Sanpoutei

C says:

Now that Taishoken has left Ramen Champion and Menya Musashi's standard has dropped, our new go-to place for tsukemen-style ramen is Sanpoutei at the basement of Shaw Centre.

Their dipping broth comes with a generous dose of powdered anchovy powder, adding a delicious umami complexity. I also like that they automatically provide a flask of soba-yu with your order, though we almost always never have much left over by the time we're done slurping...

Ironically, the tsukemen is not on their regular menu but on an insert instead. They're actually better known for their shoyu ramen which, granted, was good in a light, clean way. But give me the tsukemen any day. 

Be warned - they have a Tori X Miso ramen which sounded very promising, with descriptions of stir-fried chicken and vegetables on top of a miso ramen, but it turned out to be way too rich and heavy. 

A says:

New favourite ramen in Singapore, strictly for the tsukemen. 

New contenders at Ramen Champion

C says:

Ramen Champion at Iluma bid sayonara to Menya Iroha, Aoyama and, more disappointingly, Taishoken, the place that first introduced us to tsukemen. In their place are 3 new contenders - Buta God, with a slightly sweet tonkotsu broth and shabu-style sliced pork rather than chashu, and the two that we tried - Muso, and Menban Yamagishi Kazuo.

Menban Yamagishi Kazuo offers the lone tsukemen offering amongst the 6 current stalls. Unfortunately it's not as good as its predecessor Taishoken. Yes, they're very generous with the chunks of pork in their dipping sauce, and the sauce itself is duly complex with lots of bonito flavour coming through. But somehow it just lacks oomph. I'd rather go to Menya Musashi for tsukemen.

Muso serves the Jiro-style ramen found in Tokyo - characterised by a rich broth, lots of garlic and mounds of vegetables like beansprouts and cabbage. Previously Bario was the only stall here to serve it. So is Muso a worthy competitor?

Unfortunately not. To me, it doesn't even come close to Bario. The broth is simply salty, and doesn't have the depth nor the subtle sweetness of Bario's broth. I happen to like Bario's thicker noodles because I think they go well with the strong flavour of the garlicky broth. And both the beansprouts and the pork at Muso aren't particularly memorable either. I'm definitely staying true to Bario.

For a laugh, I thought I'd share the above photo. This is what happens when A's friend's pretty wife moseys over to Bario, flashes them a smile and asks for "more beansprouts". Heh.

A says:

Meh, my two favourite stalls are gone. And the new ones aren't really doing it for me. Unless I'm going with a big group that wants variety, I'd rather go to Menya Musahi for my tsukemen-style ramen.

Ramen Keisuke Tori King

C says:

Located at 100AM, Tori King is by Chef Keisuke Takeda, the ramen master behind the wildly popular Tonkotsu King at Orchid Hotel. Tori King, as the name suggests, is the chicken equivalent to his porky masterpiece. The broth is made from chicken instead of pork, and you get a whole stewed chicken thigh with every order, as well as a few slices of chashu.

The chicken broth is definitely lighter and cleaner tasting than its heavier pork counterpart, but I still prefer the flavour and depth of a pork-based broth. The chicken thigh is slow-cooked, and then quickly grilled just before serving, so it's very tender yet still has a nice smokiness. It's so tender that there were no problems picking the meat off the bones with just chopsticks.

One of their signature items is the spicy green ramen - their regular ramen with a generous smear of wasabi paste over the chicken. I'm pretty ok with spicy food so I decided to give it a go.

Evidently, an ability to endure the heat from chilli padi is no match for the sinus-burning heat of wasabi. I was suffering from start to finish, since the steaming heat of the broth sent the wasabi up my nose by simply breathing in the steam. Ramen-slurping was out of the question. I had to ladle the noodles onto the spoon and gingerly take small bites.

Just like at Tonkotsu King, they offer a free flow of hard boiled eggs and bean sprouts here. It's much less crowded than Tonkotsu King, probably because people still prefer traditional pork-based ramen to chicken. I know I do.

A says:

Chicken broth vs pork broth? Pork broth wins! Which explains why the queues at this place are so short compared to the lines at the Tonkotsu King down the road.

Ramen Keisuke Tori King
100 Tras Street
#03-15, 100AM
Tel: 6604-6861
Open daily: 11.30 am - 10 pm

Daikokuya Ramen Dining

C says:

I'm thrilled that there's another place to get Jiro-style ramen besides Ramen Champion at Iluma and T3. Jiro-style is characterised by a light but fatty broth (with some, you can even see little cubes of fat floating in the broth), a mountain of cabbage and bean sprouts, and a heaping spoonful of chopped garlic.

I fell in love with Bario's version at Ramen Champion, though some have criticized their thick, chewy noodles. The one at Daikokuya then, at the basement of Raffles City, seems to strike a good balance.

