Food: The ramen and the ikura don was pretty good, though I definitely wasn't blown away. I had the spicy ramen, though I found it to be a bit bland. The broth was rich, which I liked. I didn't like the egg though, as it was fully cooked through, unlike the other ramen restaurants where the yolk is still orange.

Service: I know this place is busy, but there's no need to be rude. We came into the restaurant and they asked "How many?" After I indicated the number of people, the waitress hollered something in Japanese. I'm used to this because I've been to Guu quite a few times and they do the same, but what I was not expecting was for her to immediately walk away afterwards without even making eye contact. How about "It will be 10 minutes." Or "Please wait." We were next in line and sat down at the table. The waitress rudely said "Stand back in line. We haven't cleaned the table," as if it was impossible for them to clean the table while we were seated.

Value: There isn't anything here that Benkei Ramen can't do for a fraction of the price. Even taking in account that this restaurant is located on Robson street, the value still isn't here.

Ambiance: This isn't a place for big groups or comfortable seating. The seating was very tight and uncomfortable.

I don't understand why people would line up for something like this. There are so many better choices in downtown.

I will never set foot in this restaurant again, and neither should you!

My friend highly recommended this ramen place to me, so I decided to go there for lunch. Went there slightly before lunch time to avoid the crowd. Boy, was I glad I did that, because the place was packed with the lunch crowd soon after I arrived.

I decided on their signature shio broth. It was rich and creamy, just as advertised on their website. Very flavourful, yet not overly salty. The noodles were cooked to perfection, and the pork slices were the most tender I've tasted with my ramen with the perfect meat and fat ratio.

Service was prompt and polite. My order came very quickly, and my bowl was cleared off the table and I was presented with my bill soon after. Very efficient lunch service!

Will no doubt go back for the other broths.

Ambiance: Feels like a neighbourhood Ramen joint in Japan. Busy, small crowded, noisy. Heck.. It is a Ramen place. What do you expect?? I just expect authenticity and cleanliness. They have both.

Service: They take your order, bring your drinks and food, and cheque when you are all done. Don't ask for substitution, vegetarian broth, or any special option such as wheat-free and allergen-free items. Don't expect them to accommodate any large party than 4 people. Do expect to eat right next to a complete stranger. It is just a Ramen place. It is meant to be that way. Just leave 8~10% tip.

Food: The richest and creamiest, yet the cleanest, broth in Vancouver. Unlike some of other restaurants (for example Kintaro), they are able to control undesirable porky odour in broth and bring out sweetness and richness. All garnishes are done right, except the eggs which are always over-cooked. Portion size is just right, too.

I really like this place because this is one of very few Asian cuisine restaurant with a open kitchen who puts some emphasis on sanitation and cleanliness.

I guess we got lucky, we were seated almost immediate when we came in for lunch one day. We had always been interested to try the "Hokkaido style" ramen, as they claimed to be. And yes, we do know it's actually a global chain originating from Japan. No complaints about the service, it is on par with other ramen places in town and there's not much to write home about in particular.

The menu features most of the "usual" items, though there is a bit of a twist from the other ramen places in town. I guess that is the Hokkaido style stuff. We had the "spicy" one and the pork cheek shio ramen.
Spicy? By Japanese standards yes, but everyone else's standard, probably not so much, so don't worry, even the faintest of spicy eaters can enjoy this dish.
The pork cheeks slices were very nicely done, big thumbs up. They came on the side of the ramen bowl. The shio ramen was pretty good. Very nice broth, which, by the way, you can watch being boiled in the big pots by the kitchen window. Any ramen worth eating should come with quality broth/soup that is worth drinking. Those people who do not drink the ramen broth, they are wasting money on very good food. This is a high quality soup that takes a long time to make, if you don't drink it, do not consider yourself a foodie. (Unless you find yourself in a really crappy ramen joint).
The noodles are the same in both cases, competent, quite good, but not particularly outstanding. None of that is made in house, it comes bulk packed from Japan.

The portions appear deceptively small, but we were quite full after the meal, so I guess I should complain. The meal was solid, done very nicely, though perhaps a bit rich for my taste. The only gripe I have is the pricing. It's slightly on the high side, about the same level with Motomachi, so the problem is, I very much prefer Motomachi's offerings, much cleaner and lighter tasting and more unique than Santouka. I give it a hesitant thumbs up, worth at least a first visit.

