Munchie Adventure: Santouka Ramen, Downtown Vancouver

My friend recommended this restaurant, so we decided to go and give it a try! And it was a cold day, so it was PERFECT for something hot and soupy =) We got there a bit early, and luckily we did, after we sat down, the little store filled up with people almost immediately! It was pretty warm inside though, which I don't know how people can stand it on a warm sunny day. . .

Restaurant: Hokkaido Ramen Santouka (visit their website here)
Location: 1690 Robson Street, Vancouver
Cuisine: Japanese, Ramen
Price range: $10-15 per entree

Date of visit: September 22, 2012
Atmosphere: 4/5
Staff/service: 3/5
Food variety: 3.75/5
Food quality: 2.5/5
Buck worthy? 2/5

So everyone except me upsized their ramen (add $1 to the price), which is an option they have. You can also downsize (minus $1 off the price), which I wish I did, but when everyone else is upsizing, I really don't wanna be that health nut down sizing HAHA They gave us a sauce platter, which looks pretty with the flash when I took it-- just a random picture =P

I got the Shio Ramen ($9.95) and Goro-Niku gyoza ($5.50). The ramen was ok, a bit big for me, and I forgot to tell them to go light on the lard, cuz I got a bit sick just staring at the oil in my bowl. The portion was pretty good, pork was tender and not too fat. The bamboo shoot was tasteless, but good with the broth. There was this odd oval thing in the middle of the bowl I couldn't figure out though...

The gyoza were disappointing. Yeah, the bottoms were crunchy and fresh, but SO SALTY =(

My friends got the following items:

Karamiso Ramen ($10.45+ $1)-- this was spicy, looked good, but maybe a bit too mild, since I saw my friend add more chili powder =P

Chasu Shio Ramen ($11.80+ $1)-- this one looked almost exactly like what I ordered LOL

Tokusen Toroniku Shio Ramen ($14.50+ $1)-- limited quantity dish! Looked nice =)

Here's the (blurry) bill =P I ended up paying $20 in total, not that bad, but a bit pricey for lunch IMO