Their Jiro-style ramen (called Stamina Ramen on the menu) comes in two flavours - a miso broth and a shoyu one. I feared that the miso would be too overpowering, so I opted for the shoyu instead. Good call - the broth was quite light, notwithstanding the fatty bits, and didn't mask the flavour of the garlic and vegetables like the miso may have had. The noodles are a regular thickness, so this may appease the Bario detractors.

I also like that they offered white vinegar to go with the ramen; it really helped to cut through the fatty, garlicky broth.

A ordered the Spicy Maze Ramen, which was essentially a dry noodle with a spicy bean paste - think a really good version of Indomie Mi Goreng. If I weren't so enamoured with the Jiro-style ramen, this would be my new favourite. Instant noodle afficionados out there will completely understand.

In addition to the usual Sapporo miso ramen and Kyushu ramen, I like that they have some interestingly different varieties here, that you don't find in many ramen joints. Purists may argue that a true ramen-ya should only offer one style, and while I generally agree, I don't mind variety if they get it right.

A says:

Not the best ramen, but with the wide selection here, there's easily something for everyone. Don't go with high expections and you won't be disappointed.

Daikokuya Ramen Dining
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-13 Raffles City
Tel: 6336-7456
Sun - Thurs 11.30am – 10pm
Fri, Sat 11.30am – 10.30pm

Tonkotsu King

C says:

This tiny little corner shop in Orchid Hotel has consistently garnered rave reviews for their tonkotsu ramen, but as a result their queues are pretty epic. At almost any mealtime, there are queues of at least 10 people, and when you get there it’s easy to see why. The restaurant seats at most 20, and along the counter you’re packed literally shoulder to shoulder. This is probably the most authentic ramen joint that I’ve been to in Singapore. It almost feels like you’re in a hole-in-the-wall place in Ramen Alley in Sapporo.

They’re really efficient though – you place your order whilst in the queue outside by ticking a series of boxes on order chits. By the time you’re seated and get yourself sorted out, your steaming bowl of ramen appears. You can help yourself to unlimited amounts of beansprouts and hard boiled eggs at each table, and they give you a little pestle and mortar to grind sesame seeds for your ramen.

The ramen is pretty straightforward. You choose between white, red and black tonkotsu varieties, and customise 3 aspects – how al dente your noodles are, the strength of the broth, and the oiliness. They recommend normal for all 3, which is what A had. I decided to pick “strong” for the broth; big mistake. While it packed quite a flavour punch for the first few spoonfuls, it got way too potent and salty thereafter. 

The pork was a bit hit-and-miss. One slice was a bit tough but the other was fattier and therefore nice and tender. The onsen egg was good (compared to the free flow eggs which were just regular hard boiled), and the broth was sinfully tasty, with bits of fat floating within.

I’m a really slow eater, yet it took us no more than half an hour from start to finish. So don’t be put off by the queues. I expect the line to move pretty quickly, because I don’t think is a place where people will linger.

A says:

Just like Japan. Very authentic. Unfortunately, we don’t have cool Japanese weather so it’s freaking hot inside. It’s probably the best ramen in Tanjong Pagar, but for me I’d rather visit Menya Musashi outlets.

Tonkotsu King

1 Tras Link

#01-19 Orchid Hotel

Tel: 6636-0855

Open daily: 11.30 am – 3 pm; 6 pm – 10.30 pm

Menya Musashi’s other outlets

C says:

Since opening their first outlet at Raffles City, Menya Musashi have opened two more outlets – one at ION Orchard, and another at Star Vista mall at Buona Vista. Thankfully both are fairly easily accessible for us.

I like that in addition to their usual menu, they make a point to offer a few different dishes that are unique to each outlet. At the Star Vista outlet, they have a seared smoked duck that’s pretty tasty. The aburi chicken tsukemen though, sounded better than it tasted. The chicken was way overcooked, to the point of being dry and stringy.

Over at ION, the specialty is an aburi pork belly. It features in both a ramen/tsukemen, and in a chashu don. The tsukemen wasn’t too bad, with the pork belly packing lots of flavour. I’m still partial to the regular cha shu tsukemen though.

What I did find amazing was the chashu don. They take the aburi pork belly and shred/mince it, and layer it on top of Japanese rice. The smoky flavours really come through, and having it together with the rice balances out the strong flavours very well.

All things considered, if you’re looking to try their classic cha shu tsukemen for the very first time, I’d recommend heading to Raffles City; I think they do it best over there.

A says:

I LOVE tsukemen!!!

Menya Musashi

C says:

I was quite psyched to read about the opening of Menya Musashi at Raffles City, because their specialty is tsukumen, the soba-esque dipping style ramen that we were discovered at Taishoken in Ramen Champion. There aren't many options for tsukumen in Singapore so this is indeed a welcome addition.

