Santouka Ramen

Finally caught up, the last one and I've tried them all.

Of all the ramen places, Santouka seems to have more options and choices.
I chose Tokusen Toroniku Ramen with Shio soup base. ($13)

I think of all the ramen places I like the taste of this soup base the most. It was really rich, milky and creamy, which fits my taste buds. The only downside I would say is I felt like it was really oily. The pork cheek meat was really really good. The texture was really soft and tender, which really made thick twice how fatty it probably is. As for the texture of the ramen itself, it was good. However I would prefer Sansotei's noodles, tastes more unique. After eating this set of ramen, my stomach was full for more than half the day. I think their soup was too heavy and oily, I kept feeling very thirsty after my meal too.

My brother ordered the set with both ramen and rice. He ordered Shoyu Ramen. ($15)

The soup base of his ramen was good, tasted less fatty and heavy than mine. The grilled salmon rice bowl didn't pull off a traditional Japanese dish feel, and looked like canned salmon to me. Nothing great and I don't recommend trying it, not worth it.

Food: Very good.
Service: Good.
Price: Expensive
Atmosphere: The place is quite small, not a lot of tables, just like the other ramen places. You probably would expect a line up if you come during peak hours.
Overall: I really did like their ramen, but I did find it a bit too fatty. However, I do recommend this ramen place. One thing I did find a bit ridiculous was you needed to add $2 for an egg. Yes, normally ramens come with an egg already. Of all the ramen places I've been till now, (Hopefully they won't randomly open another one.) in my opinion, this would be the order of the best/my favourites: Santouka > Sansotei > Raijen Ramen > Momofuku > Kinton
If only there was a ramen place that had a mixture of Santouka's soup base with Sansotei's noodles.

Burger Priest

I always heard so many good comments about Burger Priest yet I never got the chance to try. But finally, my friend was craving for it and took me with him. The best burger I've ever had.
Before I came I went online to look up their secret menu. But I personally didn't see anything too interesting. Since it was my first visit, I wanted to try out the basics.

The Priest. ($9.99)

A combination of their cheeseburger and the "option". Aside from the amazing patty, they are famous for their "option", which is two roasted portabello mushrooms sandwiching cheese breaded and deep fried. If you love mushrooms, you will love this.
You have the choice of choosing your own toppings. I normally like to have my burgers with some sort of sauce since I feel like it lacks a bit of taste. But this is the first burger that tasted amazing without requiring any sauce. The texture of the beef is really good, although it isn't the thick type of patties, the beef tasted very solid. The cheeseburger and "option" combined was a perfect match. In one bite, flavour explosion of breaded crisps, mushroom with melting cheese in between, along with the juicy beef patty - Heaven.

Food: Amazing, fattilicious. (If that even is a word.)
Service: It is a fast food environment, not really served.
Price: Expensive for a burger, but definitely worth it. If you only order a cheeseburger ($6), just the option ($8), the priest ($10).
Atmosphere: It is really small and you might not have a place to sit.
Overall: The best burger I've ever had, no lie. I'm sure I'm not the only one that thinks so, the hype is true. I highly recommend coming here if you love burgers and I would suggest trying the Priest if it's your first time. Another comment is they are able to maintain the same quality of every single burger, you wont be disappointed. Definitely a must-try.

Burger Priest
3397 Yonge Street, (Yonge & Eglinton)

Raijin Ramen

Another new ramen place, Raijin Ramen. I guess eating ramen is really the 'trend' now. Knowing me, of course I paid a visit here for some taste testing.

As usual, we ordered the fried chicken to try. ($4)

Looks pretty huge eh? It is pretty good - crispy but I thought it was a bit too salty.

I requested to order the gyoza since it looked pretty good. ($2.50)

No disappointment, tasted pretty good. Fried nicely - crispy but not burnt.

I ordered the Noutkou Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen ($9.50)

First thing that came in mind when I saw this bowl of ramen was "Wow, a lot of green onions" lol. Nothing special with the texture of the noodles. I personally didn't really like the pork shoulder, the meat was a bit tough. The soup base was good, rich and milky.

My brother ordered the Noukou Tonkotsu Shio Ramen. ($9.50)

The only difference was there was black oil added to the soup.

I think they changed their menu and added a few things.
I saw this Poutine du Japon, so I thought I'd give it a try. ($4.5)

Looks nice, but I'm afraid I would have to say nothing special. It's basically fries with mayo and terriyaki sauce with bits of cheese and seaweed. I thought it was a bit funny how there were 3 random thin slices of green and red peppers. I didn't like how the cheese wasn't really melted. The fries were crispy and good. But it just didn't give me the "ooo so tastey" feel; I guess I expected it to be something more different.

They have 2 special ramens. I tried one of them, called "charcoal" or something? I don't remember the name ($11)

First time I've seen a ramen soup this black, lol. If you ask me how it tasted..I thought it tasted kinda strange.  It has a different taste to it that I don't really know how to describe. But after a few spoons it feels kinda plain and nothing special. It was supposed to have come chili pepper spice added, but I couldn't even taste it; Wasn't spicy at all.

Food: Pretty good
Service: Good. Not sure if its because I kept taking pictures, but the waitress kept walking over asking how their food is.
Price: Average
Atmosphere: I felt like there was a strong kitchen air smell. After leaving the restaurant I was a bit disgusted since I smelled like a walking ramen.
Overall: In my opinion, their ramen is nothing special. Not that it's not good, but it taste-wise it is equivalent to Momofuku (I would prefer coming here instead of Momofuku though, cheaper choice too.) When you first walk into the restaurant they have a sign in Japanese meaning "best ramen in Japan" (something along the lines). Maybe after seeing that sign I had high expectations but after my meal, I really felt their slogan was exaggerated. After my second visit and trying the updated menu, I recommend just sticking to the basics.

Raijin Ramen
3 Gerrard Street E, Toronto