Restaurant #31: Ramen Sanpachi ラーメンさんぱち, Taipei

I went to New York New York, the popular mall in Xinyi district, to have Dim sum. Unfortunately, the dim sum restaurant was used for two weddings and was not available for dinner that day. Oh well… I needed to change our plan. My friend and I went to downstairs to find some restaurants, and oh my… I found one ramen restaurant there… from… Hokkaido!

I know I already ate Ramen yesterday, but I couldn’t stop myself. I entered the restaurant unconsciously! This is called さんぱちラーメン (八八八拉麵), Ramen Sanpachi. The last time I ate at Ramen Sanpachi in Sapporo was about 15 years ago, therefore I could not compare the taste between original and Taiwanese-style. According to the menu at the store, all the sauces and ingredients were imported from Hokkaido. It sounded good! We ordered Shoyu Ramen and Shio Ramen (NT$ 160 each).

Workers were friendly and well trained, but they chatted loudly when they don’t have enough customers. I hope they talk a little quietly. The décor was organized and spacious.

Shio Ramen

Our item was served quickly. The soup looked good so far. They used curly, middle-size noodle (中太ちぢれ麺), and contained sprout (もやし), nappa (白菜), seaweed (わかめ), bamboo shoots (メンマ), a slice of Japanese fishcake (かまぼこ), Chashu (チャーシュー) and green onion. I sipped the soup. Hmmm not bad! Sesame seeds were floating happily in the soup. Chashu was also tasty! The only thing I want them to improve was the quality of seaweed. It was dry, and was not fresh at all. I hope they use better seaweed…

Shoyu Ramen

Shoyu Ramen came with same ingredients, except seaweed. Unfortunately, the soup was too salty to finish up. I don’t remember the original taste of the soup, but I thought this soup was too much. After we finished the dinner, we were very thirsty. Was that because of MSG or just soup was too salty? Also, both noodles of Shio and Shoyu were, in my opinion, overcooked. Most of my Taiwanese friends like well-cooked noodle, but I prefer less cooked noodle. I believe I can ask them to cook less…

Overall, I enjoyed the dinner with my friend. However, the soup was salty for me. (Report: Jan. 24, 2010)

Total: NT$ 320 (for 2 people)

八八八拉麵: Ramen Sanpachi
New York New York Department Store Restaurant Place
B1, No. 12, Song Sou Road, Xinyi Dist.,
Taipei, TAIWAN
02-2723-3152