When we got there at 11.20 am on a public holiday, there were about 5 people in the queue so we only had to wait 10 minutes till they opened at 11.30 to get a table. It fills up pretty fast though; by the time we left just after 12 there was a line of about 10.

Their tsukumen comes with 3 different flavoured broths - white (bonito and pork bone), black (blackened with fried garlic and onion) and red (with a kind of bean paste). I went with the white and A had the black.

Surprisingly, the white was more complex - you could discern the flavours of the pork bone as well as the bonito. I expected the black to be more flavourful but it turned out to be a bit one-dimensional, with the onion and garlic flavours adding subtle sweetness but little else. I preferred mine and A liked the sweetness of his, but we unanimously agreed that the smoky char siew went better with the white broth.

The dipping sauces could've been a bit thicker, since they can be diluted with soba-yu later on. Still, it was very good and a welcome addition to the tsukumen scene.  The noodle consistency in particular was really good - a good thickness and had a good bite and texture.

Interestingly, you cam order up to five servings of noodles, all for the same price of $14.90. A went with a double and I had a single.

I still prefer the complexity and full-on flavour of the tsukumen at Taishoken, but with the end of the year-long Ramen Champion creeping up on us, I don't know what future Taishoken has in Singapore, so I'm glad there's at least another alternative now.

A says:

Fantastic. Not as good as the tsukumen at Taishoken but a definite option for us at Raffles City (if we get there early enough to beat the queue).

Menya Musashi

252 North Bridge Road

#01-16 Raffles City Shopping Centre

Tel: 6335-6500

Open daily: 11.30 am to 10 pm

Ramen Champion at Iluma – an update

C says:

Just a quick update on Ramen Champion at Iluma:

- Yes, they’re still open and fully functioning. The rest of Iluma is quite a mess now, as it’s going through what looks to be massive renovations, but Ramen Champion on the 4^th floor is unaffected and still very much in business.

- Based on 2011 Q4 results, Ikkousha is still in the top spot, but Bario is only lagging by 2%!! Plus, the cashiers told me that lots of people actually do order Bario, they just don’t vote for some reason. So Bario fans unite! Apparently you can vote multiple times using the cards at the entrance, so every vote counts if we want to overthrow Ikkousha! Go go go! Heh.

- A went for his Taishoken again. Given it’s in 5^th place, he’s going to need to get his fix in the next 6 months cos no way is it going to win. He ordered the large this time – big mistake. For $3 more, you get a way disproportionately HUGE portion of noodles, leading – predictably – to diminishing returns. One tip that we learned from Lucky Peach is that you can ask them for soba-yu to dilute the dipping broth so that it’s drinkable as a soup. We tried that tonight and wow. It resulted in an amazing broth that was the essence of umami, with all the flavours of the more potent dipping broth but subtler and pared down. Awesome.

- Btw, when we mentioned earlier that both tsukemen and Jiro-style ramen were available at Menya Shinchan, I should add that we tried going there on New Year’s Eve, and unfortunately there was a sign on the door, saying that as of early November the landlord had repossessed the premises. So, there goes that option. Sigh.

A says:

Taishoken! Taishoken! Taishoken! Be sure to ask for the soba-yu after finishing to turn the dipping sauce into an AWESOME soup.

Ramen Champion at T3

C says:

Ramen Champion has just opened a second, slightly scaled-down, outlet at Changi Airport’s Terminal 3. (Yes, that’s the terminal that’s connected to the MRT’s East-West line.) We were here on Wednesday night for a sending-off mission, and thanks to Ramen Champion, didn’t have to endure soul-less airport food.

There are only 4 stalls here, compared to 6 at Iluma. It’s also a bit of a cop-out because out of those 4, 2 of them are Gantetsu and Ikkousha, which also feature at Iluma. So you’re essentially left with just 2 new contenders – Riki and Gensuke. Riki serves Jiro-style ramen, similar to my favourite Bario, and Gensuke is Hakata style using thin noodles, a chicken-based broth and interestingly, chicken chashu.

I’m not a huge Hakata ramen fan, so we both went with Rika, and I also ordered a side of chicken wing gyozas. The chicken wing gyozas were quite interesting – they were like Thai-style stuffed chicken wings, only the filling was a gyoza filing. Pretty innovative, I thought.

I seriously love the Jiro-style of ramen. It’s topped with a mountain of beansprouts and cabbage, and the chashu is sliced rustically thick, not thin delicate slices that disintegrate by the time you stir everything up. The broth is cloudy with garlic, and I think a hearty dose of some good ol’ pork fat as well.

