山水亭 san sui tei: clone whores (little tokyo)

by rameniac | 27 Feb 2007

For the most part, foodbloggers, at least the ones I know, are a genteel lot. We, or should I say they, snap pictures discretely - a stolen moment with a tiramisu here, a fruit tart there. In expert hands, use of a digital camera goes virtually unnoticed throughout the course of the meal, lost to the din of conversation and washed over by memories of fine wine.

Let this be a lesson to anyone who goes lenses a’ blazing into a restaurant review photoshoot, be it at a fly-by-night ramen shop or a Michelin ballroom with a hundred-year history: make sure you only have nice things to say about the place.

Because otherwise, you might find yourself in the uncomfortable position of having to explain yourself. “Uh, I have a ramen website, and I’m going to write about you guys,” I said, when the owner of San Sui Tei raced up and tapped me on the shoulder.

Nobody had ever quite so brazenly told me to stop taking pictures in such a manner. At most, shopkeeps mumble a discrete request or two, which I usually pretend not to understand by speaking loudly in English (hey, it works in Japan at least). To be honest, I don’t really know how my shooting style evolved. Probably on my last two trips overseas, where I decided that I simply had to photograph anything and everything about every ramen shop I went to because, really, who knew if or when I would be back again? An odd little habit grew into a compulsion, and as I began posting reviews on the site… well, you can see where we’re at now.

Fanmin Yu and his staff at San Sui Tei turned out to be a very friendly lot. An ethnic Chinese who once lived in Kyoto, Yu opened the first branch of his shop in Temple City several years ago, serving typical assari-kei ramen, a funny little tonkotsu, and a specialty Nagasaki-style champon which is really quite good.

The new branch in Little Tokyo is a bit different. Modeled on the Chabuya concept, San Sui Tei II is all upscale interiors, mood lighting, and tonkotsu ramen, three things I’m typically all for.

One problem. It comes off as an imitation of the original.

Ok, so there are takoyaki, which are definitely welcome in this neck of the ‘hood. Osaka’s finest they’re not, but San Sui Tei’s octopus balls are a fair example of the genre, complete with writhing bonito shavings and lathered in Japanese mayonnaise and katsu sauce. A bit too starchy once you break the outer crust, they’re at least served piping hot in the way that the best octopus balls usually are, fresh off the griddle and waiting to sear your tongue.

But that was surely the highlight on my first visit to a place so new it still bears a temporary sign out front.

I really wanted to like the ramen. And with the proprietor hovering about, waxing on his time in Japan, the non-confrontational Asian in me somehow had to say “It’s really good!”

In truth, the noodles were quite on. Ordered katamen, they displayed a firmness of texture that bests those found in a lot of other places. But they were all wrong for spicy tonkotsu ramen, which, if it isn’t glaringly obvious from the photos, is basically a knockoff of Chabuya’s karakara, right down to the deep white bowl.

Now I should be willing to give San Sui Tei the benefit of the doubt. There’s corn in there (hey, this isn’t miso ramen!), along with stir-fried cabbage (like I said, champon is really what they should be sticking to). But when the cook behind the counter starts talking to me about how Paris Hilton hot Chabuya has become and how even Steven Spielberg is rumored to slurp there, and then oh-so-casually asks me what in my opinion makes Morizumi’s ramen so good (is it, really?), and when I tell him what I think, he says, “Okay, so Chabuya’s main point: organic and fresh ingredients?” as if he’s about to bend down and start taking notes, it all becomes clear.

This is what I get for taking photos like a raving madman, the only customer in a restaurant on a weekday afternoon. Since I’m pretty sure they’re going to be reading this writeup before too long, and summarily wanting to kick my ass, I suppose I should just sum up my feelings thusly:

“Dear Mr. Yu,

If you really want to feature tonkotsu ramen and spicy tonkotsu ramen as the top items on your menu, at least change it up a bit. Nobody wants to think of your ramen as a knockoff of Chabuya, which in itself isn’t even all you believe it to be (see my other review).

Your firm egg noodles are great, but I’d restrict them to shoyu/miso/shio styles as they’re all wrong for tonkotsu ramen. As for the soup itself, it’s a bit too thin, strong on Chinese seafood flavor but lacking in “porky” essence. Not surprisingly, it’d be perfect for well, champon but needs some adjustment to work in a ramen context. Your spicy ground meat is actually way too spicy and nearly burned a hole in my stomach.

The place’s interior decoration and color schemes, like your bowls, though lovely, look straight bitten from, uh, that other restaurant I keep mentioning in this review. I know it would be costly to repaint or something so I’ll let that slide for now. Just concentrate on establishing your own identity with the ramen. Please.

Other than that, you guys are a really nice bunch and I look forward to coming back here when you’ve possibly tweaked your noodles a bit and, of course, hung up a real sign. Keep at it ok?”