The wonders of technology - I've been slacking off and maximizing my off days - and I've gotten a new addition to my Apple family. I spent my off day and post call day watching movies on it instead of catching back my sleep, but it's so luxurious to turn on the airconditioning, lie in bed and watch movies with the ipad on my tummy:)
Menya Ihora which comes from Toyama has this black shoyu (soya sauce) broth as well as a more traditional miso based broth. I tried the black shoyu broth and it has a really pleasant taste, and isn't oily. It sort of reminds me of brands chicken essence actually. The noodles are the curly springy yellow kind (the type I like, as opposed to the straight Hakata style noodles which are similar to the kind you'll find in Ding Tai Fung). They also had one of the best half boiled eggs with the nicely runny golden yolks.
Gantetsu - the 'stubborn' chef's recipe from Sapporo has a robust pork bone broth - I like the broth from this place the best and their signature ramen comes with the uslal bamboo shoots, sweet corn and freshly grated ginger. You can also choose to have butter added.
One of the more unique ramen is from Bario - it's superbly oily broth is tasty but slightly too salty for my liking (I suppose they haven't reduced the salt for the local palate). It's like the Menya Shinchuan Ramen style at Gallery Hotel where it's a huge heap of ramen with a equally generous portion of bean sprouts that's guaranteed to make the general population uncomfortably full. The broth is extremely robust and has a strong garlic flavour - you can even add additional garlic if you wish.
The thing I liked about Bario is the noodles which is unique - they're made from bread dough so it's firmer and flourier and they look messy and curly but tastes very good. The other ramen I tried was from Tetsu (which I tried on my first visit to Ramen Champion). Their signature ramen comes with broth separated from the noodles, and you're supposed to dip the noodles into the broth when eating - very much like how you would eat cha soba. I really didn't like this one cos it was extremely extremely salty - felt like I was a salted dried fish after this and I needed to get a drink asap. The egg was also a disappointment - it was overcooked and the yolk was all powdery and yucky (I hate eating hard boiled egg yolks which taste terrible and are not worth the cholesterol).
I can't remember where I got these gyoza from but I think it was from Tetsu? They had this weird bamboo smell which I didn't like either.
Ramen Champion
#04-08
Opening hours 10.30am-11.30pm