This is not for the faint-hearted – it packs a serious punch and portions are huge after you’ve made your way through all the vegetables. I really enjoyed this while eating it, and I think it’ll probably appeal to more people than Bario, because it doesn’t have the thick chewy noodles that Bario uses (which I actually happen to prefer). Having said that, the overdose of garlic really affected us after – I was gassy all night, and A even had a minor nosebleed, probably from the heatiness.

And I should also point out that I was mistaken. Earlier I mentioned that I wanted either Bario or Taishoken to win, so that we’d have something new in Singapore in the form of tsukemen or Jiro-style ramen. Well, it turns out that a few old school places do already serve one, if not both, styles – apparently at Menya Shinchan at Robertson Quay and Miharu at Gallery Hotel. Still, that’s just a handful compared to the plethora of miso and tonkotsu ramen joints. Once we recover from this recent ramen overdose, we’ll give them a try.

A says:

If you can handle your garlic, then the Riki ramen is awesome. Great char siew too. If I can’t have my tsukemen (dipping style) ramen from Taishoken or Tetsu, then this would be my choice. 

Ramen Champion at Iluma – Part 3

C says:

Finally, Saturday marked our third visit to Iluma's Ramen Champion to try the last contender - Ganttetsu, serving Hokkaido miso ramen. Read about our previous visits here and here. (Iluma is a bit of a mess right now cos they’re renovating, but rest assured that Ramen Champion is still on the 4th floor.)

Their house special is a corn and butter ramen with a special blended miso broth. I expected to really like this, since the first time I tried a miso butter ramen was in Sapporo and I fell in love with it.


For some reason though, this one really didn't float my boat. Perhaps it was their miso blend, or the fact that they added a dollop of minced ginger, but somehow the flavour of the melted butter just didn't quite mesh with the rest of the flavours. The noodles were pretty typical; the char siew was sliced a bit too thin so by the time you mixed everything up, the slices more or less disintegrated.

On a related but separate note, for the first time I felt that same slightly ill, ramen-ed out sensation, that I last experienced after the miso butter ramen we had in Sapporo. Which leads me to the (possibly inaccurate and completely unresearched) conclusion that it's caused by the butter. Strange given that there isn't all that much butter; certainly less than most pasta sauces or even fancy French sauces.

So anyway, we have a winner! Although A's and my choices are different. My vote is a combination of my personal favourite, and a desire to bring in a new style into an already saturated miso/tonkotsu ramen market.

Bario's Jiro-style ramen gets my vote. I love every aspect of it - the broth that's slightly cloudy from minced garlic, the thick chunks of still tender pork belly, the mountain of bean sprouts, the perfectly cooked egg, and even the thicker-than-usual chewy noodles. I even like how they have a half portion of their signature Bario ramen, which is the perfect portion size to satiate your craving without overdoing it.

I submitted my vote in the boxes outside, and just tried voting on Facebook as well. (Actually, I tried to flood the voting channels but you can only submit one vote per Facebook account.) So far, based purely on Facebook votes it appears that Ikkousha has come out tops, with Tetsu in second place. Bario is third and Taishoken is second last.

I find that rather disheartening. I have nothing against Ikkousha, but honestly, do we really need yet another tonkotsu ramen in Singapore? Fine, Bario’s thick noodles may not appeal to everyone, but surely we could all benefit from the introduction of a good tsukemen place? And what better stall than Taishoken, the people who invented the style?

A says:

In order of my personal preference:
1. Tai Sho Ken. I love the light dipping broth. Some may find it salty, but it’s also a refreshing change.
2. Tetsu. The thick dipping broth seemed strange at first but rapidly grew on me.
3. Ikkousha. It’s good, but a bit forgettable compared to the rest.
4. Ganttetsu. I personally find the butter and corn too overwhelming.
5. Bario (didn’t like the noodles)
6. Iroha (Really didn’t like the soy sauce style broth)

Bear in mind that these are based only on each stall’s signature ramens.

Ramen Champion 2011 at Iluma – Part 2

C says:

Ok, so our return visit to Ramen Champion happened a lot sooner than I anticipated…

On Wednesday night, we tried three more contenders. A wanted to try Tetsu, the other tsukumen vendor, and I wanted to try Bario. Since Bario considerately sells half portions of their famous Bario ramen, we were able to share one more bowl from Iroha.

Tetsu


Their specialty is the Very Rich! Paitan ramen - “paitan” being the Japanese way of referring to a milky soup (rather than century egg, as I’d hoped). Very Rich! is right. The consistency is more like a thick, almost starchy gravy rather than a soup, and even with the dipping method, it’s still pretty salty. The noodles are decent but the chashu is again quite forgettable.

Between the two tsukumen vendors, Taishoken is the clear winner.

Bario

Bario’s ‘thing’ is their thick noodles that are made from bread flour, which has a higher gluten content and therefore produces stronger and chewier noodles. Their signature Bario ramen comes with a few slices of thick chashu, a slightly cloudy soup and topped with a mountain of beansprouts. The egg is optional but I would highly recommended getting it as an add-on. They do a half portion of Bario ramen for $7, as opposed to the full one for $13.


