WHAT WE ATE

• Premium Black Tonkotsu Ramen, 65/100 (04 Mar 2023, NEX Mall)
• Premium Red Tonkotsu Ramen, 45/100 (04 Mar 2023, NEX Mall)

Known for their rice bowls (donburi) and their signature aburi approach to their meat, we wonder how their ramen taste like. Especially when you have a good portion of their menu dedicated to ramen, it makes one curious to find out.

PREMIUM BLACK TONKOTSU RAMEN 65/100

Noodle – 15/35
The noodles used here are medium thick and rather straight – not as thick as those you find in miso ramen but also not the thin straight noodles used in Hakata style tonkotsu ramen which you commonly see.

In terms of texture, its springy and a little chewy but the mouthfeel isn’t exactly that ‘Q’ bouncy feel that you intuitively expect from such a choice of noodle. Its a rather unique choice but not something particularly good. Perhaps it might have been better if it’s done just a tad harder (in ramen places often you can customise hardness of noodles).

Taste wise, nothing really striking but happy that the yellow tinge of the noodles didn’t translate to the typical ‘alkaline yellow noodle taste’.

Soup – 20/35
The broth in comparison is pretty good! There’s that savoury goodness from the very rich Tonkotsu broth (12 brix!), followed by a nicely layered garlic aroma. A fragrant garlic taste from the fried garlic slices and a light hint of smoky burnt garlic aftertaste. Overall, the porkiness is also well handled for a broth this rich.

Note: You can read what this refractometer reading is about here.

Meat – 20/20
The premium version comes with chashu made with pork jowl. For those that know their pork, no need to over-explain to you here – the soft, tender yet chewy texture is something seriously to drool for. The meat is also marinated well and thorough. The flavours of the marination, sweetness of the meat along with the aburi taste comes out as you chew on.

Topping – 10/10
The egg was ok. Savoury marination. Not too salty. Texture is up to standard. Other toppings includes the fried garlic that I mentioned about as part of the broth, black fungus, negi and seaweed. Apart from the fried garlic, the rest just adds a little more texture to the meal.

PREMIUM RED TONKOTSU RAMEN 45/100

Noodle – 15/35
Same noodles used here. Its springy and a little chewy but the mouthfeel isn’t ‘Q’ bouncy enough. Taste wise, nothing really striking but happy that the yellow tinge of the noodles didn’t translate to the typical ‘alkaline yellow noodle taste’.

Soup – 5/35
Sadly, while the broth does most of the hard work, the tare (sauce) can make or break the meal. Such is the case here where the spicy minced sauce overwhelmed everything else. If you are a fan of very spicy food, maybe this is for you. But for us, it pretty much broke that balance we were looking for in our ramen. It’s choking type of spicy that hits you on your nose followed by burning down your throat. The rest is history as our tongues hardly can taste the other hard work in the broth.

Meat – 20/20
Same meat used here. The premium version comes with chashu made with pork jowl. For those that know their pork, no need to over-explain to you here – the soft, tender yet chewy texture is something seriously to drool for. The meat is also marinated well and thorough. The flavours of the marination, sweetness of the meat along with the aburi taste comes out as you chew on.

Toppings – 5/10
Same egg. In lieu of the fried garlic, we have more spiciness here with some Ito Togarashi (dried red chilli shreds or shilgochu in some Korean cuisine). The overall spiciness from the tare even overwhelms this so unfortunately there’s not much taste to layer on with this. The rest of the toppings like black fungus, negi and seaweed just adds a little more texture to the meal.

DISCLAIMER

One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
Find out more about our palettes and how we evaluate our ramen here. 😉