SANSOTEI RAMEN ON YONGE

Learning about Sansotei’s second location at Yonge and Bloor made my month in March. Doors officially opened on April 10th and I was eager to visit but had to wait until I was back from vacation (#firstworldproblems).

Atmosphere: Sansotei’s second home is on the west side of Yonge, south of Bloor just north of Irwin Ave. The Fiance and I arrived just after 8pm on a Friday night and I was happy to see no lines (yet). Throughout our meal, the restaurant was full, but not the crowded, fast pace of the Dundas location (yet). Compared to the first Sansotei, the seating at this location felt more private with booths and partitions in favour of communal tables. It is still a small dining space and I would estimate 20-30 seats at most. We were seated at the last booth, right before the register. I sat on the bench seat and during the entire meal, I couldn’t help but stare at the large mirror on the wall across from me, which reflected another booth further into the restaurant. It was super distracting and slightly awkward.

Service: Every single person we interacted with that night was friendly and had a genuine smile, on top of which, service was efficient and professional. We were warned while ordering the gyoza that they could take up to 15 minutes to prepare. Our order arrived shortly after the bowls of ramen. Both bowls arrived piping hot.

Food: In addition to the gyoza appetizer, I had the tantan ramen while the fiance slurped up his tonkotsu ramen. The four gyozas were served still steaming from the pan and had a nice crispy bottom. A light, tangy dipping sauce was provided but the filling was flavourful enough for the dumplings to be enjoyed plain.

Both The Fiance and I tried the thick noodles this time and I’ve been converted. In terms of thickness, there wasn’t much of a difference between the two option, but the thick one does have the curl associated with “ramen noodles” while the thin one is straight. Each strand of noodle was chewy, al dente and pretty much perfect. I loved my marinated egg, that came as a default topping, and fresh spring onions. The slice of rolled chashu was charred and fatty. Sansotei’s new location lived up to 99% of my expectations with a 1% expectation being that my broth was a touch salty. I’m happy to see Sansotei slowly moving north, now if they’d open a third location at Yonge and Sheppard, it would make my year. As is, I will continue to happily trek downtown for my Sansotei fix, hitting the Yonge location before the queues for dinner start forming.