Sanpoutei Ramen

The Niingata Shoyu Ramen was one of the more special ramen I've had because the broth is quite light. I would usually prefer ramen with creamer and stronger taste, but I can definitely see myself coming back if I ever craved for something lighter.

Although I was disappointed that the ramen didn't come bamboo shoots even though the picture on the menu has them and they could only split the bills into 2 for my group of 4.

Decent but average ramen. There are so many ramen places available in the area and Sanpoutei really does not stand out either for being good or bad. Worth a try if you're in the area but nothing to write home about.

map shows they close at 9pm on Friday, so we walked in around 8: 15-8: 20pm, the reception was super rude: sorry, we are closed, our kitchen closed at 8: 15pm. You can check our hours of operation which is posted on the door. (See below) I don’t know if she understands what does “last call 30 minutes before closing” mean. What a completely unpleasant experience.

Love the ramen but it’s a shame the hours make it difficult to come and they do last call so early, arrived at 8: 13pm when they close at 9pm, last call is usually 30 minutes before closing. So disappointing

If you're looking for a place that serves shoyu ramen that won't leave you feeling heavy, I would recommend this place. Their shoyu ramen is a fish based broth and is very light compared to other restaurants that is usually pork or chicken based. The karaage was great for sharing and had tons of flavour. Another item not pictured was the tsukemen. Lots of noodles and the dipping broth was thick. They will give you dashi at the end to turn the thick dipping broth into a soup to enjoy after your meal (sometimes you may need to ask before you finish).

The ramen is delicious and the yakisoba is delicious. Normal ramen only has half an egg, but here we give you 1 egg!

The place has great ambiance and seating but food is mediocre and not cheap. I asked for water with lemon and was told a piece of lemon is 50 cents. Unbelievable. The server wasn't very patient either.

Went here with my friends to grab some food and was not impressed with the service. Our sever was very rude.

When we paid for our food i was slightly annoyed that they can only split it two ways and not four.

You guys gave my friend a hard time for no tip. Saying it’s mandatory and asking for cash to pay the tip.

Tips are earned. If you want a tip how about you provide good service.

I don’t recommend going here

The food was pretty bad for the price point. The chasu was a little gamey, the bamboo was over cooked and under marinated. But to be fair the broth and the noodle was decent.

One the most positives thing about this place was the atmosphere. I forgot to take a picture but the lighting and the interior design was top notch, definitely draws a lot of inspiration from both traditional elements like irori and contemporary Japanese style.

Food is okay and the vibe is chill but the service is a bit rude. Comparing to other similar raman shop nearby, I would not go there again.

5 stars for the Ramen! Super tasty from soup to noodles. Serving size is good, not overwhelming. The staff are attentive and friendly.

Their hand-made noodles are just the right “bite” and thickness. There chicken is also among the best in Vancouver.

The only thing I like about this place is the restaurant design. Staff was not friendly. Soup was flavorless.

I come here regularly with my family, and a solid place for ramen and dipping style ramen as well if you’re looking for that. Appetizer options are limited if you’re looking for some ramen alternatives, but still taste good. Parking can be a little challenging in the area however, unless the other businesses in the area are closed so that you can use their spots after hours.

Don't let the mediocre rating scare you away. It almost did for me. That would be a mistake. We have finally arrived at premium quality of ramen, so you'll need to check your expectations at the door.

The broth is clear, flavorful and close to what you'd go get if you're familiar with the tedious task of extracting chicken essence. The meat is a feature on it's own-charred flavored, and delightfully soft- and doesn't feel like the bland, bi-product, leftovers of the soup process. The noodles are firm and chewy. The imperfect form gives hints of hand pulled, not from the box like other franchises.

Bonus points for not having to cram in a hot box, shoulder to shoulder with sweaty strangers.

Comparing this to the likes of G-men or Kintaro, Danbo is like comparing a burger to a steak sandwich. Apples and Oranges.

Not as much as what I expected. I don’t understand why so many people line up in here. Maybe they have a special signature menu cause miso was not good. And please be prepare cash or debit

Good food, decent service and agree that might be difficult to locate first time visiting.

FYI, this restaurant is located at the rear of Kam Do Plaza (look for the Kam Do Bakery off No. 3 Road).

