Ma Maison at The Central Clarke Quay

Hi everyone!

It's not that I have not been out eating, it's just that I have been too busy to blog! But I am back on Sweetly Nice, bringing to you Ma Maison!

Ma Maison @ The Central Clarke Quay

Ma Maison menu. Was this deliberately designed to look like a Singaporean passport?

Location: The Central #03-96, Clarke Quay MRT Station.

Opening Hours: 11.30am - 3pm (lunch), 6pm - 10pm (dinner).

Cuisine: Fusion, Japanese-based.

Price: ~$50/couple

Ambience: Rustic, country.

View: Singapore river along Clarke Quay.

(I figured it is easier for you to read if I put all the quick facts first before the photos, so the sub-sections may seem a little split because the words don't come with the photos. But I will caption all my photos, so you know. I will also go through the review in chronological order, according to how I actually saw the place from when I stepped in.)

Ambience
I am in love with down-to-earth country decor, so you can imagine, when I stepped in, I was awe-struck. This IS my cup of tea. =D

Inside of Ma Maison@The Central.

I don't open bottles outside, but I thought the wine shelf is really pretty, and adds well to that rustic feel. All those drinks also makes part of the wall decor.

The wine shelf.

One of the things that I always notice about a restaurant is how much effort (or sometimes lack of effort) that the management puts into these table side necessities.

Here, you can see that beautiful stain glass lamp, the vintage-style porcelain sugar holder, the little straw basket that contains the chill and pepper.

You can also glimpse a bit of the curtains. The curtains have floral prints and are absolutely in tune with the entire country-style decor of Ma Maison.

Table top decor, sauces and necessities.

View
This Ma Maison has the view of Singapore river, and by the river, are colourful old shophouses. This part actually reminds me of those world heritage sites like Cinque Terre, Italy, and the colourful streets of Mexico.

Of course, Singapore's colourful shophouses are quite far when compared to Cinque Terre, Italy (but I secretly hope some part of Singapore can make the UNESCO World Heritage List).

Regardless, our shophouses by the Singapore river, do carry our colonial past with us; it is our heritage. And if you are down by this part of the Singapore river, you need to get out there, into the sun, and take a walk across (just right across The Central), to visit what is now known as the MICA Building. It is part of our national heritage conservation list (google or Trip Advisor it). It's superbly beautiful, and trust me, MICA building is picture perfect, and will be pretty sitting in your honeymoon album or FB page.

View of a stretch of Singapore River with colourful shophouses on an unfortunately cloudy day, from my seat at Ma Maison.

On to the food!
The first that arrived were the drinks. This is ice tea (no lemon) that comes free with the dessert we ordered. It is very normal, but I took a picture anyway.

My free ice tea with order of dessert.

Next came soup! This is corn soup that comes with an Omu-Rice set.

This is worth getting envious or jealous over! =P You've got to try how smooth and tasty the soup is. As I am typing, I can still taste that balanced sweetness in my mouth. Oh, I am drooling too. I want another bowl.

Fabulous corn soup. Must try.

The next one is a simple bowl of salad. Nothing special. Raw vegetables with standard Japanese sesame dressing, but nevertheless nice enough, and I love it all the same. Again, this came with Omu-Rice set.

Small bowl of salad.

Then they placed this set of sauces on our table.

Sauces for Tonkatsu set.

Both of us were wondering what this is. Turns out, it is sauce for my Tonkatsu and that yellow one is some kind of Japanese mustard. They taste homemade, and yes, you need to try this!

Here comes the main!
This is Omu-Rice. And I am sure you've noticed that flower pattern going on in the brown sauce. The omelette also look oo-lala gorgeous. The omelette is flowy, curvy, just the right shade of yellow, yummy!

Omu-Rice. This Omu-Rice set costs $15.50.

