Taishoken (Ramen Champion @ Iluma)

With this visit to try Taishoken, I have covered 5 out of the 6 ramen stalls at Ramen Champion at Iluma. I am just left with Ikkosha to try!

Let's go back to Taishoken. Taishoken started out more than 50 years ago is well known in Tokyo. 

Pardon me for the unclear pictures

Moreover, it is the inventor of the concept Tsukemen. 

Tsukemen is the concept whereby the soup and ramen are served separately. The soup in this case is concentrated and customers dip the noodles into the soup before drinking. Once the ramen has been eaten, customers can drink the soup by diluting it with fish based soup from the stall.

Menu

As usual, order with the staff, and you get a disk which will vibrate once your ramen is cooked. I noticed that there are no longer any queues at Ramen Champion unlike the first month when it was open. Now I get my food much faster. 

Tokyo Ramen Deluxe (Regular) $15.00

I did not try their Tsukemen. Instead, ordered the Tokyo Ramen Deluxe (Regular) for $15.00

The broth was made from chicken, pork and anchovies. It was on the salty end. The ramen was springy, thin and firm. The Chashu (char siew) was flavourful, however was accompanied by too much fats (which of course is a factor that some may like).

The egg was not bad especially when I compare it to the one I got from Tetsu Ramen. Egg yolk was molten, not powdery (overcooked). The egg white on the other hand was cooked; hard when it should have been gooey and soft. 

Well, again taste is subjective, what is deem as salty / nice to me may not be the same for you. The best way is to go down and give it a try! For fans of Ramen Champions, the good news is that they have opened a branch at Changi Airport Terminal 3. However, there are only 4 stalls: Gantetsu, Ikkosha, Riki and Gensuke. (yes, 2 new stalls!)

The six Ramen restaurants are:

1.IROHA from Toyama
2.BARIO from Tokyo
3.GANTETSU from Sapporo
4.TETSU from Tokyo
5.IKKOSHA from Hakata
6.TAI SHO KEN from Tokyo

Taishoken (Ramen Champion @ Iluma)
201 Victoria Street
#04-08/09/10 Iluma (Bugis)
Tel: 6238 1011
Opening Hours: Daily 1130 am to 1030 pm
Website

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Gantetsu Ramen (Ramen Champion @ Iluma)

4th visit to Ramen Champion. This time, I tried Gantetsu from Sapporo. 2 more visits and I would have covered all the 6 Japanese Ramen restaurants. 

Weird that the name of the stall is called Gantetsu considering its meaning is stubbornness. 

Gantetsu Menu

Gantetsu Menu (Special Miso Ramen)

There was no queue. Yet, a 'landmine' was given. Waited for around 5 to 10 minutes before the landmine exploded. Good to know that they cook their ramen only upon receiving orders. 

Special Miso Ramen $15.00

The Special Miso Ramen comes with a ginger paste. It's broth made up of pork and miso was light and flavourful. The noodles was thin and firm. The sweet coin provided a distinct sweetness to the broth.  But the tamago was slightly overcook. Overall, quite an interesting ramen which was not overly salty. 

The six Ramen restaurants are:

1.IROHA from Toyama

2.BARIO from Tokyo

3.GANTETSU from Sapporo

4.TETSU from Tokyo

5.IKKOSHA from Hakata

6.TAI SHO KEN from Tokyo

Gantetsu (Ramen Champion @ Iluma)
201 Victoria Street
#04-08/09/10 Iluma (Bugis)
Tel: 6238 1011
Opening Hours: Daily 1130 am to 1030 pm
Website

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Menya Iroha Ramen (Ramen Champion @ Iluma)

My 3rd visit to Ramen Champion at Iluma. Noticed that the crowd seems to have lessen considerably despite it being lunch time. So if you have been wanting to try the Japanese ramen at Iluma Ramen Champion, now is the best time.

This time, I decided to try Menya Iroha. No queue at all.

Menya Iroha Menu

Menya Iroha Menu (Negitama Ramen)

Ordered the Negitama Ramen. Got my bowl of ramen within 5 minutes as there was no queue at all.

Negitama Ramen (large) $15.50

The Negitama Ramen is a black soy sauce  based ramen. It consisted of bamboo shoot, seaweed, leek, chashu and egg. The chashu was forgettable. The egg was also average. The ramen was curly, thin and springy. The black soy sauce soup base was quite unique. It was flavourful and seems light. However, towards the last few mouthful, I felt thirsty. Looks like its a case of too salty again. 