I think opinions are mixed on this one. Wong Ah Yoke named this his least favourite of the six, and another friend didn’t fancy it either. Nor did A, who really couldn’t get past the thickness and chewiness of the noodles, but admitted that the broth was pretty good. On the other hand, it also had the longest queues out of all six stalls, unless that’s due to the “let’s just join the longest queue” herd mentality.

I personally liked it a lot. Yes the noodles were a bit disconcertingly thick, but no different from an al dente tagliatelle, for example. I loved the heaping mound of beansprouts, and the soup was flavourful without being too rich/jelak. I think the soup already has a considerable amount of garlic, so I would advise passing on the optional minced garlic if you want a cleaner flavour. The chashu was good, and the egg was excellent.

Iroha


Their black ramen is their bestseller, with a primarily shoyu-based broth. This is so far my least favourite. It didn't do anything for me at all. I’m usually not a shoyu ramen fan to begin with, and the slightly thicker consistency of the broth didn't help. The noodles were sort of in between normal ramen and Ikkousha’s thin noodles, and I guess were pretty nice and springy. The main highlight was the chashu here, which was sliced nice and thin, tender and had a good meat/fat ratio. Best chashu of the lot so far, but unfortunately everything else fell short.

So far for me, it’s a toss up between Ikkousha and Bario for first place, but since we've already tried five out of six, we might as well, for the sake of completeness, go one more time to try Gantetsu’s Sapporo ramen.

A says:

Bario vs Iroha vs Tetsu. Round 2. Fight!

Bario has awesome broth. But I hate the weird thick mee-pok like noodles.

Iroha has awesome char siew. But I hate the soy sauce broth.

Tetsu had a weird thick dipping sauce that I thought I’d hate but it really grew on me. It’s by far my favourite of this round.

Tetsu wins!

Ramen Champion 2011 at Iluma - Part 1

C says:

Ramen Champion is an initiative where selected ramen chefs, all highly acclaimed in their local arenas, have been invited to ply their trade at Iluma mall for a year, from 1 July 2011 to 30 June 2012, with a view to one of them being awarded the chance to set up a permanent store in Singapore.

As you all know, until quite recently we were pretty ramen-ed out, which explains why we’d yet to head to Iluma despite the fair being around for 4 months now. It took a visit to Ippudo Tao to banish our ramen fatigue, and get us in the mood to give Ramen Champion a go.


The 6 stalls competing for the title of Ultimate Ramen Champion are:

- Ikkousha, whose specialty is Kyushu broth with Hakata ramen
- Taishoken, apparently famous for inventing tsukemen
- Tetsu, another tsukemen specialist from Tokyo
- Bario, selling Jiro-style ramen with thick chewy noodles
- Iroha, specialising in black shoyu and spicy miso ramen
- Gantetsu, the most “typical” of the lot, serving Sapporo-style miso ramen with corn and butter

Despite being pretty hungry when we got there, we only managed to try two stalls, so the jury is out on our favourite until we’ve tried at least another two more.

Ikkousha


I have a weakness for Kyushu-style ramen, which uses a milky pork bone broth. The noodles here are the thin Hakata-style – similar to our local mee kia. The broth was light yet quite deep in flavour, and the addition of a tiny dollop of minced garlic added a whole new flavour dimension. The soy eggs had a nice gooey centre, and the best part was the pork belly chashu, which was tender but still had a nice bite to it.

Taishoken

This is one of two stalls that serve tsukemen-style noodles, i.e. where the noodles are served separately from the broth and are meant to be eaten dipping style.


Interestingly, their noodles are somewhat of a cross between ramen and soba in texture. The broth on its own is really pretty salty but once eaten as it’s meant to be, i.e. as a dipping sauce for the noodles, the balance is just right. The broth is pretty complex too, since it’s made from a mix of chicken, pork and anchovies. The slightly fishy flavour is a bit disconcerting at first but it does add a nice body to the broth. The chashu wasn’t all that great though. The meat was braised so even though it was soft and tender, it also a bit dry.

Their system is akin to Marche – you get a card upon entry so it’s cashless inside, which is pretty convenient so you’re not trying to fiddle with your wallet and carrying hot soup at the same time. Just make sure you check your bill at the cashier later on. The cards are numbered, and the stallholder manually keys in your order into your card number. The information isn’t embedded into the physical card itself. My order didn’t register in my card number because they keyed in “140” instead of “148”, so someone else’s order could just as easily be mistakenly entered into your card.

Between the two I prefer Ikkousha, but watch this space; we’ll definitely be heading back to make our way through the rest of the stalls so that we can vote for our favourite(s).

