Mia's Review: Keisuke Tonkotsu King Ramen

Once again, it's my favourite food. Japanese Ramen! :) 

This shall be a review of my... 2nd visit to Keisuke Tonkotsu Ramen located at Orchid Hotel, which is within walking distance from Tanjong Pagar MRT station exit A. They do have a mid-day break time, which I'm guessing is between 3-ish pm to 6pm. But you may start queuing as early as 5:30pm, for when we got there at about 5:45pm on a weekday, we were 3rd in line. 

One reason why the queue is (almost) everlasting is because the ramen shop is really, truly, extremely small.

The interior is decorated with poster-plastered walls like so and that's the entire width of the shop, really. Just enough to place 3 sets of tables across. There's another line of table right behind us, and then another 1 or 2 near the entrance and that's it. But fret not, for the queue does move moderately quickly as patrons will never hog the table to chit-chat, it's really the last place one will ever want to chillax over a bowl of ramen. So everyone is basically a eat and go. 

Right in queue, you will be handed the order sheet to make your order first before giving it to the greeter/server located at the entrance. My advice, go for NO oil and light. Less oil is not good enough, remember, NO oil. :)

Upon seated, you shall find 3 items set on your table. One grinder filled with white and black sesame seeds for every seat, one whole basket of hard boiled eggs (they're free flow, yes!), one tub of marinated bean sprouts. The marinated bean sprouts is really good! I'm never a fan of bean sprouts, but for these, I'll gladly go for seconds! 

As for the sesame seeds, you grind them down as fine as you'll like them to be and later on add them to your ramen for extra fragrance. :)

 And here's my red ramen, before and after mixing. In case you're wondering, the 'red' refers to rayu (chilli oil). There's also a black ramen option, which I believe is pepper. 

I first tried Keisuke last year and I checked less oil and light flavour then, it was served with a thick layer of oil over the broth and I was pretty grossed out even before I started eating. Needless to say, I didn't enjoy it at all. But this time, no oil seem to have done the trick. I actually found my ramen pretty yummy. :)
However, as I'm still a sapporo miso ramen lover, it still failed to top my list of favourite ramen in SG.

Even though Keisuke Tonkotsu is a famous Tokyo ramen chain, I find that their noodles resembles more of a Hakata/Kyushu ramen instead of the typical Tokyo style ramen with thin curly noodles and shoyu based broth. The broth is obviously a milky white pork bone broth, and the noodles relatively thin, straight and hard.

Lastly, the most important factor of a ramen. The ajitama (flavoured egg). As you can see, their egg somehow pales in comparison to other chains like Santouka, Ippudo and Marutama, which serves ajitama with yummy runny yolk and whites just done it jiggles.
For Keisuke, the egg is indeed well flavoured, but obviously overcooked.

For more information, visit their FB page HERE

Till then,
Mia

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Mia's Review: Santouka Ramen

I've always claimed to be a huge ramen lover and especially a fan of Santouka. But then I realised, over the countless times I've visited the branch at Cuppage Terrace, I've never done a review on them! So now's my really late review on Santouka, The Central branch.

As compared to the branch at Cuppage Terrace, this branch at The Central is a lot smaller and hidden right at the corner most area of the mall. It's pretty hard to find it even if you're determined to (especially if you do not have a good sense of direction) much less to say 'bump into it'. So to be full house at such a secluded location on a Sunday evening, it already hints you that your ramen can't be bad, yeah? :)

 Here's my usual order at Santouka, Kara Miso Ramen - approx. $16

Even though it looks horribly oily and fiery red, fret not! In comparison to many other ramen places, Santouka is considered one of the lighter taste ramen I've tried (which includes Tampopo, Marutama, Ippudo and Keisuke). The noodles are more to the soft, chewy side (I know some will prefer harder noodles, but not me) and their broth flavourful yet not overpowering. If you're a fan of strong taste (like Ippudo), you'll probably not like Santouka as I've friends who love Ippudo commenting that Santouka is too bland. IMO, Ippudo is just too much for me, and Santouka is just right. For their Kara Miso, the spiciness is just nice too! For an average spicy-eater like me, I can easily finish up the entire bowl of ramen without reaching for the water. The charsiu is also mildly flavourful and extremely tender, having a good mix of lean and fatty meat. It simply breaks apart at the first bite and the fatty portion just melts into your mouth as you chew on the lean meat.
Santouka's best ramen has got to be their pork cheeks ramen, but being not a very huge fan of pork in general, I do not see the attraction of paying that few dollars more for it. I'm satisfied with just their 'average' charsiu in my kara miso. :)