Ps: Thee six Ramen restaurants are:

1.IROHA from Toyama

2.BARIO from Tokyo

3.GANTETSU from Sapporo

4.TETSU from Tokyo

5.IKKOSHA from Hakata

6.TAI SHO KEN from Tokyo

Menya Iroha (Ramen Champion @ Iluma)
201 Victoria Street
#04-08/09/10 Iluma (Bugis)
Tel: 6238 1011
Opening Hours: Daily 1130 am to 1030 pm
Website

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Nantsuttei (Parco Marina Bay)

Nantsuttei is located in Parco Marina Bay, just next to Millenia walk. It sepcialises in dishing out Japanese ramen.

We saw this pasted at the entrance. Well, during meal time, there is always a long queue at this place. Hence to show their gratitude, they are giving a complimentary side dish for those who queue more than 15 minutes. Quite nice of them to offer this and show their appreciation.

Menu outside the shop

From this picture, you would have gathered that we did not queue at all. Reason: we went there during a Saturday at 345pm. Could not resist the temptation to try, although we have taken our lunch, we decided to share a bowl of ramen.

Part of their noodle menu

Topping Menu

Chashu-men $16 + Ajitsuke Tamago $1

We ordered the Chashu-men and added a Ajitsuke Tamago (flavoured boiled egg). As you noticed, the broth was brownish (tonkotsu-pork bone soup) and on top there is a layer of roasted sesame garlic oil. The noodles are springy and slightly thick, but not as thick as Bario's. It is accompanied by beansprouts, seaweed, chashu and spring onion. A generous amount of chashu was given and they were thickly sliced. The chashu was surprisingly soft, tender and flavourful. Moreover, it was not fatty which is a big plus. The broth was flavourful and fragrant but on the salty end. It was quick a unique and potent broth.

Ajitsuke Tamago $1

The Ajitsuke Tamago was overcooked.

If you finish the whole bowl of noodles including the broth, this is what you get. We did not finish the broth. we transferred it to another smaller bowl which we requested for as we were sharing this.

Ramen Tasting for you? (not sure if its over)

They are planning to open a second outlet in Singapore. Hence the ramen tasting event. Go register at their facebook. (web address at the end of this post)

Overall, I quite like this bowl of ramen. Everything was good, if only the broth was slightly less salty this would have been perfect. Oishii!!

Ps: The nearest MRT station is Promenade MRT Station.

Nantsuttei (Parco Marina Bay)
9 Raffles Boulevard
#P3-06 Parco Marina Bay, Millenia Walk
Tel: 6337 7166
Opening Hours: Daily 1130am - 1030pm
Website
Facebook

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Ippudo (Mandarin Gallery)

Ippudo Singapore at Mandarin Gallery was the 2nd overseas outlet to be opened outside of Japan. When the outlet opened in Dec 2009, there were long queues resulting in a minimum queuing time of 40minutes. Close to 1 and a half year later, I thought this would be a good time to try this place.

Went there on a Saturday for dinner. Just in case, there was still a queue, went there early at 6pm. Well, I guess several other people had the same idea. As it was full and there was already a queue outside. At least 10 people in front.

At last, it was our turn to enter the restaurant. Well, inside, there is another round of queuing!

As you queue inside, there are menus present so that you can decide what to eat.

At last, it was our turn to be seated. we decided to share table so that we do not need to wait longer. Noticed that seating capacity is quite small inside.

Menu (A La Carte)

Menu (Meat)

Ippudo Original Gyoza $6

The Ippudo Original Gyoza consist of 5 pieces of pan fried Gyoza. The Gyozas are quite small. On the outside, it was golden brown and crispy. Inside, it was flavourful. Small but delicious!

Menu (Ramen)

When ordering ramen, you will be asked how would you want your noodle. Soft, hard or medium (between soft and hard)? Your choice will determine the cooking duration.

Shiromaru Motoaji $15

The Shiromaru Motoaji is their original recipe tongkotsu soup served with thin noodles rosu chashu (pork loin), cabbage, kikurage, pickled ginger and spring onion. For this bowl, we requested for the soft noodles. Which means it is cooked longer till the noodle become soft. The noodles was soft, flavourful and smooth! The broth has been cooked using pork for many hours till it become this creamy colour. It was light and flavourful. Towards the end, felt that it was on the salty end. 

