ramen/japanese: SANTOUKA

SANTOUKA at FUXING SOGO 山頭火 
No. 300, Zhongxiao E. Rd, Sec. 3, B2
台北市忠孝東路三段300號B2
(02) 2731-7533

MRT: ZhongXiao/FuXing

website: http://www.santouka.co.jp/

hours: 11AM to 9:30PM

$$

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted, but kids should like ramen, pork cutlet and fried dumplings

Visit reviewed: 6/6/2014

Be prepared to wait. I wasn't prepared for the 20 minute or so wait for Santouka, since I assumed the hype had died down, but there they were, 10 or so people standing in line in front of me for a late weekday lunch at 1PM. If you expect a wait, and there isn't one, then it's a happy surprise. So by the time I sat down, I was ready to order, ready to eat. 

The first time I tried Santouka was in Los Angeles, at Mitsuwa, a chain of Japanese supermarkets in the US. Yelp and word of mouth already made it a place for legit ramen on the westside, so there were lots of people in line at this random supermarket food court. So there I expected a wait. I struck up a conversation with the tall, blonde guy in front of me and he said, "You must order the spicy miso ramen." So I did. The spiciness and saltiness of the broth was great, even though the deep red color was intimidating. So it was with high expectations I tried Santouka in Taipei, which supposedly had four hour waits when it first opened in 2012.

The Santouka Taipei menu is quite similar with shio (salt), shoyu (soy sauce), miso, hot miso ramen, tsukemen, or cold ramens, or order a la carte or combos with fried pork tonkatsu, fried chicken, gyoza or a small salmon sashimi rice bowl chirashi. Prices range from NT$200-NT$320 for noodles, and you can choose regular, small or large sized bowls. The menu has some English and photos, but is mostly in Chinese and Japanese. And if you really love meat, then try the toroniku ramen, which comes with a plate of simmered pork cheek slices. 

That day I opted for a cold ramen (NT$300) which is comes with julienned cucumbers, ham, cold pork and a shrimp on a bed of cold ramen with a vinegary sauce. After my first few bites, I regretted ordering it because I'm not a fan of cold char siu pork and this was basically the main element of Santouka's cold ramen (unlike some cold ramens that also have egg, carrots, tomato or chicken). WHY DID I NOT ORDER THE SPICY MISO RAMEN? DOH! The toppings and sauce were kind of skimpy for the price, and in proportion to the ramen, and the meat was kind of dry. But I didn't look at the menu carefully and the details of the dish were in Chinese, so it was my bad.

Luckily, my dad got a miso ramen combo (NT$370) which came with a small sized ramen and a fried tonkatsu. It was mostly good except the egg was a dry yolked hard boiled egg, not the gooey soft boiled egg we are used to seeing in ramen egg-porn. WHY DID I NOT ORDER THE SPICY MISO RAMEN?!! With pork bone broth boiled for over 20 hours??

I also have to note that service was incredibly slow. We probably waited nearly 15 minutes after sitting down, even after preordering while waiting in line for over 10 minutes, and got our food after the people next to us, who sat down after we did. So I was a bit hungry and annoyed throughout this lunch, which is never a fun experience. But luckily my dad is the best and he shared some of his soupy ramen with me. Thanks Dad!

OTHER LOCATIONS: 

QSquare
1F, NO.1, Sec.1,Chengde Rd.
台北市大同區承德路一段1號1樓
(02)2558-2577

Tianmu Sogo
8F., No.77, Sec. 6, Zhongshan N. Rd., Shilin Dist.,
台北市士林區中山北路六段77號8F
(02) 2837-1211

snapshot/dessert: HELLO KITTY at CLOUDY CUPCAKE

CLOUDY CUPCAKE 克勞蒂杯子蛋糕 
at Eslite Xinyi B2 誠品百貨信義店
No. 11, SongGao Road
台北市信義區松高路11號
(02)2722-2586

MRT: Taipei City Hall

Hello Kitty kind of gets around. I've been seeing her face everywhere and on everything. Taipei (and the world) is obsessed with Hello Kitty. We used to spend money on Sanrio stationary and pens and bags, but now it's moved onto Hello Kitty hamburgers, cupcakes and honey toast.

You can spot her lovers posing for a picture in front of the homebase Hello Kitty restaurant- Hello Kitty Sweets- any given day of the week.  I often spy her at 7-11, making me buy stuff to collect trinkets or stamps or magnets or whatnot, and now strawberry stuff. Dazzling Cafe also has been featuring Hello Kitty honey toast and desserts the past few months for a limited time (until March 11th, I believe).

from Dazzling Cafe's FB page

And now Cloudy Cupcakes has also been getting in the Sanrio action with the big red bow and some white chocolate candy faces. What is about the cuteness that makes us squeal and open our wallets? I didn't try them (since I've heard multiple meh reviews about their pricey little cupcakes), but I admit I was tempted. Don't know how long the cuteness will last at Cloudy, but had to share.