A says:

Ikkousha vs Taishoken. Round 1. Fight!!!

Ikkousha is more like your standard ramen. The broth is rich and complex, plus it had great char siew and egg.

But for me, I prefer Taishoken with the salty soup that’s filled with flavour, without being too rich or heavy. Great to dip the thick, meaty almost udon-y noodles. The only negatives about this are the eggs (yolk not runny enough), and the char siew was more like the meaty chunks you find in stews.

Taishoken wins!

Ramen Champion
201 Victoria Street
#04-08/09/10 Iluma Mall
Tel: 6238-1011
Open daily: 11.30 am – 10.30 pm
www.ramenchampion.com.sg

Ippudo Tao

C says:

We’re usually quite slow to jump on the bandwagon of any new establishment. We prefer to give them a while for any kinks and teething problems to be ironed out, and to wait for queues to abate somewhat. Case in point – Ippudo, the ramen joint at Mandarin Gallery where queues of over an hour were par for the course when they first opened.

I’m not sure if the Mandarin Gallery branch still attracts long lines, but they’ve opened a branch called Ippudo Tao at UE Square. This outlet serves ramen as well as yakitori, but the ramen menu isn’t as varied as the one at Mandarin Gallery. Still, I’ll happily trade fewer ramen options for some grilled skewers and most importantly, no queues. We called on Sunday evening and easily got a reservation (I’m not sure if the Mandarin outlet accepts reservations).


We started with a deep fried young corn, since you don’t see that on menus very often. The corn was very lightly battered and topped with some herbed garlic. Interesting but not something we’ll order again, at least not before trying other things on the menu.


As for the yakitori, we tried the tsukune and the pork belly. The pork belly was nice and juicy; as for the tsukune, it was a bit too refined for me. I like my tsukune to have some texture from the chicken cartilage and stuff, but this was too smooth and didn’t have any bite.



We tried the original Ippudo Shiro, which was tonkotsu broth and Hakata-style noodles (thin and straight), and one of the Ippudo Tao specials – the Tao Kuro, with thick chewy noodles served in tonkotsu broth with added miso paste and fragrant garlic oil. I preferred the Shiro, which was lighter yet had a more complex flavour. The Tao Kuro packed more of a flavour punch, but was more one dimensional.


I remembered reading that they serve fresh garlic, but didn’t see any on the table. I asked them about it and sure enough, they brought a dish of garlic cloves and a garlic press. Choose one, stick it into the press and squeeze directly onto your ramen. The fresh garlic really packs a punch so use sparingly. And maybe not on a first date.

Because the ramen here was pretty light, we didn’t feel ramen-ed out the way we sometimes do after a particularly rich bowl of ramen. In fact, I think our ramen fatigue, which has plagued us since Hokkaido, has been somewhat lifted, and now I feel like venturing to Iluma to try the Ramen Champion stalls.

A says:

Great service and very good food. What I especially like is that the ramen isn’t overwhelmingly salty or thick like other places. This is probably going to be my favourite ramen place for a while.

Ippudo Tao
207 River Valley Road
#01-55/56 UE Square
Tel: 6887-5315
Mon to Thurs: 11.30 am to 3 pm; 5.30 pm to midnight
Fri and Sat: Mon to Thurs: 11.30 am to 3 pm; 5.30 pm to 2 am
Sun: 11.30 am to 11 pm
www.ippudo.com.sg

Nantsuttei

C says:

We’ve been put off by long snaking queues at ramen joints, so we’ve been refraining from trying places like Ippudo at Mandarin Gallery, and this one, Nantsuttei at Parco Millenia Walk. We happened to be here early on Friday, before 7, and managed to get a table right before the queues started forming.

Their specialty here is ramen with a tonkotsu broth – the milky white pork bone soup. Their unique feature is the addition of a fragrant black “ma yu”, created by frying garlic over 7 phases and blending it into sesame oil. We discovered only after dinner that upon request, they can also ramp up the garlic quotient even more with freshly squeezed “garlic juice”.



A ordered the traditional chashu ramen, which came with lots of spring onion, and a few slices of tender char siew. I ordered the “Dragon Ramen”, which was the same except I had just one slice of char siew, and had some spicy minced pork instead.

As far as ramens go, this was surprisingly light and not very jelak. I expected the broth to be thicker and richer, but this was actually quite delicate. I preferred mine because of the added flavour from the minced pork, but overall I expected more flavour from the ma oil.

So, this is good, but is it worth standing in line for more than 15 minutes during peak hours? Not in my opinion.

A says:

Between the two Ramen joints there, I’d recommend this one for sure.

