They are located on Bow Street just off Harvard Square. This is the first location on the east coast and they opened in early 2015. Santouka began as a single ramen shop in Hokkaido back in 1988. Founder Hitoshi Hatanaka was inspired to open a ramen shop after watching the Japanese movie Tampopo, a comedy about a ramen shop. It's a funny movie, but I also found it interesting.
This so reminded me of Tokyo with the models of the menu on display in the window. This made it easy to order in Tokyo, just grab your server and point to what you would like to have for your meal. That and a few words of Japanese (beer, check, etc) made it easy to get around.
TONKOTSU CHA-SHU RAMEN ($14.25) in Shoyu flavor. Cha-Shu Ramen comes with 5 pieces of Cha-Shu (Braised pork belly). This was the medium sized bowl, -1 for a small and +1 for a big. I thought this was a small bowl for the price, but boy was it good. The broth was soo flavorful and still very light and the noodles were cooked perfectly. The Pork! It was soo good and flavorful and tender. Delicious! Despite the price, it was worth the effort to taste this dish that upped my benchmark for ramen.
Interior is sleek and modern and they had a couple of communal tables for single diners like me, or for a couple with a small child that ended up opposite me. I really don't mind and it makes sense for the restaurant since it maximizes the number of guests that they can accommodate. They also give you your own bottle of ice water.
They give you a something for your handbag or in my case, shoulder bag so that you don't have to put it on the floor. Service was very friendly and prompt. The whole visit was such a pleasure.
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