Out & About #391 | Revisiting Hokkaido Santouka + Angel Café​

In less than twelve hours, ochungg and I met up again. However, this meet-up was different in that the main purpose was not to commence a cyclic stream of consumption and commuting. Both of us had our hearts set on catching the beautiful boys from the previous night roaming downtown, and work/school had been skipped to engage in this crazy adventure.

​Of course, all trips begin with a proper meal. The original plan was to congregate at Hokkaido Ramen Santouka at 12:30 PM, though these lunch plans were ultimately delayed up to one hour due to unexpected guests and the ramen shop's rigid seating policy. Seating parties whose members were partially in attendance was flat-out rejected, regardless of whether the lunch rush had passed or not. Having witnessed over five parties of three/four enter and exit the premises within the period I was rooted outside the establishment, one can presume that my patience was dwindling exponentially by the time the final member of the group decided to appear.
Even the waitress appeared exasperated at our attempts to obtain seats.

​< Pictured above and below: Goro-Niku Gyoza, Toroniku Shio Ramen, Toroniku Shoyu Ramen, Tonkotsu Miso Ramen >

​I suggested revisiting the Toroniku series, given that its wondrous properties had instilled an everlasting impression in my memory. A Shio variation was ordered on our behalf, and a Shoyu and Tonkotsu Miso for the retarding duo.

​A plate of half-steamed, half-pan-fried Goro-Niku Gyoza were also added to the list. A round-faced waitress followed up with a condiment stand of three sauces: one dark red, one dark brown, and one bearing a pale yellow tint. "Vinegar" in Kanji had been tacked onto the exterior of the red bottle, though tipping its contents into the provided sauce dish revealed a suspiciously orange, semi-viscous substance instead: chili oil. The dark brown sauce was later confirmed to be vinegar, while the constituents of the lingering bottle remained unverified.

The pan-fried gyozas possessed a juicy, meaty interior, though suffered in terms of aroma from a lack of chives/green onions. Its wrapper was also thicker and starchier than I recalled, and perhaps a little less crispy. This time around, excessive grease wasn't a prominent problem, but rather its overall gustatory profile. My own cravings had revoked the incentive to revisit my own commentary, much to my own disadvantage; as stated previously, Hakata is consistently the better pick.

​Unfortunately, the Toroniku slices had also succumbed to same treatment, for they were dry and disappointing. The strategically weaved layers of fat and flesh had been swapped for untrimmed bulges along its arid edges, resulting in the ultimate letdown.

Neither waitress travelled to our corner slot until all bowls and plates had been polished off, eliminating the opportunity to request for a new sauce dish (since who dips their used chopsticks into another diner's sauce dish TWICE without asking?!?!). "How is everything?" doesn't exactly apply either when there isn't a scrap of food visible on the table.

​The plummet in quality, in combination with the mediocre service, caused Santouka's ranking to fall sharply in my books. It's a quite a shame really, as I had avidly advertised the ramen house previously.

​We sauntered over to Eaton's afterwards, in hopes of finding the same swing set that Brian, Dowoon, and Sungjin had graced with their presence. The clips matched the turf we found on the second floor, though the swings had been substituted with a new pop-up for the upcoming week. Eventually, we wrapped up the brief retail trip and opted to trek along Dundas in search of other tourist-friendly locations (read: potential sighting destinations).

Some twenty minutes later, we found ourselves stomping up the stairs to the Angel Café for dessert. The "Matcha Monday" promotion offered clients 30% off all regular-priced matcha items, and was simply too good of an opportunity to resist.

​The Shiratama consisted of four dango, a single scoop of green tea ice cream, a spoonful of anko, and an accompanying mini pitcher of matcha syrup for drizzling. Not the biggest fan of red bean - and also having just tasted it the previous day - I consumed a large proportion of the mochi pieces. Much to my dismay, the small mounds were bland, tasteless, and soggy - nearly as torturous as attempting to digest day-old tapioca pearls that had sadly been devoid of simply syrup. The matcha drizzle alleviated the floury aftertaste slightly, but an unpalatable sensation remained. Homemade green tea ice cream was, undoubtedly, a superb idea - the execution would have been flawless if a little less icy and tad more creamy.

​The Sundae was similar in terms of topping additions, though contained a single wafer stick and green tea soft serve as opposed to ice cream. Variation between the two was minimal, with the exception of the frozen texture difference. The exterior of the soft serve fell victim to quick dissolution, but its interior layers exhibited significantly greater resistance. Fine specks of green tea were also spotted between spoonfuls of the grassy dessert.

​We continued to roam eastward after swiftly demolishing the frozen treats, through Chinatown, onto Kensington, then the Fashion District, and lastly towards City Hall.

​It was only then that we received news of DAY6's fateful departure.

Spirits drained, solemn farewells were uttered, and we parted ways for the evening.

With a haggard soul and sore limbs, I scolded myself for dragging both of us through nearly subzero temperatures. It was clear that luck had not resided with us, though at the same time, no one can assume the fault of failing to check the band's domestic schedules in advance.