That brown sauce is to-die-for. It is gently sour, well-balanced by a little salt. It does not overwhelms the taste of the omelette, unlike the sauces from some other restaurants. I always find that the other Japanese restaurants use supermarket mass manufactured one that is just way too sour. The best part of Ma Maison brown sauce, really, is that little work of art. Who would have thought that brown sauce can look like milk in latte?

And the egg, oh my, the egg. Speechless. It is fluffy, and not overly-seasoned till too salt.

Next up, Tonkatsu.

Gosh, you will find yourself slurping up this pork chop!

Juicy and soft Tonkatsu (pork chop) but with crispy skin and delicious homemade sauce, $19.50.

I say "slurping" because this is heavenly soft and juicy inside! The crust is crispy, not oily, and it tastes good too. You can eat this plain, or with those special homemade sauces I introduced earlier on, it will taste equally good.

You NEED to try this.

It is by far the best pork chop I've ever eaten.

And I think I have to show you the miso soup that comes with the Tonkatsu set too, because it is so enjoyable. This soup, is what I call, real-brewed. You know, like real-brewed tea? This is real-brew miso soup.

Miso soup that came with Tonkatsu set.

What I mean by real-brewed, is that this is cooked from real ingredients, so you actually get chunks of good soft meat inside, carrots, big pieces of seaweed, etc.

If you go to fast food style Japanese restaurants, they will serve you miso soup that comes out of a machine. Meaning to say, your miso soup comes from a premix packet, kind of like instant noodles, and all you need to do is pump boiling water in, to serve. The ingredients will be minimal, a little bit of tofu, a little bit of seaweed.

But this one by Ma Maison is different. You get what you think Miso Soup is.

And when you're serve high-quality real-brewed miso soup, you drink it up, to the last drop. Don't waste.

Japanese drink miso very often, and the miso and seaweed in the soup is part of what keeps them healthy. It is said that seaweed is so deep green and full of wonderful nutrients that a bit of seaweed beats one serving of your normal vegetables.

Dessert!
Last but not least, it is my Mont Blanc. This Mont Blanc is not the pen, it is a cake. =D

See that thick crust at the bottom? I love it!

Okay, I must be one of those slightly insane people who prefers biscuit to cream, but this is homemade! It is not your normal factory-made thin crust (that you get with most mass market cheesecakes).

Mont Blanc homemade dessert, $8.80.

Actually, this whole thing is homemade. And I love everything (particularly the biscuit), especially that funny fruit on top. I don't know what it is, but it is good.

The best part about this cake is that it is not overly sweet.

Everything at Ma Maison is just so well-balanced and gentle on your tongue.

Service
I did not run into any problems with the service, so I am giving it full marks. I really liked that they clear plates fast, it felt like they secretly keep an eye on you as you eat. And so, they were able to serve your next course right on time. I never had to raise my hand to ask, because everything was done automatically.

My Bill
$51.55. Great price tag! Both of us were amazed at how affordable this was, considering the standard of the food we got. Don't forget, we had dessert! It is way below what we expected, because we have done food trips at many other places that just aren't as good, and the bill always add up to some $70-$80 (it's crazy eating in Japanese restaurants in Singapore).

My take? 10/10.
I will go back again, just to try other things on the menu. And I also want to visit the other outlets because I heard that every Ma Maison outlet in Singapore has a different theme. This one that we visited has a Western theme, so the food is Japanese mixed with European style.

I definitely recommend it to others, perhaps for Mother's Day, Father's Day, anniversaries, and tourists! If you are don't have Ma Maison in your country, come here. It will be a convenient part of the tour if you have the Singapore River (boat cruise), and Clarke Quay night scene on your itinerary.

I would limit the number of people to 4-5, because this place really isn't big, and the tables aren't made to accommodate gatherings or parties. So I wouldn't recommend this for class reunions, unless of course, you reserve the whole restaurant. Read more "Ma Maison at The Central Clarke Quay..."

Tampopo Part II - The Side Dishes

I am slightly more satisfied with the side dishes in general, although there are some I really would not order again.

