The Ramen List

N and I LOVEEEE ramen. Japanese ramen. It is hard to come to an agreement on which is the best ramen in Singapore, but both of us have a certain idea of what kind of ramen would satisfy us (:

Soup Base: There are several kinds of soup bases - Tonkotsu(Pork broth), Shoyu(soy sauce flavoured), Shio(salt flavoured), Miso(soybean paste flavoured), and probably some other less common ones like Fish Broth?

We love tonkotsu ones.. The gao gao (thick, concentrated) soup with a visible layer of disintegrated fats.

Noodles, of course, must be QQ (al dente). I have to idea what kind of noodles there are and I can't really differentiate them. 

Toppings: Ajitsuke egg(well-marinated egg with runny yolk and soft egg white)

Chashu (well-marinated pork, especially those with melt in your mouth texture)

Menma (bamboo shoots. Also, well-marinated)

Negi (something like the spring onions that is commonly seen in chinese food)

Seaweed doesn't make a difference to me.

So here are some ramen that we've eaten thus far! They are not ranked!

1) Ippudo Ramen

Needs no introduction. Probably one of the most famous ramen in Singapore?

This is our favourite ramen so far. Love the noodles, love the soup. I never fail to finish every single drop of it. The picture above is their seasonal menu's ramen though. 

2) Marutama Ramen

Quite a disappointment as I was looking forward to try it. It was bland and noodles were okayyy... Chashu average. Egg overcooked.

3) Ramen Champion

 

Top: Ikkousha

Bottom: Bario

I pretty love Ramen Champion! It's worth the price. Ikkousha was quite commendable however, Bario wasn't our kind. The noodles were like the yellow hokkien mee. The one used in Lor Mee. But the pork belly was rather shiok. 

 4) Ramen Santouka

One of our top few! Simply shiok to down that bowl of soup. It can be quite salty after awhile though!

The reddish soup is kara-miso, which is quite salty. shoyu and miso base are good (:

The slices of pork cheek are the highlight of the set. You can't see the fats on the meat but it is AMONG the meat. The fats are kind of blended into the meat slices and the texture is perfect when you chew it.

5) Shin-sapporo Ramen

 I had tonkotsu that day but it was such a disappointment despite the good reviews. It just didn't wow me. I was wondering if I went on the wrong day. There was simply nothing fantastic that was worth mentioning.

maybe they should specialise in just one soup base?

6) Baikohken Ramen

The shio (left) didn't appeal to us. Looks (and tastes) too healthy. The shoyu one (right) was not bad though!

I like that they have really generous toppings. The chashu was humongous. 

 7) Nantsuttei Ramen

 The black ma-yu (roast garlic oil) floating on it is so damn good! It coats onto the noodle and gives it a very unique taste! The garlic oil made it so fragrant!

8) Daikokuya Ramen

 Surprising find! We were at paragon and it was time for dinner. Wanted to go for Sushi Tei but the queue was simply too long. So I suggested we try this ramen and to our surprise, it is not too bad!

The egg and bamboo shoots were better than those highly raved ones. However, I didn't like any ramen that comes with the corn. I think it cheapens it and makes it look less authentic.

9) Tampopo Ramen

One of our top few ramen places! The soup is flavourful, yet not too jer-lat. Look at that dark-coloured egg. It was so well-marinated. The chashu with a dipping sauce was one of the more special ones that I've eaten!

10) Tonkotsu King (Ramen Keisuke)

 

The one I ordered was with Black oil

While the black oil does give the soup a different taste, I preferred the original one. The black oil does not enhance the taste of the ramen as compared to Nantsuttei's . It could be that the oil is not roast garlic oil? I ended up scooping the oil out and I did not finish the soup (which I usually do when I like the ramen). 

The cha shu was slightly thicker than normal, but not as thick as Baikohken's. The taste was similar though.. Not very well marinated. 

11) Tonkotsu King Four Seasons (Ramen Keisuke)

As the name suggests, the theme of the shop revolves around the 4 seasons. You can even see if from the setting and decoration once u enter the place.

The menu is pretty straight forward, the same goes for their other outlets. There are 4 flavours (the four seasons) and one King Ramen flavour, which is the basic, tonkotsu ramen. The safest choice I would say.

The picture above is Summer, with All Ingredients. I opted for Hard noodles as I want something more QQ.  The minced pork gave the whole ramen a great boost and the pork slices, which is stir-fried with onions was sweet and tasty on its own! That said, the soup was a tad spicy and I would usually finish the whole bowl of soup when I eat ramen but I did not. The extra salt probably came from the added ingredients..

This list will be updated when we've tried more ramen! (: