Ramen

Garlic tonkotsu ramen ($15.50) 🍜 9/10

I was expecting the usual faint hint of garlic oil when I ordered this but I was greeted with a blast of pungent garlic with each rich spoon of soup. At the bottom of the bowl, I found crunchy slices of raw garlic that I happily chewed up with the other rice dishes here. Highly recommended if you're a garlic fiend like me!

On top of the soup, I was pleasantly surprised by how amazingly tender the tonkotsu slices were. I mean, swipe to look at how the meat just falls apart!

Despite the long queues here during lunchtime (because of its good position at boat quay), I found the tonkotsu broth of this white ramen lacking in richness. I must admit I prefer my ramen salty but this lacked dimension.

I liked the free flow sides (pictured behind the bowl of ramen) as the creamy mash even had chunks of meat in it, but the egg wasnt very freshly boiled. Overall worth a try but not that satisfying 😭

I had just slurped down the first spoonful when I had exclaimed, "Wow it's so creamy!" I was not expecting such a rich tonkotsu broth from this unassuming joint, which was part of Japan Food Holdings. If you're a fan of strong-flavoured and rich food, this delectable soup will really hit the spot!

The black garlic was strong at first but mellowed out as I dove deeper into the bowl of ramen. Nonetheless, the broth itself actually had a dimension of sweetness to it, although I'm not sure it's from the broth itself or the shabu pork.

Despite not having a choice of how soft you want your noodles, the noodles here were automatically served bouncy and firm. Though they do serve you quite a lot of noodles inside the soup, each strand was finely separated and went perfectly with the creamy, rich soup.

With all their fiery theatrics, I actually expected it to be more wok hei than it was! 😦 I think it's because the spring onions were all submerged before they poured the flaming oil on.

Food-wise, I wouldn't say it's very outstanding but still a flavourful and hearty ramen. But at this price, I would only come here once.

Try this on a weekday afternoon if you want to enjoy the show without too long of a queue. Otherwise, if you go for dinner, you'll have to wait quite a while.

I thought crab ramen would be clear and watery but the broth here was so thick and creamy -- I wouldn't expect any less of Keisuke! 😍 I'm usually not a fan of seafood but I loved the richness of tonkotsu but married with the playful flavours of kani. That said, the crab flavour was strong but wasn't overwhelmingly fishy.

Crab tsukemen ($13.90) 🦀 9/10

The difference between this and ramen are that the dipping noodles are thicker than the ramen noodles, and the broth comes much thicker and tastier.

On a side note, I usually like my flavours strong but found this a little salty. Make sure to opt for "less taste" on the order chit if you prefer a little less salt in your food!

🍜. I remember this was the VERY FIRST keisuke I had! 😂 Yes, little naive me was trying out this 'random' ramen chain for the first time and thinking "well, these seats are pretty cramped" but little did I know that I would realise this was the best ramen chain in Singapore! |

Although the broth was a little too oily for my liking, the broth was so thick and rich -- the only thing I really pray for in a ramen! The ramen also came with an entire chicken leg despite being only around $10-12? Also, there were free flow boiled eggs with unlimited mayo, as usual in every keisuke store 😋 | . ®️: 9/10

Their incredibly satisfying ramen broth is brewed for 8 hours. I don't care if all my hair drops off -- I always slurp down every last drop. .

What I think sets them apart is the fact that the basic tonkotsu ramen is only $10.90 despite being a comfortable ramen restaurant with booths! You can also get all toppings for only $4 more than the basic tonkotsu ramen. And I meant it when I say there are a lot of toppings -- not only do you get the requisite ajitamago eggs and seaweed. You also get an extra slice of pan-seared chashu, and a serving of buta shogayaki (stir fried pork slices)! They also have free flow moyashi (marinated bean sprouts) which I take full advantage of 🤤 .

I really like the ramen here, and I would say it's broth is like Keisuke's or better. I think it's better, though, because there usually aren't long queues here, and you don't have to sit at small cramped tables like you do in Keisuke. . {Rating: 10/10}

Love the springy noodles here and thick soups

Finally, a tonkotsu ramen in the west! (The location tag hasn't updated yet so I could only tag the paya lebar one) But I ate this at Jurong East in Jcube's Don Don Donki! .

What's different about this branch is that the store is located in Don Don Donki's food court, so that means a lot more comfortable seating options rather than squeezing into a small keisuke ramen table. They also have a buzzer system here so there'll be no more waiting in long lines to taste their delectable ramen! .

Talking about their ramen, I have really never experienced a more value-for-money ramen in Singapore than the keisuke range. Their tonkotsu ramen is so thick and rich I couldn't help but let out a satisfied "mmm!" after the first slurp! I'll be visiting this store a lot more since there's finally a keisuke ramen near me!

{Rating: 10/10}

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Konjiki hototogisu here sells mainly Hamaguri clam and pork ramen. Pictured here is the tonkotsu smoke and pepper ramen with pepper flakes and edible smoked wood chips. First things first, I'm not a big fan of clear broth ramen because I prefer my ramen thick and rich. However, the smoked wood chips gave the ramen quite a unique taste that I've never had before. If you don't mix the chips around, the smoked taste might get quite overwhelming. I found myself slurping the soup down to the last drop in the end, but I wouldn't say that the ramen here is that outstanding. Despite what I think, many people seem to beg to differ based on how packed the small restaurant was on a simple weekday evening.

Love how there's free flow fried garlic flakes here so I can spice it up a little more if I wanted!

Completely satisfied my ramen craving that I had the entire time I was on exchange!