Our line up on a Tuesday night, took abut 25 minutes, even though we arrived at 815p, which I thought should have been late enough for no lineup. But given that it was still new, I guess a lot of people wanted to try? We got in, and we were seated at a communal booth table. We were starving, so we quickly placed an order for zangi (fried chicken), gyu don, tonkotsu black ramen and tomato ramen both with thick noodle. Our waiter told us that they were sold out of the zangi, so we ordered the spicy slow cooked wings.
The slow cooked wings arrived first. They did not look appetizing at all. I guess partly because I didn't expect them to be soy sauce chicken wings. The sauce was a combination of soy sauce, star anise, and chilis. They were cooked well you could say, stewed for a long time, the meat was fall off the bone. But I can't stand rubbery/soft chicken skin, so it was kinda gross.
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| Spicy Slow Cooked Wings |
Gyu don arrived shortly after. Beef and onions on rice. The beef looked extremely fatty. I hate the texture of fat, so I picked it off. I wasn't left with much beef. It was also ridiculously over sauced. And for some reason the sauce was super watery. After we scooped out a spoonful of rice, it was like a pool of sauce filled the empty space. Shouldn't the sauce be thicker? The sauce was also too salty. What drove me nuts too was that the rice didn't appear to be Japanese rice, the grains didn't stick together, making me think it was Chinese rice.
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| Gyu Don |
My tomato ramen was a tomato based broth, not sure if it used the same tonkotsu base, topped with pork belly, scallop and egg. A bowl of perfectly cooked ramen must include a properly cooked egg, noodles cooked just enough, and a broth that has been simmering on the stove for a long time to produce the deep, smooth flavour. First glance, it looked good. But when I looked closer, the egg was slightly overcooked. The egg yolk should still be soft. It was mostly soft, but at the edge, I noticed that it was solid. Cooking the egg this way is difficult, almost an art. Maybe the chef is new and still trying to figure timing out? The broth was just ok, it was smooth, it tasted tomatoey, but it also tasted like Thai tom yom flavouring was added. The noodle was cooked really well. I had read reviews where people said that the thick noodle was undercooked. I thought mine was cooked perfect. The scallop looked pretty. It had the main scallop part, the frilly part and the roe sack. But when I took one bite, that was it, I almost spat it out. Way too fishy for me to handle. The pork belly had good char marks on it, which I like. Gives it extra flavour. As I picked up the pork belly and put it near my mouth, I smelled it. I sniffed it again make sure I was smelling it. The smell of stinky old pork. It's not the smell of rotten pork. The pork did not go bad, and is edible. This smell usually comes from lesser quality of pork, or older pigs. I couldn't eat it. My husband ate my scallop and pork belly, and gave me half of his egg. So I was left to eating noodles, and 1.5 eggs.
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| Tomato Ramen |
The tonkotsu black is the tonkotsu but just with added black garlic oil. Broth was ok, not the best I've had, but also not the worst I've had either. The noodles, thick noodles, was cooked perfect. Pork belly again had the stinky old pork smell. The egg was also overcooked.
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| Tonkotsu Black Ramen |
If you want ramen, please go downtown, or go to Kinton at Yonge and Finch. If you want soupy noodles within Markham or Richmond Hill, go find yourself a wonton noodle, or pho place instead.
Sansotei Ramen Markham
3987 Highway 7E,
Markham, ON
L3R 5M6
Hours: Still on soft opening, so not sure if the hours will change in the future.
Monday - Sunday 5pm - 11pm
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