Akamaru Tamago $17

The Akamaru Tamago is their original recipe with their blended miso paste (a round brown paste next to the egg) and fragrant garlic oil.

After mixing the miso paste

After mixing the miso paste, the colour of the broth turns brown. It was on the salty end and with a slight taste garlic after taste. If you prefer a more intense garlic after tase, you can get fresh garlic to be pressed in the broth. I ordered the 'hard' noodles. It was springy and firm.

Tamago

Adding a Tamago (egg) cost $2 more! And I was not disappointed. Inside, the yolk is not runny nor is it fully cooked. It was still semi solid. I would have expected the egg to be hard as it seems to be slightly overcooked. To my surprise, the tamago had a melt in the mouth sensation and the egg white was soft as if it was a semi-solid too.

Overall, there is still a long queue at the outlet. Ramen wise, it was better than what I have eaten at Iluma's Ramen Champion. But the star was really the tamago! Even better than Tampopo's.

ps: this place might not be suitable on a first date. (sharing of table, noisy environment)


Ippudo Singapore (Mandarin Gallery)
Blk 333A Orchard Road
#04-02/03/04 Mandarin Gallery
Tel: 6235 2797
Opening Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-11pm
                        Sun 11am-10pm
Website

Ippudo Tao (UE Square)
207 River Valley Road
#01-55/56 UE Square
Tel: 6887 5315
Opening Hours: Mon-Thur 11am-3pm, 5pm-12am
                         Fri-Sat 11am-3pm, 5pm-2am
                         Sun 11am-11pm

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Bario Ramen (Ramen Champion @ Iluma)

This is my second visit to Ramen Champion at Iluma. During the first visit, I tried Tetsu. If you are clueless on Ramen Champion, can read about it in my post on Tetsu.

This time, as we arrived early, there was a short queue (3 people) at Bario (during the previous visit, this stall had a long queue). Hence, decided to try this stall.

More garlic or chilli?

Bario Menu

Bario Menu (Bario Ramen)

Within 5 minutes of queuing (3 people), it was my turn to order. I ordered theBario Ramen(which is their signature dish) and added a Flavored Boil Egg. In return, I got a ‘land mine’! Another round of waiting!

Land mine

Waited for 15 minutes before the land mine exploded vibrated, signalling that my bowl of ramen is ready.

Bario Ramen $13 + Flavored Boiled Egg $1

Overcooked Flavored Boil Egg

Curly Noodles

The serving of Bario Ramen is not for small eaters. 3 pieces of Char Siew, curly noodles topped with a very generous serving of beansprouts. The beansprout seems much more than the noodles. The beansprouts was crunchy, but with such a big serving of beansprouts, I got quite sick of eating it towards the end. The noodles was thick, hard and curly. Being hard and curly, extra care has to be taken to ensure that my shirt will not be stained. Felt that more noodles could have been given and that each strand could have been thinner. However, to the chef, thick means manly.. The Char Siew was fatty, fragant and with a melt in the mouth sensation. Of course, I did not take all the fats, just one small bite to try as it way too sinful! The Flavored Boil Egg was a disappointment. Way too overcook, yolk was not runny.

The soup based was interesting. Should be pork broth with several other ingredients. But it was overpowered by the flavour of garlic. or should I phrase it that way too much garlic was added by the chef. (you can request for no garlic).

Overall, I am not won over. For the price, it was so-so. Could have been much better. Beats me why there was a long queue previously and during this visit. My  guess is everyone wants to try. But once everyone has tried once, will it be sustainable? Well time will tell. I will try other stalls soon and review them too! If you know any that is nice let me know.

Ps: Thee six Ramen restaurants are:

1.IROHA from Toyama
2.BARIO from Tokyo
3.GANTETSU from Sapporo
4.TETSU from Tokyo
5.IKKOSHA from Hakata
6.TAI SHO KEN from Tokyo

Bario (Ramen Champion @ Iluma)
201 Victoria Street
#04-08/09/10 Iluma (Bugis)
Tel: 6238 1011
Opening Hours: Daily 1130 am to 1030 pm
Website

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