Arrived just before end of lunch service and it was still busy inside. Luckily no lineup. Was seated within a few minutes.

Ramen making counter was almost cleaned up for the time being so didn't see them making it.

I ordered the Torii Miso ramen. Appearance of the ramen looked like instant noodles (wiggly) but the texture of fresh noodles was there so did enjoy eating them. Soup was AWESOME (IMO). Very flavourful and didn't seem like there was alot of MSG (I do feel something after consuming MSG in soup). I pretty much downed all the soup.

My Japanese friend ordered just the Shoyu ramen as she's not a fan of heavier soups like tonkots. She also liked it very much. This was good as she has a regular place that she liked very much so goes to show how good the ramen here was.

Nowhere on their menu or in the restaurant does it say there is a minimum order per person. We went in NOT at peak hours. One of our party has severe allergies and was not comfortable with ordering food. Waitress named Kumiko was very snappy and rude.

The food is not great. $8 for 4 pieces of chicken drenched in fish sauce to hide the bad taste of the chicken. We all got Tsukemen - some got spicy tsukemen. All of us felt that it wasn't as flavourful. Very underwhelming.

The atmosphere is nice, very spacious and bright.overall, bad food and bad service. Many other ramen places in richmond that are much much better.

Its the beat legit Tsukemen in Metro Vancouver. Please, open 7days.why you guys open only on the weekend: (

Best ramen in the city with chasu that melts in your mouth. Every time I bring a friend for their first time they end up raving about it, too.

Been here a few times since opening day. Very good soup base! Better than the other ramen places in Richmond. Just wish the amount of noodles and meat were a bit more. They should have a option of either small or large size. Also, very quick waitresses too which is lacking in a lot of restaurants for awhile now. Repeat customer all in all

The grilled chasu has a nice Smokey charcoal aroma. The egg has light marinated flavour.

The shoyu broth is very refreshing and has a nice dashi flavour.

The tori broth has a rich chicken broth flavour.

The agedashi is really nice— the dashi broth adds lots of flavour.

The Niigata Shoyu Ramen is my favourite ramen in the city. The clear, light broth is so well balanced & so different from all the other ramen joints out there. Would love to have it every day.

Also very wonderful interior, very relaxing.

Delicious! However White broth is very thick full of collegen. Might be too intense for some. The clear broth tastes very earthy due to bamboo shoot and mushroom. That may also be too intense for some. The noodles are curly and aldenty. Chicken nuggets no good. Only debit no credit. Parking is a nightmare

I heard good comments from friends about this place. But after trying it out I was disappointed. First the service was not that good. After serving the ramen, they never came by to ask how was everything or if we wanted anything else. Also, they are a bit stingy on the extra bits in the ramen. The ramen only came with half of boiled egg, two small sheets of seaweed, and some bamboo shoots. No Bean spouts or other bits. The ramen wasn't even tasty. Overrated and over priced.

The atmosphere and decor is amazing. Staff are super friendly and service is great. I wish there was more items on the menu.

I’ve been here at their grand opening and it was bad and after years of being opened, I gave it a second chance and it’s still bad. I placed a take out order, the lady told me 15 minutes. I waited for a total of 45 minutes. It wasn’t even that busy so there’s no excuse for a take out order to be this long. Price wise, it’s in the range of a higher end ramen joint but it doesn’t deliver. The noodles do not have a good texture, the shoyu soup is on the blander side. The only thing I liked was their chashu but that’s it.

Delicious ramen!
I didn't try their tsukemen but my husband did and he really enjoyed it.

I gotta say their tsukemen (dipped) ramen is on par with what I've experienced in Japan. Absolutely delicious, broth is smoky, fish, porky, smooth, and refreshing. They make their own noodle in-house which you can see from the entrance. Speaking of noodles, they are smooth, silky, and has a good bounce. Excellent service and atmosphere, definitely repeat!

A beautifully decorated, clean and spacious ramen joint. The high quality food is much appreciated. The thicker hand made noodles sets this place from the others. I would stick with the noodles as the chashu rice bowl isn’t particularly special (they do include few pieces of chicken karaage but it isn’t anything special either). Add ons will get a bit pricey. Ordered an extra egg (usually you get a whole egg but here they only give you half).

