Yayoi | Singapore | 20/100

WHAT WE ATE

• Tonkotsu Ramen, 20/100
• Karamiso Ramen, 15/100

You might be surprised… Yayoi? A ramen shop? Well, not quite. Let me explain. There are moments when your craving for ramen hits, but unfortunately, there are no ramen shops nearby. In those situations, you find yourself willing to settle for whatever you can find. And that’s why we visited.

KARAMISO RAMEN 15/100 points

Noodle – 15/35

To my surprise, the noodles resembled authentic ramen noodles both in appearance and taste. They had a decent firmness, but the texture could have been more satisfying.

Soup – 0/35

The soup, if I were to remove the Chashu and seaweed, would resemble a spicy Sichuan noodle dish, tomyum, or laksa. Unfortunately, it not only looked incredibly spicy but also tasted overwhelmingly hot for my palate. Perhaps my tolerance for spice is low, but there was an excessive amount of spices or chili oil that masked any other flavors. This is one of the rare occasions where I would give a soup a zero rating – I wouldn’t even consider drinking it, even if I were paid to do so. That’s how unbearably spicy it was for me.

Meat – 0/20

The appearance of the meat was decent, but I found it to be excessively tough and lacking in flavor. It didn’t have the usual succulence and taste of regular chashu.

Toppings – 0/10

Instead of the usual braised egg found in most ramen shops, they served onsen eggs. The exterior of the egg had a nice, jiggly texture, but the interior was disappointingly tough and cold. The other toppings were equally underwhelming. Light sprinkles of diced spring onions and a single slice of seaweed didn’t contribute much to enhance the overall meal experience.

TONKOTSU RAMEN 20/100 points

Noodle – 15/35

Similar to the previous review, the noodles had a satisfactory firmness but fell short in terms of texture.

Soup – 5/35

Regrettably, the soup failed to capture the essence of Tonkotsu flavor. It resembled more of a chicken ramen broth, but not in a pleasing way. The broth lacked depth and had a watery consistency.

Meat – 0/20

Continuing from the previous assessment, the appearance of the meat was decent, but it was disappointingly tough and lacked flavor, particularly the fatty portions that were excessively chewy.

Toppings – 0/10

As mentioned earlier, the absence of the customary braised egg was noticeable. Instead, they served onsen eggs, but the texture of the interior was tough and cold, suggesting that it may have been refrigerated for too long. Even after attempting to warm it up in the soup, it remained uncomfortably cold. The other toppings, such as light sprinkles of diced spring onions and a slice of seaweed, made minimal impact on the overall dining experience.

DISCLAIMER

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