That chain owned by some dude from big bong. We tried it. After almost 2 hours of waiting.

Inside, it's a bit like Ichiran with less isolation - and as a bit of a sidetrack, Ichiran is far from the best ramen around wtf can people stop parroting this shit, DM me for 3 ramen joints I tried in Tokyo that are far superior. Ichiran is convenient and accessible and open at all hours and better than pretty much all ramen places in Malaysia but that's about it. Anyway, back to Aori. Although not physically because it's unlikely we'll return.

It's not that it's bad. It's pretty good actually, for Malaysia. It's just...overpriced and not super impressive. Factor in the tokyo-level queues and it feels a bit pointless. I had a bum egg (dried yolk, runny white) but the rest of the gae team had decent ones. Still think Kagura's add-on marinated egg is the best in town. The noodles were maggi-level soft. No texture or taste. Ugh. The seaweed was good. The marinated bamboo shoots were okay but menya Shi shi do did it better (do they still have it ah?). The pork was okay - burnt bits were deliciously smoky - but was also a bit tough and chewy. Bari Uma does it better.

The broth, though, was quite good. Nice porkiness. Decent, not overwhelming, spice even at the Basic level. Creamy, rich, almost milky one-note broth that's much better than current-age Ippudo and Bankara in KL. Bit behind the kuro @ menya Shi shi do but that's me I guess. Overall? Okay lor.

#ramen #burpple #aoriramen