Sanpachi Sapporo Ramen (Robson)

After trying Santouka Ramen, I was curious to see how Sanpachi would compare. Santouka had a very lively atmosphere with cramped seating and some stool seats, offering a very casual fast-food-like experience. The ambiance at Sanpachi was a lot more relaxing and the store gave a feeling of cleanliness and tidiness. I ordered the tonkotsu soup base, but it was not as creamy or savoury as the soup at Santouka. In fact, it was somewhat bland and not very salty at all. Although most people may not appreciate this, I was ok with it since I don't like the thirst that overly salty foods bring on. Presentation-wise, the ramen was a lot less appealing with a large square piece of seaweed thrown on top of the noodles.

The ramen costs $8.95 by itself, so it's a better deal to order a combo for $2 or $3 more depending on which side dish you choose. I chose the nori mayo combo ($10.95) and got extra noodles ($1 extra) with my ramen. The nori mayo dish was basically sushi rolls with shredded pork and mayo filling. It was very savoury and served as a nice complement to the ramen.

My parents also ordered a ramen combo and they chose the mini cha-shu rice bowl combo ($11.95). It was a small bowl of rice with shredded cha-shu, green onions and mayo. It was tasty but very filling.

Personally I prefer the ramen at Santouka mainly due to the richness and creaminess of their pork bone soup base. The ramen at Sanpachi was less salty, but also less flavourful.