In house made ramen you can't go wrong. My go to reman would the Tsukemen, it is always good! Chilled Ramen that you dip into the soup with bits of chashu in it. I would love for them to open on Mondays too!

Underrated restaurant. Great tasting broth and chashu. A bit on the pricy side but worth a visit.

Price is a little more expensive but well worth it. The pork has a nice balance of fat and meat. Thoroughly impressed.

My family, friends, and I are regulars at this place. Their ramen is by far the best I've tasted in the Lower Mainland and all of their options are so INSANELY good.
Although their hours are weird sometimes, and they'll be closed without notice some days, it honestly doesn't bother me too much because their food and service makes up for it. I can't recommend this place enough!

The food is great as always. This review isnt about the food but rather their service. Sanpoutei Ramen do not accomodate to ppl with physical needs. Went with my gf to have food and told the server i have back problem and would like to seat in a chair with a back brace. However, was told that because it only 2 people, i cannot seat in a table that is for 4. Their one/two people seating area do not have any seats that provide any back support. Very disappointed indeed. Again, this review is not about their food quality but rather their service in accommodating other with needs

Before I try this restaurant, I always thought that Japanese ramen chef no matter how amateur are they, it won't be too bad.anyway it is just noodle and soup and meat. Until I have this one, which is a huge mistake. This is simply the lower limit of the hell level of Japanese ramen. I can hardly believe that there is such a bad Japanese ramen. It is even impossible difficult to have such a terrible meal.

I wish I can give zero star or minus.

Best mazesoba in town! Never disappoints. Their ramen and tsukemen is also amazing, very close to the ones we had in Japan!

Very poor customer service. Adds egg as topping and only comes with half an egg. Inquired about this and was told when you order 1 egg, they only give you half. Need to order 2 eggs to get 1 whole egg. Makes no sense.

The food is here was decent but not special. It is very well decorated and there are many chefs and servers employed. Menu is straightforward and seems focussed on Ramen. However, the service I recieved was lackluster. I was there with my client and because it was just the two of us, refused to seat us at a table by ourself- even though she just sat a party of 2 at a table and said we will need to share with them. The 2 or less customers are forced to sit in a big square center table in the middle of the restaurant. A little weird but it is ok. The server was very abrupt and not really accommodating. Definitely seems like a Chinese run Ramen shop and not exactly "Authentic Japanese". I wouldn't return though as there are so many better options nearby.

The portions are not as big but just right. They don't serve tea though. Farily expensive but it's understandable because the quality of broth and chashu is up yo par.

Customer service is very poor. I don’t usually comment a restaurant poor but this one is really making me mad. For the price of the meal it cost it’s not worth going. They hire poor manners waitress to collect money and doesn’t even said thank you at all.
As a Japanese restaurant, this one is not on my list of going.

My absolute favourite ramen spot in the lower mainland. Their shoyu broth is super unique and less "creamy" than most, chashu's thick and fatty, noodles have a wonderful hand-made texture. Everything about their ramen delivers, and I'm confident you won't have any other ramen like this in the Greater Vancouver Area. I drive out from Surrey just to go to this place at least once every couple of weeks, and I honestly can't get enough of it; I'd go more often if it wasn't too much of a drive! Never had a problem with customer service myself, so I've never had any reason not to come back for more. Highly recommend.

Ended up here after finding G-Ramen unexpectedly closed. Tried the Shoyu Ramen with extra special toppings. Ambience and service, as others have noted, are a bit lacking (institutional and impersonal). They don’t have tea. The flavour of the aburri chaso though - melt in your mouth (although pretty thin). Broth okay. I’d try the spicy miso if I went back.

I came here at about 2pm on a Thursday. Place was empty.

Ordered a bowl of ramen with 4 pieces of chashu, small portions & soup basically taste like just salt was added to it. Felt like I just ate instant noodles and paid for the restaurant interior.

A very unique style of ramen that isn't like any other place I've been to and I've been to them all (including Japan). A little expensive for the amount of food that you get but the quality and service are always top notch.

Good noodle and good environment, but the service I had was unacceptable. They gave me the bill while I was still eating and took my noodle away without asking. I don't know what they were thinking, but this service just did not deserve a penny of tip.

