santouka tantanmen

Thanks to a delayed flight (sorry, Tom! thanks, Tom!), I was able to make a quick stop to try out Santouka Ramen’s limited edition limited edition tantanmen last weekend. Santouka’s tantanmen is only available for one more weekend and is limited to 30 bowls a day. Is it worth it?

Even at 11:30am in the morning, there was a line and a wait. When I finally got my ramen, I was a bit disappointed. Look at the picture below, then look at the picture above. Um…yeah…seriously?

santouka tantanmen

I mixed up the noodles and stirred up the shredded pork. The ramen had a really strong nutty smell and flavor. It’s not particularly spicy and really the main flavor was sesame oil, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The noodles were starchy-sticky and chewy. Given how cold it was Saturday morning, I gulped down the bowl with relish.

Santouka’s tantan noodles get a decent 5.5 out of 10 (a half point off for looking nothing like the picture).

10:48pm update: wow, I just read A Radiused Corner’s post on Santouka’s tantanmen and apparently, my bowl was missing a few ingredients. Did anyone get an “incomplete” tantanmen?

10:59pm update: I really should stop blogging while sleepy. My wife just reminded me that I *did* have a few small strands of pickled mustard plant in my ramen, which I forgot about. So it wasn’t quite incomplete. My mistake.

santouka tantanmen

Santouka Ramen
(inside Mitsuwa Supermarket)
665 Paularino Ave
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
(714) 434-1101
Cash only