Best broth in town. You want good ramen? You need good broth and al dente noodles. Santouka has both. I have tried the Shoyu, Miso, and Kara and each bowl did not disappoint. Good amount of noodle and just enough heat on the soup. The cha-shu...a little fat to go with the lean, oh so good! Try it and thank me later.

I have tried pretty much every ramen house in Vancouver and this was one of the best I have had. I ordered a large miso ramen. The broth was very flavourful and had the strongest pork taste I have experienced which is a good thing in my opinion. The bowl wasn't very big but it was packed with noodles, almost too much for lunch. The pork was by far the best I have ever had in ramen. I will make sure I order more next time because two pieces is simply not enough. I would like to see a couple more toppings such as corn but the bowl is certainly not lacking anything in flavour.

The room is modern and sleek with a large communal table in the front, bar area overlooking an open kitchen (separated by glass) and then a bunch of small tables in the back. They weren't serving alcohol yet, I guess they don't have a license. In fact, there were a bunch of things "coming soon" on the menu. Assuming those actually get added, the menu will be fairly eclectic compared to other ramen houses menus which generally have the same items. The price ended up being over $10 for a large bowl of ramen which I thought was a bit expensive especially since there were only two pieces of pork and most places have three. I would still return because the soup is top notch.

Yep I've been to all the other ramen houses and today was my first successful visit to Santouka, last visit was met with a 30 minute line up but my trek for an early lunch at 11 am paid off. Even though 2 obnoxious losers sat next to me; that did not dampen my first experience at Santouka. First let me start with the room, its Japanese modern, one of the nicest communal tables I've seen, stools in front of the kitchen where the action is but there's a glass separating the kitchen so one can see but won't be affected by the steam. I was greeted with a nice glass of water followed by a nice menu with photos. I went for the Toriniku Kara Miso Ramen with pork belly + an egg and granted it was $15 for everything, it was the best $15 spent on a bowl of noodles. The broth was so flavourful then I drank every last drop, the soup had a different consistency from other ramen houses, this broth had texture which goes to show numerous ingredients went in to achieve that level of complexity. The plate of pork belly that melted in my mouth came with the fixins and the noodle was made al dente which perfectly complimented the broth. The service was prompt, friendly and authentically Japanese. I am already thinking of returning for dinner! This place has officially become my favourite ramen house in Vancouver!

I find ramens here are over priced for the quality and quantity they are serving. Noodles are not bad, but ramens are known for casual dining and without any adjusted improvement of quality of foods they are serving, I do not think it is worth to pay the price they are asking for. They have this Rice Bowl and Ramen Combo for about $15, and it is not only pricy but a lot carbs to take in as well. I was not happy with the idea you are controlled to spend minimum $7, and no credit cards are accepted in this restaurant.

First time I tried this ramen place today, got the kara ramen. Overall the service and environment was good (fair, I may say), the food was not bad except it was more like infant portion (very small), and I just got couple slices of pork that most parts were just fat! The soup was nice and rich, however, a little bit too salty to me and too oily. The noodle texture was fine, no complaint about that. It's just the ramen are very very pricey...with the same price I could had gotten a lot more better food, I feel it's not worth the value, not sure if I will go there again.

This restaurant has the highest minimum order charge I have seen, and I have not seen min charge at Japanese restaurants! not even Izakaya or Ebisu, Yoshi higher-end restaurants. Each person has to order $7.95 of items!
The small bowl of rice was 4 dollars with only came with plain steamed rice with a few pieces of salmon which I can simply make by myself! The ramen was rather oily and salty and there was NO chewyness in the noodles. My homemade instant noodles tasted way better!
The portion and value was horrible too: Each regular ramen came with only TWO pieces of pork and 2 pieces of bamboo shoots? The side was only half of an egg and 2 pieces of pickles?! And the combo was $12?? The service was bad too as they had all kinds of restrictions for splitting bills like 2 out of 5 can pay on a separate bill and the others have to pay debit?
Don't even get me started on their English skills! I just don't understand why there are so many people line up for things like this. I will NEVER be back or that reminds me why I never eat ramen.