OTHER LOCATIONS

QSquare B3
No. 1 ChengDe Road B3
中正區承德路一段1號京站店B3
(02) 2552-5719

japanese/ramen: i strongly recommend IPPUDO

IPPUDO 一風堂

No. 85, Zhongshan N Rd Sec 1, Taipei City 

台北市中山北路1段85號

(02) 2562-9222

MRT: Taipei Main Station

website: www.ippudo.com.tw

hours: 11:30AM - 12midnight

$-$$ (cash only, about NT$250-400/person)

Kid friendliness: no high chairs spotted

Visit reviewed: 10/23/2012

If you spot lines in front of Ippudo, don't be intimidated by them, nor by the way they organize the line, with a solitary machine offering numbers. Opened last spring, the Taipei branch of the popular Japanese ramen shop (also with a branch in NY) had up to 2 hour waits when it first opened. Yes, TWO HOURS! I didn't want to wait that long, so I waited until the crowds died down to go. Taipei is crazy about ramen, as we saw openings of both Ippudo and Santouka in Taipei last spring about the same time.

But when I went, months after the opening, there was still a bit of crowd. There was no formal line, so I wandered closer to the bright red machine to see what the deal was. Numbers differ for parties of 1, 2-3 or 4+ and after a bit of navigating, guessing what the mostly Chinese directions were and button pushing, I got a ticket with a number.

I punched the number "2" and then "ok" and there was another screen after this to push confirm.

Luckily that day, everyone got seated fairly quickly... I think we were seated in less than 5 minutes. They won't seat you until everyone in your party is there, so either have everyone be on time, or eat with only a few people.

Once inside, the ramen shop is visually stimulating, using red and white ramen bowls and spoons as pop art deco along the walls and above the bar seating. There's actually a lot of seats in the dining room, with different sections of booths, large tables and a long bar. If you're looking for more in the area, after your ramen, you can walk a few blocks to Taipei's MOCA, or Museum of Modern Art.

There's a handy basket underneath each stool/chair for storing your purse or manbag or umbrella.

The English/Chinese/Japanese menu has four main ramen choices- Shiomaru Classic, Akamaru Modern, Ippudo karaka and a brothless vegetarian. The Shiomaru focuses on the classic white pork broth, while Modern adds spicy miso, while Ippudo Karaka adds spicy meat sauce. Vegetarian should be self explanatory.

When I visited Ippudo Taipei for the first time last fall, they also offered a tsukemen for a limited time which I should have tried, but I wanted to try the classic first. 

There are small plates of cold dishes and hot appetizers to fill you up. My favorites out of the bunch were the Japanese fried chicken and the Ippudo Spicy Tofu in stone pot. 

Ippudo also offers up a fusion gua bao style bun, giving Taiwan credit for the fatty pork sandwich concept, but making their own twist on it, stating on the menu that the collection is "born in Taiwan, reborn in New York." Yup, you'd better recognize!

Check out the spices and garlic press while you wait for your food to see if you want to add some sesame seeds or crushed garlic to your ramen.

If you want to add some veggies to your meal, you can add a couple of small cold dish appetizers to your meal. I liked the chili bamboo with mentaiko (NT$55) over the chili oil sprouts (NT$55). During my second visit, I noticed they added some dishes to the menu.

Ippudo's bowl is just the right size, and if you add an egg (for NT$30), the soft boiled egg comes whole. The meat is sliced fairly thinly, but is melt in your mouth tender. Everything in the bowl is hot, so it doesn't taste like some ramen shops where they dump cold ingredients in and assume it will be warmed up by the broth.

The shiromaru classic (NT$200 + NT$30) is a milky white pork broth and pure deliciousness. The ramen is on the thinner side and is ordered either "regular" or "firmer," but I thought "regular" was just the right amount of al dente chewiness.

The red bowl is the Akamaru Modern (NT$230 + NT$30) and comes with some secret sauces (chili, sesame, miso) to mix into the pork broth to give a richer, layered spoonful.

Oh yeah.

Love how perfect the soft boiled egg is, gooey egg yolk, but not too runny. 

I had to try the buns and the roast beef with wasabi (NT$90) was more interesting than the pork belly.. it was good, but not amazing. Skip this and go to the night market and get the real thing for half the price.

I don't always drink all the broth, but when it's this good...

There's quite a list of ramen shops growing for Taipei eats, so I wouldn't wait an hour for it, but if you're looking for a good bowl of noodles, you can be sure Ippudo is on it. 

OTHER LOCATIONS: (Just opened 2/4/2013)

No. 165, DunHua S. Rd, Sec. 1
台北市大安區敦化南路一段165號1樓
(02) 2772-9222
11:30 AM - 12AM (last order: 23:30)