 

Although their ramen does come with bamboo shoots, I've decided to add on more, on top of the usual flavoured egg I'll order. Yes, Santouka's ramen do not come with flavoured egg, you got to add on an order for it. But it'll definitely be worth your money! Just look at that glistering sheen of their runny yolk peeking out from the cut. 

However, I'll recommend that you give their bamboo shoot a miss. This is the first time I've add on an order of bamboo shoot at Santouka, with the memory of those brilliantly tasty ones I've had at Daruma, and I was totally disappointed. Their bamboo shoots were served cold and utterly tasteless, with inconsistent tenderness/toughness in every piece. Not even worth a place in my tummy, much less to speak of the money. 

Just showing off the pretty flavoured egg. 

Their yolk, as i've said, is runny throughout with a pretty orangy yellow colour, and their whites thoroughly (yet soft) cooked. Very well done indeed!

Black pork gyoza - price forgotten

I'll say their gyoza is pretty mediocre, with the filling just being okay (almost not flavourful enough for me) and their skin thin, yet lacking the bite. Plus, we were recommended the more expensive black pork gyoza, which its taste really didn't justify the extra money spent. Even if they're actually handmade in the restaurant, a good brand of frozen gyoza could have easily tasted the same.

So, mehhhh.... stick to their ramen and flavoured egg while you're there at Santouka. Yes, you can try out their chawanmushi too, if you're in for more eggs. :)

Till then,
Mia

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Mia's Review: Marutama Ramen

 This is an extremely late post, for I've visited Marutama @ The Central with Airmeli after our diamond lash workshop held at Blisshouse. I've long heard about Marutama Ramen, it's always one of the names that pops up alongside Santouka (still my favourite!), Ippudo (urgh, too salty) and Tampopo (not bad) when you ask for ramen recommendations. So when Airmeli led me to the ramen shop, I was really excited and cheered, "Oh yay, Marutama!"

 

Their choices of ramen flavour is not really extensive. A very typical menu of an authentic humble ramen-ya. I ordered for myself a daikon and their Nama Karashi Ramen while Airmeli got a Tori Dango and their Aka Ramen.

 Daikon - $4

Yes, you might feel that $4 for 2 pieces of radish (although they're quite big pieces) is pretty much a rip off, but I didn't really care much for the pricey-ness of it because:

1. I really love daikon

2. They're really damn awesome!

The daikon is served almost piping hot in a rich & flavourful savoury broth, which tastes like tonkotsu/chicken broth, and is cooked down extremely well to be amazingly soft throughout. Each and every bite is 'stuffed' full of the savoury taste of the rich broth. I need not even chew on them, but just pushes my tongue towards the roof of my mouth to mash it up and release the broth that was soaked up within. 

Heavenly. Definitely a must try for all daikon lovers out there. 

 Tori Dango (Chicken Meatball) - $5

The Tori Dango is definitely a disappointment, and yes, it's not worth the $5. I expected the dango to be of, well, chewy dango texture. (duh!) But the first bite brought nothing but disappointment to my face. Nothing in this meat-packed ball is chewy. Instead, the entire meatball is soggy and crumbly. A soft bite to the surface easily breaks the dango in half and a few more bites just literally crumbles them into distinctive separate chunks in your mouth. Not my favourite kind of texture in a meatball. 

However, from a cooking noob's POV, I also wonder if it's because they're using a lot of real chicken meat and very little flour.

As for the taste wise, I can't fault them on it but shan't commend them on it either. It's a "typical" meatball taste, flavourful yet nothing distinctive that screams: I'm a chicken meatball! I guess the only thing that hinted it's chicken and not pork is the crumbly texture.

