Hokkaido Ramen Sanpachi - Not so great new competitor in Vancouver Ramen League

As a ramen lover, I could not resist trying out a new chain of ramen
that has opened in robson and broadway
so, i decided to take advantage of great lunch special on broadway
and try out their noodles!! 

Ramen Sanpachi is also a franchise from Japan Hokkaido
however, the style of ramen is quite different I have to say
 

there is five main soup bases while the last three is other ramen with additional toppings 
as a grand opening promotion,
certain ramen were 30% or 50% off but the server did not bother telling us.. 
we ended up picking the discounted ramen but still 
I felt bit left out when she was explaining people on other table 
about this deal 

as part of their regular lunch promtion,
you can create a combo by adding small sides 
listed above on the side bars 

so we ordered 
tonkotsu ramen + nori mayo
yatai ramen + mini curry

one thing i found very odd was that
lady's washroom was right in front of the tables.. 
next to the tea and cutlery, 
which was very unattractive, 
compared to other parts of chic and neatly decorated restaurant

on the table,
there is a pepper and shichimi that you can add to the ramen at you own risk
personally, 
if I need to put these in my noodle, 
it means it is really bad 
but other people may say other wise 

this is their tonkotsu ramen 
soup is bit opaque and salty but all ramen soup is salty as i find 
it was okay, 
although i thought the strong stench of pork bone was dominant over any other things that were in their
and prevented me from tasting any other things
it was not bad but it was not good either 

this was their yatai ramen + egg topping 
which seems to be the house special ramen for i have not seen yatai soup base anywhere else
it tasted like peppery chicken stock flavoured with soy sauce 
it was okay 
too peppery for my liking but quite light tasting for ramen base 
their cha-shu was quite lean but very well cooked 
I liked the fact that it was not strongly seasoned 

compared to the other Hokkaido ramen Santouka
whom use thin noodles that remains bit chewy throughout the meal (it usually takes me 10~20 min to finish a bowl) 
Sanpachi uses thick noodles more like Benkei
it arrives bit undercooked, feels properly cooked after about 5 minute or so 
and tastes bit overcooked towards the end of the meal 

I really like their egg topping 
for it was perfectly cooked with egg yolk flowing out of the egg as i cut into it
but i still think motomachi shokudo has the best egg topping! 
(but it is bit more expensive there)

this is the mini curry ordered as part of the lunch set
it was nothing special
taste like curry that i cook at home with glico brand curry cubes 
the portion was quite good unless you are a big eater 

this is the nori mayo 
which is actually tuna mixed with mayo and rolled in nori with rice
this tasted surprisingly delicious 
for something that seems so simple to make 
I would recommend ordering this over curry 
also, this impressed me very much because of the quality of nori they used
as soon as it arrived, i could smell the nori 
and when i tried it, 
I could tell that it was really good quality 

this was our bill 
Tonkotsu ramen was 30% off 
and Yatai was 50% off 
it was really great deal with all the food we ate
but I dont think I would come here to pay full price. 

everything was okay 
nothing exceptional
and the soup bases were not very impressive

I might re-visit this place during lunch time
as long as they still have their promotion to try other things
but if not, i really dont think i would go back

it was just unimpressive visit overall
and i will just stick to safer side and go to my usual Santouka for my bowl of ramen




Location:
3132 West Broadway
Vancouver, BC V6K