Hokkaido Ramen Santouka — Restaurant in Costa Mesa

Slurp in the name of love, oh baby. Slurp in the name of love, yeah.

I used to be a pho slut, but nowadays, I get raunchy for ramen!

Before meeting up with some friends at The Camp in Costa Mesa, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to satisfy my ramen fix at the uber-popular, Santouka Ramen, inside the Mitsuwa Marketplace.

I've heard about the long line that awaits hungry ramen-vores, but I lucked out. Only 4 deep, which meant I could stuff my face & slurp my soup in a jiffy.

Checking out the display, I had to go with 31) Spicy miso ramen, regular size ($8.99) Spicy miso is my usual go-to at other ramen places, so this would be the litmus test to see how Santouka Ramen rates with my tummy.

Remember, no ticket = no food!

After a short wait, my piping hot bowl of greasy goodness embraced me like a relative coming to the States for the first time. " On the boats & on the planes, they're coming to America." I love me some Neil Diamond. The broth, oh the broth! Deliciously fatty, deliciously rich. Comfort food at it's finest. I've read how some find the ramen too salty. I found mine to perfect. Besides, if you're ordering salt or soy sauce ramen, it's probably gonna be salty. Don'tcha think? The al dente noodles had the right consistency, with a few slices of pork that melted in my mouth. Everything working together to tantalize the palate & soothe the soul. Unfortunately, it seems like eggs only come with the combo. I thought all bowls of ramen came with eggs, but apparently not. Oh well! That's only a minor oversight to a satisfying meal. Regular size was just the right amount for me. To reiterate, it's all about that hearty broth. All that collagen plumped my lips like Lisa Rinna ;p Now that's lipsmacking good!

Service was efficient in dealing out the food in a timely manner. The young woman working the front, next to the cashier, was quick to set up trays, pile on the orders & call out people's numbers. Cash only! No card here.

There are tables & barstool seating, which can be hard to come by. I lucked out and found a stool to sit on pretty quickly. Otherwise, I probably would've been pretty miffed about having my ramen get cold while waiting for a place to sit.

Being located in the back of Mitsuwa Marketplace, the parking can be quite congested. I parked underground, which offers a little bit more parking than ground level, but not much.

I immensely enjoyed my spicy miso ramen at Santouka Ramen. While I haven't been to other popular places like Ramen Yamadaya yet, I found the Santouka broth to be my next food crush. The prices are reasonable &, for a soup whore like me, a perfect & pleasing meal when I'm in the area.

Highly...

Delicious Ramen! Ever since I watched the movie Tampoco, a Japanese movie about a girl learning to make perfect ramen, a few years ago I always wanted to try Ramen. I have tried many other places, but after trying Santouka I am hooked.

Located in the Mitsuwa food court, there are a lot of different types of Japanese food. I want to try some curry and other Japanese dishes, but instead Ramen is always my meal of choice when in the area.

I highly recommend the Miso Ramen. I tried the spicy Miso Ramen, but it wasn't as good as I thought it would be for about a dollar more. Make sure to bring cash. Thank you Santouka for having the best Ramen I have ever tasted.

When you first walk in the Mituswa market food court you will notice one thing a big line at Santouka Ramen. This place is for real real not for play play. If you look throw the endless pictures posted by various yelp users this place is no joke. You can choose between Salt, Pork, and Miso based broths. I have only tried Salt and Miso. Salt was bit too salty for me, it reminded of me when I drank a gulp full of salt water my first time snorkeling in Hawaii. Miso Ramen has a delicious taste of pork flavor and traditional miso soup. I was fascinated by the neat and precise the ramen presentation. It really does look exactly like the fact Ramen displays.

I admit that Ramen is not the best food for big eaters, but that's normal for Japanese food. Everything Japanese seems to be neat cute and small.. pretty much the opposite of American dishes. Even when I order a large Ramen I usually add a side of Sushi from the Mituswa market or a plate of tonkatsu curry from a neighboring restaurant. I tried Udon and bento boxes from the other restaurants, but they were nothing spectacular. I highly recommend going in to the market to pick up boxes of sushi and then have a side of Ramen to go with it. The market takes credit card and Santouka doesn't, my only con.

My best advice is to visit Santouka during off peak times if you can. If you hit the dinner or lunch rush you may wait anywhere from 15-45 minutes for you Ramen. Try to go an hour before or after the peak time. Not during 12-1:30pm or 6-7pm. Also, you will learn the hard way that there is no parking during peak and you will only see cars driving is circles trying to find parking. To avoid stalking leaving customers go when it is less busy. I have only gone on weekends but I would imagine weekdays are off peak.

So LETS GET SOME RAMEN! Cheers! with green tea of course there is no alcohol allowed in...

I love pho. I love/eat it so much I took classes on how to make it myself, but the simple art of Ramen can sometimes overshadow it's beloved broth brother. Santouka often does this. Ramen gets such a bad rap from the rest of the world most don't bother to understand it or it's complexities. People usually associate Japanese food with Teriyaki, Sushi, Tempura, and Ramen. When they think of Ramen they think of inexpensive bricks of noodles with a seasoning package you just boil water with and we used to eat when we were broke college students or just trying to stretch a buck. Unlike a lot of non Japanese noodles which most people can't make from scratch, Ramen is more like pasta in that it can be made from scratch, uses grains, and is rolled out. Something you may not know it's hand cut. Layered and cut uniformly with a almost cleaver like blade, mm's and precise. Too fat and it doesn't cook together, too thin and it doesn't hold shape. The problem is that most people overcook the noodles to where they sag, completely wilt and break.

Most places might throw some furukake or seaweed in it, a fish cake slice and of course the meat of choice, topped with green onions, but here at this particular location I love the fact they use woodear mushroom's. You cook the noodles separately and make the broth separately because although most people think that the noodles are supposed to absorb the flavors the salt takes away from the doughy quality of a mouth full of noodles and the broth or dipping sauce accents it not overpowers it. Usually cooked in a water bath while the broth is made by itself. The pork belly is also cooked separately and in particular brings out the woody earthiness of the woodear mushrooms. I look forward to the egg most places use, but often times I don't get one here and that's really the only downfall.

A very popular spot in Mitsuwa, people of all walks of life come here, but I wonder if everyone really knows how good they can get it here. There are only a handful of places that make ramen good enough to top a good bowl of pho in my opinion and the great thing is that this is one of them. And there are quite a few throughout Southern California. Cash only and they don't do togo, but they'll give you the contained to...