Airmeli's Aka Ramen - $15

 My Nama Karashi Ramen - $12

It looks just like a normal chicken broth ramen, yeah? But it's actually spicy ramen! This is one thing that is kinda intriguing to me. A 100% non-spicy looking spicy ramen!

The broth is rich, flavourful and has the spiciness level just right for me. 

I think I'm just an average spicy food eater, and I do not like to eat challengingly spicy food as I believe it doesn't do justice to the ingredients and preparer of the dish. :)

Comparing the richness of flavour to Santouka and Ippudo, Marutama is definitely smack in the middle. I feel that their broth is definitely richer than Santouka's yet still manageable for me, unlike Ippudo's, which almost killed me. 

Went Ippudo once, and plans never to return.

I do get a little thirsty while eating the ramen, due to the salty flavour of the broth, but I'm attributing it to the fact that I'm more of a lighter taste person. My preference for lighter taste is blatantly hinted in my obvious dislike for Ippudo's ramen.

As for the noodles, it hovers between chewy and hard imo, deviating slightly more towards hard. I'm a chewy (softer) noodle person, and Marutama's noodles really came this close to making it right for me. It was just a little bit too close to the hard side, but I can still accept it as well made noodles. 

The char siu was also pretty well done, having a good mix of lean and fatty meat, cooked to a savoury tenderness.

I'm also rather disappointed that the ramen wasn't served with menma (bamboo shoots) and it wasn't offered as an additional topping or side dishes either. 

And as seen from the picture, the ramen doesn't come with the flavoured egg (typical of many ramen shops) but need an additional $1.50 for an add on. 

Just look at the pictures, need I say more? The $1.50 is a MUST SPEND! 

I first poked my chopsticks into the whites and pulled off a huge chunk of it to reveal a fully intact yellowy orange yolk. I thought the yolk and overcooked, but how wrong I was! Look at how beautifully the glossy orange oozes out from the puncture I made with my chopstick! The egg is definitely well braised to a rich flavour and the whites is cooked to the point of having just solidifying. There's no obviously semi-transparent runny-ness anywhere in the egg whites, and yet they're amazingly soft, tears apart at the slightest pressure and runs down your throat effortlessly. 

I do feel that Marutama does their flavoured egg better than Santouka and Ippudo. :)

And in addition, Marutama offers Kaedama for those big eaters. With leftover broth and an additional $2, you can get your noodles refilled and eat to your heart's content! I'm not sure if it's a full portion refill though, because there's absolutely no way I can ever go for a kaedama. 

For those who've tried their kaedama, please let me know in the comment box!

Till then,

Mia

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Updates from Mia: Daruma Ramen House (1-for-1) & Smoothie King!

Met up with Sa, JX and YH over the weekend for some random shopping & ramen dinner! If you haven't know it, I'm a huge ramen fan. :)

Yes, it's 1-for-1 ramen at Daruma Ramen House, located at level 2 of TripleOne Somerset. The shop is located at a corner (though not secluded) and has the outlook of a (typically traditional) Japanese Ramen House. The 1-for-1 promotion ends 30th June and is only valid for diners in pairs. :)

And their ramen aren't expensive either! Although there isn't a wide variety of flavours, there's still 3 different type of soup bases (with additional choice of original or light) with 2 to 3 different combination of ingredients for each soup base. Even though I always prefer spicy ramen, I also do have a 'fear' for them sometimes because some ramen house simply pour on a thick coat of rayu (chili oil) to make it "spicy". Urgh, not my type at all. Hence to be on the safe side, I chose R8 instead. Japanese braised pork belly, barbeque pork and mentaiko.

The 1-for-1 promotion is only valid for the same order of ramen only. Meaning if you order R8, the FOC ramen must also be R8.