Nantsuttei
9 Raffles Boulevard
#P03-06 Parco Marina Bay, Millenia Walk
Tel: 6337-7166
Open daily: 11.30 am to 10.30 pm
www.nantsu.com/sg/

Keisuke Tokyo

C says:

When we visited Parco at Millenia Walk on a Monday evening after work, we were stunned to find that the two ramen joints – Keisuke and Nanntsutei – which are renowned for having snaking queues on weekends, were practically deserted. We were going to make our decision based on the lack of a queue, but since both were empty, we decided on Keisuke because they have a crab stock ramen that was billed as a limited item.

Keisuke’s ramen is quite different from the usual sort that we’ve come to expect. Instead of pork bone or chicken broth, here they specialise in shrimp broth and now, crab stock as well. We both ordered the special crab ramen – me because it’s the sole reason I chose Keisuke tonight, and A because there wasn’t anything else on the menu that he fancied.


I was quite surprised when the bowls arrived; I guess I expected more of a lobster bisque type of broth, but instead it was really thick – a bit like the consistency of lor mee... With lor mee not being one of A’s or my favourite foods, it was with some trepidation that I took the first mouthful.

Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised. Yes, the noodles were slightly thicker than expected, almost like hokkien mee yellow noodles, but after you taste the crab stock you realise why the normal thinner noodles just won’t cut it. The crab stock is so thick and flavourful that thinner noodles would just get lost in it, and won’t be able to stand up to the potency of the stock.

The stock itself tasted like a whole boatload of crab shells had been crushed, made into stock and further reduced to distil the very essence of crab. The flavours are certainly not shy, but I really got into this and surprisingly, so did A.

We had it with the half boiled egg but next time perhaps I’ll try the prawn wantons instead. On hindsight they’re famous for prawn ramen, so I guess their prawn wantons will be good too.

A says:

Very interesting. Flavours are good but the texture is just too much like lor mee for my liking. And considering the rest of the menu is from prawn stock, it’s not high on my list of places to revisit.

Oh, I must add that the service is excellent too.

Keisuke Tokyo
9 Raffles Boulevard
#P3-02 Parco Marina Bay
Tel: 6337-7919
Open daily: 10.30 am – 9.30 pm

Ramen Santouka, Central

C says:

I blame A for my waning interest in ramen. This used to be my default Japanese comfort food, but lately after A declared that he was off ramen, preferring udon and soba instead, perhaps subconsciously that’s rubbed off on me. I find that I’m now drawn towards the clear simplicity of a good udon soup, compared to the oily richness of a ramen. Don’t get me wrong – for someone whose ultimate comfort food is a bowl of instant noodles, I will always appreciate a good ramen. I just don’t have the fervour that I used to, or enough of a craving to join the queues at each newly opened ramen joint on the block.

Which is probably why it took us this long to try the acclaimed Ramen Santouka at Central. Since we were here at about 8.30 pm for a late dinner, there wasn't much of a queue so we took the opportunity to try it. We ordered a shoyu ramen and a miso ramen, and a side order of aburi pork cheek.


I liked the springy texture of the noodles, and I preferred the shoyu broth because it was tasty without being too strong. The sliced pork that comes with each bowl was a bit perfunctory though – tender but not particularly flavourful. I ordered a side order of braised egg, which was also a bit disappointing. The inside of the egg was cold, it didn’t have much of a soy-infused flavour, and the yolk didn’t have that almost set but not quite runny texture.


The aburi pork cheek, which is only available at dinner time, was the star of the show. The pork was meltingly tender without being too fatty, and quite heavily seasoned, though the chargrilled aburi flavour masked any overly salty flavour.

This place is certainly not cheap though. The bowls of ramen are quite small, so a total bill of $46 for 2 small bowls of ramen and 4 slices of (albeit delicious) pork is a bit on the high side.

I dunno… maybe Baikokhen at North Canal Road will restore my ramen fixation. Until then, I think my new quest is a perfect risotto.

A says:

Fabulous pork cheek. Everything else was blah. At least the ramen wasn’t super salty like most Hokkaido ramens.

Ramen Santouka (Central)
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#02-76 The Central
Tel: 6224-0668
Open daily: 11 am to 9.30 pm

Menya Shinchan

C says:

Thanks to a reader for suggesting this ramen joint in one of the back alleys at Robertson Quay. I’d walked past it a couple of times but it looked a little forlorn at the time, so I (quite unfairly) didn’t give it a second thought.

After the recommendation, we went there on Thursday night and were very pleasantly surprised. The place looks really authentic, with lots of Japanese having a quick noodle dinner there so it must be good.

As per the recommendation, A had the miso ramen with scorched sesame and garlic oil. I decided to try the salty pork bone broth (rich). I thought rich would just mean the broth would be thicker, but actually it just means there’s a layer of oil on top. I added a stewed egg, and A added chashu.


