Singapore

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.

Nestled in Novena United Square Mall is another promising ramen that seems to have popped up not long ago. On their JPassport page, it seems that they are planning to open a 2nd outlet at Shaw Plaza in March 2023. The shop also operates somewhat like ramen stalls in Japan where you have to order your food from a ticketing machine first before you are seated.

The broth is rich and thick which is evident from the frothy soup and floaty bits of fats. Porkiness was well balanced in bringing out the meatiness of the broth as well. However, the soup can feel a little flat after a while – a more classic take of Tonkotsu i feel but that’s also the trade-off for those looking for something a little different.

Nestled along the busy streets of Cross Street is another ramen apart from Beppu. This one however is a little hard to find – the entrance is not along the main walkway with all the bars, but along a rather discrete small road in the back alley. Some of their popular dish includes Tsukemen, Tonkotsu Ramen and their veggie Unagi.

Following after Tsuta, now we have another Michelin ramen setting shop on our sunny shores in Singapore. Their signature Tan Tan Men is what everyone will be queueing for but we’ll also take the opportunity to look at their other ramen.

Akimitsu is a Michelin awarded brand renown for their Tempura but they also offer pretty decent ramen at their chains in Singapore. The ramen here is pretty customisable. Each ramen comes with different configurations of meat options and then lets you choose what broth you want. Original being the classic white milky Tonkotsu, Black being the garlic variant and finally the red for the spicy option.

The broth is milky and has a sweet start but satisfaction tapers off as the alkaline-ish after taste hits you along with a hint of bitterness. Not sure whether its the noodles influencing the taste here or its the other way around. On my refractometer, it shows a reading of 10.2 brix is pretty good – standard for Tonkotsu ramen. But overall taste wise seems a bit off.

The broth has a strong shoyu note and a lingering taste that seems like ginger? Not sure but the broth leaves us rather puzzled. Which part of it is scorched? Maybe we’ve not had scorched shoyu before and hence we can’t tell… Nonetheless, you can tell we aren’t fans of it. While the brix value shows up high, it taste flat pretty quickly. On my refractometer, it shows a reading of 6.2 brix which is higher than regular Tokyo Shoyu ramen.