Hokkaido Ramen Santouka — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Same as the Santouka up in the Bay Area, even similarly located inside a Mitsuwa too! My review for this location more or less mirrors the Bay Area one, so I'll keep it short and sweet: as the last of four consecutive ramen meals, Santouka was my least favorite.

I ordered their spicy miso chashu, and found the same problem as I did with the toroniku up north: their ramen is way too salty for my tastes, and that's even without drinking the broth. Their noodles are also different from their straighter cousins at Yamada and Shinsengumi, being more of the wavy variety you find in packaged ramen, and having a much eggier taste to them, for better or worse, depending on your preferences.

While this may be convenient for some, especially because there's other good food in the food court, as a ramen aficionado, you're better off elsewhere.

Accessibility Info

Venue - Since this is inside a decently sized food court, the majority of seating is accessible, save for some high tops. The bigger problem you'll have is actually finding a free seat, but that's a different matter entirely.

Bathroom...

For all those who are ok to wait hours for Daikokuya/Ippudo or similar places.. good for you. For anyone else who wants great tasting ramen with quick turnaround time, you owe it to yourself to check out Santouka. One of my fondest memories from attending UCLA!

They do three basic kinds: shoyu (soy sauce), shio (salt) and miso (fermented soy). My personal favorites are shoyu and shio, the latter being the lightest broth they offer. You can also make a "set" that comes with a rice bowl (topped w/ pork, salmon, roe, etc). The broths are rich, complex and flavorful, the pork juicy and tender, the toppings fresh and compliment well. (If I recall correctly there's a bit of a variation in toppings, e.g. shio has salted plum, others have bamboo, seaweed, etc). Noodle texture is on the chewy side, which I prefer.

Since it's next to a Mitsuwa supermarket you can compliment your ramen with some Ramune soda, Calpico or whatever green tea you like... man, writing this review makes me want to make the trek to New Jersey for Mitsuwa...

The best ramen in Los Angeles! Though a little more expensive than Daikokuya, Santouka's noodles are much more savory, with the location making accessibility to the heavenly noodles even more convenient. Santouka is located in Mitsuwa marketplace which has a lot of parking, and the wait wasn't very long, for me it's been less than 15 minutes even during lunchtime.

Though the location is convenient, Santouka really stands out because of its ramen. I get the special pork set miso ramen, which is a little pricey but is definitely worth what you pay. The broth is salty and delicious, the noodles are flavorful, and the pork is perfect, creating the ultimate combination of comfort food. It's the perfect food for when you are sick, the soup felt like it was magically healing my throat when I had a cough.

It's location is also nice because you can look around at the Japanese stores after having the best ramen ever. A must have if you're in West LA or just...