Light Cheese Chiffon Cake

This is an easy one to review. It is just as its name suggest. Light, a bit of cheese on top, no cheese taste in the cake, ultra holey and spongy = chiffon, and in the shape of a cake.

The crust was not crispy, and it didn't have resistance. I am not sure if chiffon cakes should have resistance, but the pandan cake that I can get from no name shops at the neighbourhood market has resistance, so I don't see why others shouldn't. What I mean is you bite the cake all the way down to something like 0.5cm, and feel a sort of stop because all that sponge packs up to a point, like when you squeeze a dish sponge, you can't squeeze it all down till 0.00001 mm right. Then you give a final bite, and it breaks.

Rating: 0/5
Have no idea what this is supposed to be. A creation to waste your money. I ordered because I saw that this only left one in the display refrigerator, while the others had more left. I know Hokkaido steam cakes are a delicacy, but light chiffon cake??? More like a modern creation.

Red Bean Green Tea Ice Cream

Ah, yes, this is good. I quite like to see the red bean in whole (even though I like prefer red bean to be slightly mashed because the best red bean desserts around all have slightly mashed beans, such as Toa Payoh ice kachang).

I like the way the red bean doesn't taste like sugar soaked, because it is unhealthy and also void of any bean taste. Well, if you had the misfortune of venturing so far as to eat the red bean glutinous rice ball green tea ice cream at Ramen Play, a spin-off of BreadTalk, you'd get what I mean by sugar soaked. If you haven't tried that, then thank your lucky stars, because it's not nice.

The green tea ice cream is very strong with green tea taste! I always say bringing out the matcha green tea taste is another culinary art. Green tea taste in green tea is already not easy to bring out, and lots of times, you will find that tea bag green teas are bland. Trying to make that taste into the main character and bloom is a challenge especially when Singaporeans are lovers of strong tastes, because it means you get your money worth and the ingredient is what we call 真才实料, real and truthful, not just out to make $$$.

The consistency of this ice cream is more Westernized, and closer to cream than ice. Japanese ice cream is actually more towards ice than cream. In fact, you'd find that most Japanese ice creams are close to 100% ice, like Azabu Sabo's. So this really depends on whether you're a purist or just want to eat ice cream.

I like both, and I think if want to make an ice cream, either you make it ice, or cream. If the quality is somewhere in between, then the review marks given will also only be somewhere in between. Yup, this is nice. I really don't mind going in to Tampopo and sit down with some friends for chit chat, just eating this. =)


Rating: 4.5/5
I think Haagen Dazs is still the best for cream green tea ice cream, so no full marks.

Pan-fried Gyoza

I ordered pan-fried because the waitress said it's better, even though they have deep fried, which is the latest.

I think this is okay. It passes, but okay. The juice doesn't squirts out, and it's kind of really, really tiny. The taste is quite nice.

Rating: 3/5
Eat if you die-die must have gyoza that day. But not a must-try. And it's tiny, so not worth it. You can get better ones at the same price nearby.

Salmon Sashimi Sushi

This looks very appealing. I think I can announce that gone are the days when you get tiny pieces of ingredients, especially salmon, like those at Sakae. I have been seeing more and more and more of sushi with size of ingredients like this and little rice (preferably in the range of 250 - 300 grains).

However, the salmon wasn't quite as fresh as I'd like it. I think Watami has the freshest seafood so far, and Itacho is above average too.

Also, the rice wasn't really vinergarized. And even if it was, it is not the sweet that should be. Try Itacho for this feeling.


Rating: 3/5
Okay. Again, no need to order unless you are craving for salmon sashimi.

Will I go back?

Maybe, merely for trying the rice dishes. However, there are too many Japanese restaurants in the Clarke Quay area that it is highly unlikely.

Will I recommend this place to people?

No. Despite the commendable service, and big space, I find it hard to give a reason to people to come here. It's like Yoshinoya. I tell my friends, go there during peak hour when you can't find seats no matter how, because it's always empty.

