style so you’ll have to get in line. While waiting, there’s a super cute display case that makes ordering simple. You can choose from Shio (Salt), Miso (Soybean Paste), Shoyu (Soy), or Tokusen Toroniku Ramen (Pork Choice Ramen) for your Ramen broth of choice. There’s a variety of combo meals that includes the ramen bowl and a small side or you can order a la carte.

 

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Spicy Miso Ramen. Pork Broth. Miso paste.

 

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Seaweed and Bonito Flakes Bowl. 

 

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Shio Ramen. Mild, creamy soup. Salt-seasoned. Pickled plum.

 

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Braised Pork Bowl. 

 

Once everything is ordered, find a seat to enjoy your food and your number should be called shortly. We waited approximately 15 minutes. Not bad of a wait considering there were so many folks ahead of us.

I ordered the Spicy Miso Ramen. You can also order the regular miso ramen and flavor to taste with their chili paste (extra 0.50 cents up charge). The broth was homey, simple and satisfied by ramen craving but the Chashu was extremely fatty and so was the broth. The broth was mainly on the fattier side due to the chili paste so next time, I would order the regular Miso Ramen and flavor to taste with the extra side of chili paste. The spice was perfect, in my opinion, but I tend to eat most things on the spicier side.

The rice bowl was simple and some would say it’s a bit plain or dry but pouring a few spoonfuls of broth into the rice bowl was quite homey and moistened it up a bit.
Overall, I enjoyed my experience. There’s a bit of a line, but service was surprisingly quick. The ramen was a quick, cheap bite, but I did wish my broth and Chashu was less fatty. Regardless, it was a great bowl of ramen and sometimes you just want a little bit of that “hominess”.
TIP: Make sure to bring cash. CASH only here!
spoonspoonspoon spoon point 5
Rating: 3.5/5 spoons

 

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