Hokkaido Ramen Santouka - Ramen restaurant in San Jose - Inside Mitsuwa Marketplace, 675 Saratoga Ave #103, USA

One of my favorite ramen spots in the bay for its balance and addictiveness. The broth here is neither a clear and clean like a consommé nor is it a thick milky like a tonkotsu broth. It hits a sweet spot that has allowed it to maintain popularity in the Mitsuwa food court for decades despite many ramen shops coming and going during that time. The shio (salt) ramen is my favorite, though shoyu (soy sauce) is nice for a lighter flavor and miso is just as tasty. Note that the egg is always hard cooked, so I prefer to skip it. Compliment your ramen with a drink from the supermarket! When busy, the line to order and the wait for food can be long, especially on weekends afternoons.

As good as food court ramen can get. A bit oily and the miso soup base was a bit grainy. Otherwise, ramen noodles were fine and they give you lots of chashu. Nice for a quick meal!

I have never heard anyone say they dislike the ramen here, which is shocking for a grocery store food court! There's almost always a line here, so the hype is definitely real. There's combo deals here, so I went for the B Combo (Miso Ramen & Salmon Ikura Rice Bowl). For about $22, it's a decent price. I wasn't a fan of the hard boiled egg... but the ramen itself was pretty tasty. Not too salty, very rich, and the noodles were cooked well. They gave me one piece of pork (for a small-sized bowl) and it was pretty good. Not overly fatty and seasoned well. Overall, I wouldn't go out of my way to come here. However... all things considered, the meal was really good for food court food! Better than expected.

I can't believe I haven't written a review for this place. I've been coming here since it opened, when it completely outsold and destroyed the other soup and curry kiosk next door. Hokkaido Ramen Santouka is located inside Mitsuwa Marketplace, immediately to the left as soon as you enter. When this place first opened it was one of the few Ramen spots that sold Tonkotsu Ramen in the Bay Area that wasn't an actual restaurant. I remember really long lines, like and hour plus wait sometimes. Forget about getting a seat in the communal seating area, that place was packed to the brim. A different story these days... To be fair it went downhill for a while...then got better again. It used to be really good when it first opened; the broths were delectable, full of flavor and the Pork was so tender, it just melted in your mouth. No, it's just OK. The competition in the Ramen Arena is on another level these days. Can't forget about the inflation factor as well... This used to be a good value. Now, it's just as expensive as eating in an actual Ramen restaurant, without the service. #Ramen: ~ Spicy Miso B-Combo. 104. (S) Sake & Ikura Rice Bowl - 3.5/5 Still a good amount of food, even for a small. The broth was delicious, well balanced; full of flavor without being overly spicy.

Tonight I ordered the Large Spicy Miso Chashu Ramen (based on the demo in the window it should be like 6? slices of chashu). For one thing I think I got shortchanged on the chashu. I got like four slices but one seemed more like a half. In general the quality just doesn't seem as good as when I first started going back around 2013. The soup is no longer as flavorful and the noodles don't seem as consistent. Also, they serve the ramen in paper cups now and the resulting presentation (or lack thereof) just doesn't look all that appetizing to me. It's just all dumped haphazardly into the cup bowl. Sure it's fast food, supermarket food court ramen, but in Japan the bowls at similar establishments look more inviting. See attached picture. This bowl + egg cost me a bit over $20.... Really disappointed because even though it's never been the best shop, it was always pretty consistent and good value. I just don't think what I was served tonight was worth that at all.

Tried spicy miso ramen. Was so good! Pork could have been a little softer but the broth was too good!

Got soy sauce ramen, broth was tasty and the noodles was the best of ramen noodles. Seatings are limited.

This food court location is inside the Mitsuwa Supermarket. Food is great , noodle texture excellent, soup base is good match with noodle , Chashu a little bit chewy but still good . Just doesn’t like the service , everything by yourself , not friendly, not passion, look like they want you order & go !