You get enough chicken to feed a hamster, the broth is bland, seating arrangement is cramped in one area and spacious in another, mediocre service. Nice washrooms though. They also charge you for to go containers despite their over priced chicken and ramen. Their ramen prices are roughly the same as close by ramen places but you get less here. Also their automatic door was off so we couldn’t escape.

I've going a few times and the food is good. The owner, who holds the card machine, she has a terrible attitude. I couldn't believe it. If she is going to act like that, she shouldn't talk to any customers. Terrible service.

If I have a choice to rate -1000 I would do so. This restaurant has a HORRIBLE customer service ever.

1. They would not let customers seat anywhere they want even though there were a lot of empty tables -> THIS IS RIDICULOUS - we were sitting in a cramp spot with a wobbly table

2. We have been seating for 10 minutes and nobody approached us when the restaurant was NOT busy at all -> THIS IS NOT FAST FOOD RESTAURANT - there should be some customer service as you also pay for it

3. When they finally approached us, we asked for some tea. The server said NO without an apology -> Is that normal that a JAPANESE restaurant CAN NOT afford tea? Is that too hard to say sorry? They need to go back to kindergarten learn how to say SORRY.

4. There were other customers who tried split their bill but they would not allow them to split it although they willing to pay for debit terminal fee for EACH TRANSACTION as the restaurant only accept debit and cash

Because of everything that we experienced at the restaurant, when we paid for the bill we did not tip. We were surprised that as we walking out the hostess said "shiba" (it means "f u" in Korean) -> WOW! Tipping is not mandatory in BC. We'll willing to tip more than 20% if we receive an exceptional service but unfortunately these servers DO NOT deserve a penny

If you expect to get the customer service that you pay for THIS IS NOT THE PLACE! All you will get is MEDIOCRE FOOD and GARBAGE CUSTOMER SERVICE

My husband and I came in around 6pm on a Sunday. The old hostess lady told us to wait 10 mins for a table. But as I peeked inside to the dining area, there are open tables all along the side of the window. Obviously they aren't reserved for anyone. Since I noticed a reserved table sign at a bigger table, that seats 6+ on the other side of the restaurant.

She wanted us to wait for a seat to open up at the, big square sharing table where they would usually seat 1-2 people. Why? ! It's not like a rush of 3+ are going to come in all at once taking all 6 of those open tables. We ended up leaving. Your loss.

Food is down, but the service is legit trash. Workers were trying to kick us out, and just stared at us while we ate our meal. Staff was really rude, they wouldn’t even pack up our to go order - which was a full untouched bowl of ramen. Old lady wanted to charge us 50cents just for the take out bowl.like TF? But it’s like whatever, the ramen is bomb but the workers don’t give a sht about the customers. SO MAYBE DON’T EVEN TIP THEM.

Customer service was terrible. I came with 2 friends to eat a late lunch around 2: 20. The server was rude and rushed us to order our food and made sure we finish before they close at 3. Then while we were eating, she pushed us to take our food to-go in a takeout bowl 15 minutes before the store was closing. So, we just kindly asked her to pack it up for us and she yelled back saying I'm giving you this bowl for free, it's 50 cents so YOU can pack it up yourself. We ended up not tipping because of her rude outburst. And we stayed a while longer just to finish the rest of our bowls for here. The whole 20 minutes finishing up, all the servers and kitchen crew stared us down making us uncomfortable and basically demanding us to leave. I've always eaten here, but service constantly lets me down. Service is not worth eating here! Servers need to learn some manners and have some respect! >: (

Came in 6pm on a Sunday with myself and wifey. Host lady told us to wait 15minutes for the square table customers to finish when there is no one else waiting and 4 OPEN tables that can seat 4.

Due to their selfish antics, we left and will not return.

Lol, the old lady had the audacity to point out tips arent included when I didnt feel like giving them any.they are hustlin down there in Richmond. Didn't have tea and portions are mediocre for a $22 meal. Downtown ramen is better.

Absolutely love their chashu, they just melt in your mouth. One of the most underrated ramen restaurants in Greater Vancouver. The chicken broth ramen is very delicious. Ramen portions are decent but the soup is a bit salty. One thing they can improve on is the size of their water cups. They are way too small and I feel bad to ask for refills so many times (but the soup is so salty). This place is connected to Parker Place. Parking is a b*tch because most of the stalls are reserved for other stores.