WHAT WE ATE
- Original Premium Ramen, 60/100 (20 Sep 2023, Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre)
Chi Sen Ramen is a hawker-stall ramen outfit in Singapore based at Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre, positioning itself as “Japanese ramen with a hawker soul.” What sets it apart is a house style built around fresh, handmade noodles and a seafood-forward clam broth, a profile that’s relatively uncommon in Singapore’s ramen scene.
The menu leans into that direction with bowls like Asari Ramen and Clam Prawn Ramen, alongside chicken-based options and a “premium” series, keeping things approachable while staying distinct from the usual tonkotsu parade. If you are mapping ramen in the East, this is one to pin before the crowds catch on.
Original Premium Ramen: 60/100
Noodle: 10/35
Medium-thick, rounded, and wavy noodles form the backbone here, but the match with the soup feels out of place. The strands tended to clump, yielding a doughy chew rather than a clean slurp. Mouthfeel leaned heavy and slightly sticky, though the noodles did soak up the broth’s goodness and salinity. A faint but pleasant wheat note came through too, with no trace of alkaline harshness.
My assumption is that insufficient kansui (alkaline water) was used in the dough. Without enough alkalinity, the noodles lack the firmness and springy resistance that should hold up through cooking, resulting instead in the doughy texture I encountered.
Soup: 25/35
The broth opens with a sharp salty head, settling into a body of mild sweetness and robust tang that ends with a slight sourish note. The finish leaves a lingering richness at the back of the throat. For a hawker-stall setting, this is surprisingly well-executed broth—meaty and flavourful without leaning on soy milk shortcuts. It doesn’t reach the complexity of standout restaurant bowls, but it stands tall enough to be compared alongside them. The menu says it’s clam-based but it taste like a clam-tonkotsu blend to me.
A refractometer reading of 13.4 Brix is particularly impressive for a hawker ramen broth. It signals a high concentration of dissolved solids, confirming the soup’s density and extraction quality without tipping into cloying heaviness.
Meat: 15/20
Two cuts of chashu take the lead.
- Pork belly chashu: A medium-thick slice, tender without drying out. The fat doesn’t dissolve instantly but softens into a jelly-like bite. Flavour moves from a sweet and smoky head into a savoury, meaty depth.
- Duck chashu: Darker in hue, carrying a fruity cherrywood smokiness. The texture is impressively tender for duck, with restrained game notes. The flavour builds gradually as you chew, yielding depth without heaviness.
Other Toppings: 10/10
The bowl is lavish with toppings, offering both variety and substance.
- Black fungus: fresh and crunchy, a clean contrast.
- Negi: unfortunately flat, dried, and lifeless.
- Meatball (tsukune): soft, tender, with savoury body, sweet undertones, and a warming hint of ginger.
- Seaweed: adds a firm umami layer.
- Scallops: fresh, juicy, and springy, though edging into overcooked territory; their natural sweetness still enriches the bowl.
- Marinated egg: veers too far into the brine. The mirin registers strongly, leaving bitterness and salt overshadowing any subtle caramel notes.
Summary
Despite its flaws, the Original Premium Ramen shows how far hawker ramen has come in Singapore. The broth alone could hold its own against some restaurant kitchens, and the sheer generosity of toppings makes this bowl a meal of substance. Where it falters is in the noodles—without the right balance of kansui, the dough never quite reached the springy liveliness that the ramen demands. Still, the duck chashu, scallops, and tsukune add enough intrigue to lift the experience above the ordinary. At 60/100, this isn’t a destination bowl, but it’s a telling example of hawker ambition meeting Japanese tradition.
DISCLAIMER
One man’s meat is another man’s poison.
Find out more about our palettes and how we evaluate our ramen here. 😉
