Ramen

Ordered the Standard Tonkotsu Ramen with special toppings that included seaweed, flavored egg and additional char siu. Noodle texture was thin and springy which is standard hakata standard. Broth however was overly strong. It lacked the kind of clarity in taste I was looking for as can also be seen in the photo - the soup looks overly oily. The pungent pork bone taste was overpowering, as if they forgot to filter something or add something to tone it down. Flavored egg was boiled to just the right runny yolk texture. Unfortunately they had over flavored the egg, resulting it in being overly salty when paired with the broth. My sis commented the char siu was sliced so thin that it had become shabu shabu pork and I have to say i agree with her. At that thickness, even if the char siu had been nicely roasted, we wouldn't have been able to taste it. Somehow the long queue waiting outside made me wonder if this was just a bad day for the chef and restaurant. But I doubt I will be returning anytime soon.

Still my favourite ramen locally despite more and more specialty ramen stores sprouting around Singapore in recent years. The pork cheeks are fatty yet not too greasy which gives it great flavor and texture and the soup is well balanced, neither too bland nor too rich. This will keep me happy while I patiently await Ichiran Ramen to open a branch in Singapore. 👍