A’s had an interesting flavour from the sesame (the garlic wasn’t very pronounced), but ultimately this isn’t to my liking. I don’t like anything that had too much peanut or sesame flavour. A really liked this though.


Mine was in comfort zone territory. The broth was pretty oily, but very tasty and not that salty notwithstanding the name. The noodles are quite thin, nice and springy, and the stewed egg was really good, albeit a bit on the salty side.

Service is really good and prices are what you’d expect at a typical ramen joint these days. The food comes really fast so it’s ideal for a quick dinner after work.

A says:

Very good and not super expensive. Well worth a try.

Menya Shinchan Japanese Noodle Restaurant
30 Robertson Quay
#01-05 Riverside View
Tel: 6732-0114
Lunch (weekdays only): 11.30 am to 3 pm
Dinner: 6 pm to 10 pm

Aoba Hokkaido Ramen

C says:

Our very first trip to ION was on a Thursday evening after work. Big mistake – the traffic was terrible, and we missed the whole reason for our visit, which was a friend’s performance. Still, we met her for dinner after her gig and after a failed attempt at getting a table at Watami Izakaya (they closed off the queue at 8.40 pm!), we tried our luck at adjacent ramen joint Aoba Hokkaido Ramen, and managed to secure a table after a short 5 to 10 minutes in line.


Their specialty here is there Shoyu ramen, so even though I’m usually a Kyushu (pork bone) ramen girl, I ordered the Shoyu ramen with braised pork belly. The pork belly was pretty fatty, even for me. I think next time I’ll go with the char siew instead.

Hokkaido ramen seems to be thicker and chewier than the normal ramen we’re used to, so those who like their noodles on the softer side may find this a bit too firm and starchy. I found that it went really well with the broth, which was packed with umami flavour. Surprisingly, although it was shoyu based, it wasn’t excessively salty.


A decided to order the Shio ramen with scallops. The broth was lighter in flavour, and because of that I preferred mine.


We also ordered the mentai chicken wings, which were just fried chicken wings topped with some kind of cheesy mentaiko/mayonnaise sauce. Yummm… these were totally addictive, and I dare say the best part of an already pretty good meal.

ION certainly has a wealth of new restaurants to try. The crowds are currently putting me off, but at some point I do want to give the more interesting ones a go.

A says:

It’s good and well worth a visit, but I wouldn’t queue up for this given the wealth of choices here and in B4.

Aoba Hokkaido Ramen
#B3-25, ION Orchard
2 Orchard Turn
Tel: 6509-9394

Yidu Ramen – an update

C says:

An update for readers who are keen to try the Yidu Ramen that we wrote about last month – you can now order the noodles from YumTrade, an online grocery. Unfortunately, the store’s minimum order is $60, which is a LOT of ramen. Maybe you can get some friends together and combine orders.

A says:

I bet Naruto could eat $60 worth of ramen.

Yidu Ramen –tasty ramen at home

C says:

I was contacted by Andy and Debbie at Apex Group Asia, asking me if I was interested in reviewing a new instant ramen that they are in the process of importing into Singapore. They were nice enough to let me have a complimentary pack to sample, so I thought “Why not?”


Each pack is enough for 2 light eaters, or 1 very hungry person, and costs S$3.50 per pack. It comes in 4 different flavours – pork, chicken, beef and kimchi. My sample pack was pork, since that’s the original flavour.

The cooking method is slightly different from regular instant noodles. These instructions are assuming you use one pack for 2 portions.

1) Bring a pot of water to boil. Dissolve each pack of soup base/flavoured oil in 250 ml of the boiling water.
2) Cook the noodles in the remaining boiling water for about 2 and a half minutes.
3) When done, strain the noodles and divide evenly between both bowls of soup.


Voila! That’s it. It was really quite fuss-free, and although I couldn't be arsed to add accompanying ingredients like char siew and a soft-boiled egg, the taste was as authentic as you can get from home-cooked instant ramen. While the soup obviously didn't taste like it had been boiled for 8 hours/2 days/however long the authentic ramen restaurants do it, it was still quite tasty.

What really impressed me was the texture of the noodles. They remained springy, and tasted pretty much like what you’d get in restaurants.

A stall was set up in Raffles Xchange a couple of weeks ago to promote the product, and it was doing roaring business when I popped by. Debbie later told me that over the week or so that they were there, they completely sold out of their initial shipment.

This unfortunately means that there’s currently no more stock available at the moment. New shipments are planned for September, and while they are in talks with supermarkets to distribute the product, this may not happen for a few months. Now I wish I’d bought the rest of the flavours too. In the meantime, interested ramen-lovers will have to keep visiting their website http://www.yiduramen.com/ for updates on where the noodles will next be sold.

A says:

Give a pack a try if you like ramen. For instant ramen, it’s very good. My only concern is that the portions are large enough so it becomes a bit boring without added ingredients.