all solely for their ramen.. and I find that for some, their ramen CMI!
1) Sumi Charcoal Grill Yakitori was a shop that I chanced upon while walking through the new renovated Centrepoint basement. this was the 1st japanese ramen store that I tried besides Ajisen.
I remembered they were having a promotion for their ramen.
the shop ambience and seating was quite nice, rather spacious.
service was quick, I don't have to wait long for my ramen to arrive.
Gasp, their ramen was disappointing. the noodles lack the springyness and really is like maggi mee to me.
after reviewing their website after so long since that 1st and last visit there, perhaps their strength was in Yakitori, so they did not place much importance in their ramen.
2) Was wandering in Far East Plaza, lost at deciding on the food to eat, we saw Ramen Ten and went in. my thoughts was since this Japanese food chain outlet is called Ramen Ten, their ramen should be of some standard. I was proven to be wrong. once again, the noodles is like maggi mee. but at least their soup base is slightly better than Sumi.
I take it that because pork knuckles and bones are an essential item for brewing of ramen soup base, maybe that is the reason why the soup tasted slightly different from what I had before as Ramen Ten is a halal certified Japanese eatery, so I cannot complain much (:
The 2nd time I went to Tampines, not for the ramen but for the sushi. not bad, sushi is sushi, can't really get any difference unless it is not fresh. but still, I will choose Sakae Sushi anytime =X
http://www.ramenten.com/home.htm
3) went to Bishamon at Raffles City basement Marketplace yesterday.
the shop is suprisingly small and there wasn't much seats available. the seats were also not that comfortable, rather cramp and low back, hardly able to lean back. their specialty are the sapporo ramen series, but they also have clear soup base ramen.
I ordered the clear soup ramen (Shoyu Ramen), he ordered Special Miso Ramen from the Sapporo series. I had a rather high expectation for this shop as I have heard of it for quite some time only yet to try it for myself and also because of their pricing. it is more expensive than Ajisen ramen (ranging from SGD11.80 ~ SGD14.90).
I picked up my chopstick and poke at the ramen, and I know I'm in for a disappointment. It was in a deep yellow color, the soup was really like maggi soup and there wasn't much ingredients =( no seaweed, no tau gei, no egg.. boohoohoo..) then the cha shu is like Ajisen's, which I don't really like, tough and will get stuck to my teeth =X so all give to him, so my bowl only left the noodles and soup, really is like maggi. but this maggi very expensive and furthermore I think my maggi beehoon that I cooked at home tasted 10x nicer =X
his sapporo ramen had slightly more ingredients like seaweed and egg. I have to mention about the egg, they cooked it 50% only, so the exterior looked like a hard-boiled egg, but when you take a bite, the inside is still soft and the eggyolk can flow =X I didn't know at first, when I bite (I asked from him) and sensed sth amiss, I see how come inside is gor gor de.. eee =XX sua ku.. so I gave back to him. LOL~ hee
I also commented that this is a cruel way to kill a chick =( haha! of course there isn't any chick inside lah.
and! the serving was so little, around 3/5 of ajisen's servings (not that I can take more of their ridiculous maggi-treated-as-ramen noodles.)
throughout I was complaining and grouching about how expensive this bowl of maggi mee is.. and saying mine was like $0.60 worth and his was better, at least taste like fishball noodles (that was an overstatement) so maybe worth $3.00. hahaha!
no wonder, even though the shop was rather small, there was still plenty of unoccupied seats even though it was dinner time already.
feel like got conned! I will never be back again! >_<
you can take a look at the reviews, and decide for yourself.
http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/sapporo_ramen_bishamon_raffles_city_shopping_centre/
after having the tries on ramen at these supposedly famous ramen shops, I have realised that perhaps there is nothing wrong with them, maybe ramen are supposed to be like this in S'pore. too bad I have been to Ajisen Ramen many times and know what good quality ramen are supposed to be (if u study their ramen, they really have two cores! that is the secret to their springgy and delicious ramen!!) or maybe my expectations are too high.
but ramen in Tokyo, Japan are nothing like these.
not even Ajisen Ramen can be up to their standard. once you have tried the 100% authentic ramen in Japan, it will take you a few months to adjust back to S'pore Ajisen Ramen standard. it is still the best that you can ask for in S'pore though.
anyone who knows of any equal or better ramen in S'pore, please let me this ramen fan, know! =D
Labels: food
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