i 3rd the notion that santouka is nothing special.. for the price.. you get much less than the other ramen shops in the area.. the noodles are are probably the worst noodles you can get from the main big ramen places.. the regular meat is fine.. no beef with that (:P).. but that fatty cheek stuff is neither worth the place or tasty..
soup wise i am a miso person.. the miso soup is one of the best in vancouver (kintaro being best sometimes (but sometimes the soup is either not flavourful enough.. or its yummy but not hot.. ) ive been eating at kintaro since like 2004 and recently i havent got a good bowl (yummy and hot)..
for noodles i actually like benkei .. they are also the cheapest too
i went through a shio phase.. santouka was disgusting.. it for one wasnt hot.. and it had this strange sweet taste to it.. not a nice creamy pork bone taste.. benkei has flavorless and kintaro is too salty.. i think a good one for shio is g-men in the night.. it has that fatty pork soup that leaves a film of fat on your lips after you're done..
and compared to the ones in japan (the ones we have here arent very similar.. the ones in japan are pretty simple but they are flavorful and rich..
if anyone ever gets a chance to go to japan or new york try a place called Hakata Ippudo they have a miso soup broth with garlic oil in it and the meat was friggin amazing (kinda smoked, but juicy and flavorful)..