And that's my dinner for the night. Tonkotsu Ramen with pork belly, bbq pork, and mentaiko. Look at the generous glop of orange smack on top of the braised pork belly! The goodness of the ramen is finally topped up with half a soft boiled egg, generous servings of chopped green onions, marinated fungus (i thought it was kelp at first sight) and dried chilli threads (which i think is saffron). To add on to my ramen, I've ordered extra toppings of bamboo shoots, which I thought would have been served cold and dumped into the ramen (like many other ramen houses). But nope, the bamboo shoots her are served hot and marinated on a side dish plate, that is tender and slightly chewy at the same time and gives off a fragrant sesame oil taste as you slowly chew it down. MUST TRY! 

The ramen is really not bad! The soup is light (because I chose for light), and not salty at all. It'll be a good choice for those who shun away from ramen because they're "too salty". The mentaiko (perhaps because immersed slightly in the soup) is kinda runny as compared to the more solid texture we usually see in 'mentaiko on rice'. It's is neither acutely salty nor spicy, but just has a slight tinge of both as it melts away on your tongue. Recommended to first push the mentaiko to one side of the bowl (probably secured with a slice of the pork belly) as you slowly eat it, bit by bit, with the noodles. Next up, the pork! I'm never a fan of pork, much less to speak of these charsiu served in Japanese ramen as many of them served in Singapore's Japanese ramen chains tend to be more tough than tender. But the braised pork belly served here are just amazingly tender! It take just one soft bite to get a clean cut on the meat, which is a good mix of fats and lean meat. After which, the fats simply melts away in your mouth as you chew on the remnants of the lean meat, which is equally tender. The bbq pork, made from rolling up pieces of thigh meat and cooking them in hot water before bbq-ing the surface and then cutting into slices, has significantly less amount of fats, yet still tender and flavourful. 

And as for the noodles and the soft boiled egg, I gotta say they aren't as promising as the rest. The noodles are somewhat harder and less springy, not quite to my liking for I prefer softer and springier noodles. The soft boiled egg was also a disappointment as it didn't seem to be well braised/flavoured and the egg yolk was a mix of runny-ness and well cooked bits with a small spot of the egg white being very runny (urgh!). 

But overall, it's still worth a try, regardless of whether there's 1-for-1 or not. 18 dollars (9 dollars, in case of 1-for-1) for a bowl of ramen with 3 + 1 pieces of tender pork and mentaiko, why not? 

And this was Sa's ramen. The spicy soup base of my ramen. Tried the soup and it was actually not much different from mine apart from a slight hint of spiciness. The redness of the soup is actually nothing to be afraid of. Both of us would have preferred it to be much more spicier, though.

On a side note, look at the cuteness of the tiny pot they used to keep the condiment! It's garlic inside, btw. :)

And after our dinner, we did a little shopping at F21 at 313 and came across Smoothie King!

They have a really extended list of smoothie menu (indicated with their calorie count) generally categorized into Refreshing (added ingredients that are good for overall health) and Slim & Lite (added ingredients that aids in weight loss). You can also ask to add extra enhancer at additional cost to your yummy smoothie. 

Apart from smoothie, food such as wraps are also served at the restaurant. 

 

Upon completing our order at the counter, we will be given a beeper/flasher as shown, which will start flashing once our order is ready at the collection counter. 

 And here's our orders for the night. YH's Very Berry (small), my Angel Food (regular) and Sa's Yoghurt D-Lite - Blueberry (large).

 Both the yoghurt d-lite blueberry and very berry actually tastes similar. Very "berry-ful" (think tangy) and generally appealing to all ladies. 

However, my Angel Food (supposedly a blend of bananas, strawberries and soy protein) was a disappointment. There isn't any taste of strawberry at all. It tasted pretty much like a banana smoothie, which gets kinda sickening after a while (should have gotten small instead of regular), for I'm not really a banana smoothie fan. I prefer bananas to be eaten as a fruit, nothing else. The strawberry, if it has done anything, was to give the smoothie a pretty, red colour.

The smoothie is pretty light, though still thick and creamy, if you get what I mean. Some smoothie are way too rich and sweet, it's impossible to finish the whole cup of it by yourself because you'll just end up getting so sick of the richness after a while. But for Smoothie King, there's no such issue. Even though I practically ended up with my much hated banana smoothie, I still did manage to finish it without much problems, while lusting for Sa's/YH's instead. 

ROFL.

Till then,

 Mia

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