#02-76, The Central
Singapore 059817
Tel: (+65) 62240668
I was having my usual ramen craving yet again(yes, I've developed this mega liking for the flavourful pork-bone soup based noodles topped with those irresistible slices of char-shiu. and not forgetting the tamago too. OOIISSHHII!). Joy has so kindly went around searching for the best Ramen places in Singapore through reading up reviews on the web( Call me lazy, whatever. I'm a blessed man). So yea. I've been to quite a few ramen places already. ( Ippudo, Nantsuttei,etc).
We went there on a Sunday afternoon at around 1.30pm. Crowd was pretty manageable. There was just a group of 3 in queue when we reached, though it would snake to around 5 couples awhile later. Typical of a Japanese restaurant, there was a glass cabinet of plastic representations of the dishes served at the restaurant with prices attached too. In addition, there were a few cotton sheets draped over the restaurant's entrance, reminiscent of those you find in Japan. Authenticity marks there! Waiting time was around ten minutes and our queue was nearly cut by this Japanese couple due to the gross negligence of the waiter. Oh well. Standing up at the front of the queue just doesn't quite beat seating down in the restaurant. Yes, there are four chairs provided for the tired legs out there.
We were promptly ushered to the counter seat-right next to the kitchen, overlooking the Singapore River. But it was surprisingly bearable, as opposed to that at Nantsuttei. Service was prompt as the waiter instantly put 2 glasses of ice-water(without any prompt fyi) down on our tables. A jug of water which was filled with ice was to be shared between us and another couple. Plus point there as it saves us the hassle of requesting for water repeatedly. After much discussion, Joy settled for the Kara Miso Ramen while Paul settled for the much raved about Tokusen Toroniku, which was coincidentally its house specialty. Essentially, your dish will come served separately, with the roasted pork cheeks separated from the bowl of piping hot shio(salt)ramen( that's Paul's choice upon the recommendation of the Japanese waiter. Apparently, the shio ramen flavour is the most popular flavour both here and in Japan! You have three other soup-base options- Shoyu(soy-sauce), Miso and the spicy Kara Miso(additional $1)). Joy told me that the Char Shu Ramen was much raved about. However, due to the exclusive nature of those tasty and tender pork cheeks at an additional cost of just $2.50, the dish was too hard to pass up. In addition, we ordered a koji Tamago to be shared between us two.
Paul says:
Personally, I prefer my soup to be more salty. The uber rich pork-bone stock from Nantsuttei especially struck a chord with me as it was extra flavourful due to the addition of garlic oil. However, with that said, the soup base from Santouka is rich as well. I can say that it's not so overpowering. I definitely didn't get that choking feeling when I took several slurps of the soup in one go. So, in that sense, I can say that the saltiness level of the soup was just right. In addition, the fragrant topping of toasted white sesame seeds helped to enhance the overall taste of the ramen. The plate housing my fat-rich delicacies consisted of servings of Japanese Green Onions(Negi), seasoned bamboo shoots(shinachiku), shredded black fungus(they were really tasteless btw), Japanese Fishcake( or more affectionately known as "naruto") and a single pickled Japanese Plum(umeboshi). I eventually tossed everything into my bowl of ramen except those slices of pork cheeks obviously! The pork cheeks weren't served hot but were cold. However, they were very juicy and tender! It had this smoky flavour was similar to the smoked ham people have during thanksgiving. Very nice indeed. The layers of fat embedded within the meat melted on my tongue as I soon chomped down the whole slice in a jiffy. Definitely money well spent. I must say that the texture of the ramen wasn't too spectacular. It reminded me of cup noodles actually. Just a personal opinion really. I actually tried a bit of Joy's Char Shu. However, just fork out an additional $2.50 and don't settle for "inferior" meat. The Tamago was nothing to shout about really. It was served cold and neither was the yolk especially runny nor the white tasty. At $1.50++(really steep as it's priced at a dollar at ramen restaurants elsewhere), it's not a must have, unless you are a huge fan of tamago!
Tonkusen means premium quality in Japanese and I was not disappointed.
Grade: B+
Joy says:
I'm not that efficient at Japanese terms unlike my dear Paul, so I will just talk about "my bowl of spicy Ramen". I love eating spicy stuff, but there was too much chili oil on top when my ramen came. Luckily I mastered the art of sifting the tricky substance out, and tucked in before my ramen got cold. The egg was served cold, and didn't leave much of an impression on me. It was served separate on a small plate, which was something different as I usually had the eggs inside my ramen when I ate at other outlets. The noodles were springy and good to chew on, but they weren't as smooth as the one at Nantsuttei, which I prefer. I prefer my ramen smoother and whitish in colour, since yellow ramen reminds me of yellow noodles which reminds me of kopitiam mee. The soup got saltier towards the end, and even though still flavourful, it missed in having that punch of creamy char-siu taste. I thought I was just drinking spicy noodle soup.
I will source out other ramen shops to satisfy Paul's craving for the time being ;)
Grade: B-
Total bill was $41.75 (GST & Service Charge included)
In conclusion,
Food: B
Service: B
Ambience: B-
Value-for-$: B
Overall grade:B
Apples given:
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