Weekly Lunch Pick: a rich and warming bowl of ramen at downtown’s Sansotei
This year marked the invasion of the alkaline noodles: Ramen restaurants have been popping up around downtown Toronto, and with them, block-long lineups. One of the newer players, Sansotei, opened its doors last month on Dundas, and has already amassed its share of followers for its tiny, five-ramen menu. The narrow restaurant specializes in tonkotsu broth, a slow-simmered pork bone-based soup that’s full of collagen (this is a good thing) and slicked with beads of glistening fat. We opt for the tonkotsu shoyu ramen ($8.90), which mixes the rich, milky tonkotsu broth with darker soy sauce notes. Inside our bowl: a fistful of dense and chewy ramen noodles, chashu (thinly sliced, slow-cooked pork belly), a marinated soft-boiled egg with a molten centre and pieces of crispy and chewy black fungus (these are less about flavour than texture). We add an extra pinch of bean sprouts ($0.50) to double the dish’s veggie quotient (if the small mountain of sliced scallions counts). The perfect foil for the satisfying (and belly-warming) soup is a cold and refreshing cup of roasted barley tea ($2), which cuts through the fat and aids digestion—making conceivable a return to work.
The cost: $15.12 including tax and tip
The time: 32 minutes (the lines are thick at midday, but don’t worry, the room turns over quickly)
Sansotei Ramen, 179 Dundas St. W., 647-748-3833, sansotei.com
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This year marked the invasion of the alkaline noodles: Ramen restaurants have been popping up around downtown Toronto, and with them, block-long lineups. One of the newer players, Sansotei, opened its doors last month on Dundas, and has already amassed its share of followers for its tiny, five-ramen menu. The narrow restaurant specializes in tonkotsu broth, a slow-simmered pork bone-based soup that’s full of collagen (this is a good thing) and slicked with beads of glistening fat. We opt for the tonkotsu shoyu ramen ($8.90), which mixes the rich, milky tonkotsu broth with darker soy sauce notes. Inside our bowl: a fistful of dense and chewy ramen noodles, chashu (thinly sliced, slow-cooked pork belly), a marinated soft-boiled egg with a molten centre and pieces of crispy and chewy black fungus (these are less about flavour than texture). We add an extra pinch of bean sprouts ($0.50) to double the dish’s veggie quotient (if the small mountain of sliced scallions counts). The perfect foil for the satisfying (and belly-warming) soup is a cold and refreshing cup of roasted barley tea ($2), which cuts through the fat and aids digestion—making conceivable a return to work.
The cost: $15.12 including tax and tip
The time: 32 minutes (the lines are thick at midday, but don’t worry, the room turns over quickly)
Sansotei Ramen, 179 Dundas St. W., 647-748-3833, sansotei.com){kind=link}
The line-ups at dinner time–on any given weekday– are north of 30 minutes long.
If this is the case at lunch, I think that brings this place out of the running for most lunchtime diners.
The best ramen in Toronto, hands down. Momofuku who?
I agree with MCA, best ramen in Toronto so far.
Just waiting for Raijin to open up.
Don’t bother with this place if you actually want decent ramen. Noodles were off, broth was lukewarm. Momofuku definitely is worse though. Stick to Kinton until Santouka arrives later this year (let’s hope).
finally a bowl of noodles that has flavor, i never understood the hype over Momofuku and the Chang empire, just because they are from NYC, dosnt mean they can cook
I’ve tried all the ramen restaurants in toronto, and none of them really satisfied me. But this restaurant is not the same as any other ramen restaurants in toronto, it really reminded me of the taste of japan. I’ve heard all the good comments about Kinton, but really? That under-cooked noodle, is definitely NOT freshly home-made. And momofuku.. is not worth to mention. If you want to try real authentic japanese ramen, sansotei is definitely your number one pick.
So all you noodle-heads think you know Ramen? I’ve tried them all in Asia and in North America, so after I’ve tried this Santsotei place, I’ll give you an expert opinion.
Not bad. Not great. Better than Kinton, Santouka. Momofuku doesn’t even need an acknowledgement. In all however, Toronto is not delivering on the Ramen front. Toronto is serving up lukewarm bowls of mediocrity.