Hokkaido Ramen Santouka 山頭火

Back in the summer when I wasn't such a big foodie, I had no idea how famous Ramen Santouka is world wide. My first experience here was literally because I was attracted by the huge line ups and the window displays of the noodle bowls, and luckily a friend that was with me had been and she told me that it's worth the line up. So Ta-da, my ramen adventure had begun.

This review will be based on 2 visits!

First Experience:

Since I love creamy broths, I decided to order the Ikura combo with Shio Ramen,  Ikura Gohan (fish roe on rice) and half a boiled egg. (Since Santouka is always so busy, I never got the chance to remember the price, but it's in the range of $15-$16 4/5) I recommend getting a combo, it's a nice portion for guys that eat alot or for 2 girls to share.

However, the ramen was quite disappointing. I hated the broth, It was EXTREMELY salty, thus it overpowered all the good flavours that was suppose to come out. The noodle was mediocre, the 2 pieces of cha shu was the only good part, tender and well marinated. Thankfully, the rice bowl saved me, the fish roe was SO fresh and juicy, they mixed very well with the rice and the tamago strips. The boiled egg was just a soy marinated egg, I still prefer the oilier ones. 

Overall Experience (1):

I was honestly a little upset that day because I lined up for more than 45 minutes and it was not what I expected, not even close.  But I would still come back (which i did) to try out 1 or 2 more broths. They are famous for a reason, and I wanted to find out. 

I came back once again for 2 reasons, One to give Santouka another chance and Two, to bring a friend since he really wanted to try it. 

They just reopened recently so they are currently offering HALF PRICED GYOZAS ($2.98/5 pcs 4.5/5) till March.9th!  I had to order them, 5 pieces for under $3 is an amazing deal.  Their gyozas are always on point, skin is pan fried perfectly, and meat is juicy and flavourful! I would think they are a little too expensive if they weren't half priced, but nonetheless, try one if you've never ordered gyoza at Santouka before. 

Due to my love and obsession with milky and creamy broths, I still wanted to order Shio, but this time I learned my lesson. I asked for Shio Cha Shu Ramen and requested less salt. ($12.?5 4.5/5) 

I ordered cha shu because I remembered how good their cha shu slices were so naturally I wanted more! The broth is SO much better with less salt, I can actually drink the broth and enjoy its real flavours.  The noodles were cooked much better as well, chewy and al dente. 

Overall Experience (2):

I was so happy that I finally got to discover the magic of Santouka, and I'm eager to try more ramen joints for comparisons! The service was so much better as well, maybe it was just bad luck the first time I came! Since they just re opened less than a month ago, hurry up before the long line ups and full priced gyozas come back again!

Sushi Garden (Brentwood Store)

One of my family favourite. We have been to both locations more than 50 times, it's definitely a go to sushi place for us. I was actually quite shocked when I saw so many negative reviews and comments about them on Urbanspoon. I agree that it's nothing fancy, and always busy. But the quality fits its category. If you want a convenient place to get sushi, sushi garden is worth a try.

We ordered a lot this time since my dad's university friend came to visit.

First, We had the regular salmon sashimi 9 pcs ($8.95 4.5/5) and spicy salmon sashimi ($8.95 5/5)

Loved their sashimi here with fresh and huge pieces. I especially like the spicy ones, I have never had this kind of spicy sauce before.

We ordered 5 rolls this time.

The ones that we always order is the Tropical Dynamite Roll ($4.95 4/5) 

What differs from a Regular Dynamite Roll is that they added pineapple, cream cheese and coated with pan fried egg) A very unique creation though. 

Next, We had the simple California Roll ($3.95 3.5/5) and Chopped Scallop Roll ($3.75 4/5)

Not a big fan of California so I only had one piece. 
Chopped Scallop roll was not bad, but the pieces got smaller over the years.

 Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Roll ($3.95 4.5/5) and the Hawaiian Beef Roll ($3.95 3.5/5)

I like anything cream cheese so I really liked this roll. Others might not, in fact, I've read so many reviews that dislike this roll. But I thought the cream cheese pieces were huge, and it fits well with the pepper and the smoked salmon. 

The Hawaiian Beef Roll was uncreative though, It was basically a teriyaki beef roll with pineapples, the beef was slightly over cooked. 

Yaki Udon ($6.95 4.5/5)

-Udon noodle stir fried with beef and veggies)

The udon noodles were cooked al dente, love the texture. The sauce paired up well with everything. An impressive dish overall. 

We also had the Takoyaki 6 pieces ($3.75 4/5), they were all gone before I could take a picture.

I'm not a big fan of octopus, so I was glad that they only had a small portion of it in each one. I mainly liked the surroundings and the sauce. 

Overall Experience:

A convenient place to get some quick sushi. Don't expect great service since both locations are always busy, servers really don't have the time to do anything else other than taking your order. They do occasionally add tea though. I categorize Sushi Garden and Sushi California as "Asian Fast Food Restaurants". So the quality is quite decent. If you want fancy Japanese food, Hit up Miku and Minami. 

Sekai Udon Bar at Metrotown

Umm Hi guys... So this is my first post of being a food blogger, I started a food instagram during summer but I never thought about blogging until recently! Being a food blogger requires more skills than just being a food instagrammer (aka a good photographer for food), and I suck a describing food, but I will try my best to develop this blog! :)
Anyways, lets get to today's restaurant! ---> Sekai Udon Bar at Metrotown

(restaurant pictures found on http://sekaiudonbar.com/ and Urbanspoon)

This place used to be an all you can eat sushi restaurant, I didn't know it changed till yesterday! According to my mom's friends, it is decent so we decided to try it out after our mini black friday shopping!

Japoutine+Chicken Katsu $8 4/5

The first thing that caught my attention was the word "Japoutine" , I know Japadog is extremely famous here in Vancouver, but I've never heard of Japoutine, so of course I had to try it out!
Basically it's tempera fries topped with cheese, gravy and some seaweed flakes. You can also add chicken katsu for $1.50.  I like the tempera fries, but other than that it's just a normal poutine with a hint of eastern flavours?  If you have never had Japoutine, I think it's worth trying, but i don't know if i would order it again, maybe at a different restaurant. The aroma of this dish is enticing though, well for most poutines it is haha.



Tonkatsu Udon $11 4/5

Since it's an UDON BAR, you can't leave this place without a taste of its handmade udon.. I tried the Tonkatsu Udon, Tonkatsu (According to my aunt, who speaks fluent Japanese) is a broth made out of chicken bones. I expected it to be rich and creamy, and I was 100% right, I like how this soup base isn't overly salty, and the two slices of chashu are solid 5/5, tender, juicy, and full of flavours. But it's udon didn't surprise me, it wasn't chewy enough, I didn't like the texture.


Philadelphia Roll $6.8 4/5

I'm sure everyone knows what philly rolls taste like. (hint: cream cheese) It's like an above average sushi roll but for its price I think it should be better and more gourmet?


Mochi Ice Cream (mango,green tea & black sesame) $5.20 4.5/5

I love love love mochi, so if you like sticky rice, sticky pastries, Ice cream or well, mochi then you will definitely like this dessert. However, I don't know if this is handmade, according to some other foodies, you can get these from T&T, therefore I thought it was kind of a ripoff. But other than that, the mochi ice cream balls taste amazing.


Overall Experience:
I thought the servers were kind of rude when we first came in, but they turned super nice at the end, (weird...).  I heard that some of their soup bases don't taste good, so maybe I will just stick to it's rich and creamy soup bases next time. (wait for my revisit post!)
P.S: Their plating was super nice, I didn't need to try really hard to take nice pictures.