Overall Restaurant Rating: 5.5/10 Read more "Tampopo Part II - The Side Dishes..."

Tampopo Part I: The Ramen - Net voted best. Really the best?

The hunt for best ramen in Singapore continues with Tampopo, a must try since it's hungrygowhere's voted best thus far.

I was stunned to see the results, because I expected Ippudo at Mandarin Gallery to garner the most votes after reading Daniel's Blog, and having tried it myself. My own review of Ippudo on hungrygowhere.com is here. For a summary, yes, I find it overrated and no need for a queue, HOWEVER, I was very satisfied with the quality and taste of the food as I've rated.

My quest at Tampopo was really to find out if it is truly better or if the votes are unfairly swayed for whatever reason (maybe people just wanted to win the top prize from Standard Chartered Bank, or it could be internal voting for all we know).

Prior to my visit, I already had an inkling of what I would taste since there are truthful feedback on the post from ieatishootipost. I did not go with high expectations just to make sure I don't get disappointed the way I got with Ippudo, and thereby weeding out possible bias while making room for myself to be impressed. (Well, I rated their food very good despite the disappointment.)

Tampopo

Location

This place was easy to find as it is the Level 1 tenant at Liang Court, which is a mall famous for great food. The space is also overwhelmingly big and therefore has enough wall area of huge signs/posters.

Huge wall area.

Tampopo

Setting & Ambience

Being an enclosed ground floor space, this didn't have the location advantage to give a good view that Santouka has. It doesn't matters that much to me, since I believe there is a time and place for every setting.

First step into the restaurant gave me a slight wow due to the size and extreme spaciousness. Lighting is pretty much the same as many other Japanese restaurants, that dark room with hanging lights thing. I don't know why, but you'd find similar backdrops in Sushi Tei Ang Mo Kio branch, Ippudo, and Watami. Or perhaps, it's just a popular interior design right now... ...

Although so, I do like these dark settings because it makes the meal more romantic by eliminating your sense of time, and it somehow allows extremely good photos to be taken. You can really forget whether it's day or night in places like these. Trust me, especially if the food is good, you wouldn't want to leave.

Service

Service is very good throughout as they are obviously well-staffed. They have to be with a gigantic restaurant by today's standard, because of the space constraints and land pricing in Singapore.

They always make it a point to take note of me, gave me time to look through the menu, and came up at the right moment.

Table setting. Cup of hot tea served almost immediately.

Even while going about the daily chores, such as packing the chopsticks in the paper wrapper, the waitress mainly on duty made sure she sat in a position that she would not miss me if I looked up and signal.

Every dish was set down with an "enjoy your meal", and when I asked for takeaway, it was gladly done, and the waitress even asked if I wanted takeaway for my ramen even though I didn't ask for it. I appreciate the extra consideration, as good service is few and far between in modern day Singapore.

Rating: 4.75/5
I am taking away marks for not so authentic way, as in Japanese service, such as that you can find at Watami Singapore. But I was very much impressed, and this is probably one of the best you can find in mass market restaurants. Ippudo, being slightly more upmarket, doesn't even comes quite close.

Food

I ordered the "biggest" bowl of ramen on the menu, the Black Pig Ramen with Dragon Ball, which even has poster cards of it hanging from the ceiling as if you're in MacDonalds. LOL. A bit strange for a restaurant. But okay, I am not complaining since it does serves its purpose of giving new patrons like me an idea of what to order.

I was sufficiently curious about Dragon Ball to go for it although I did detect gimmick in it. Dragon Ball is my childhood favourite comic series, and it has also spun-off a movie by the Westerners! Furthermore, the movie is good! hahahaha.

I also ordered some things that I more often than not use as benchmarks for a Japanese restaurants, since Tampopo is not a dedicated ramen restaurant. And these items were Light Cheese Chiffon Cake, Red Bean Green Tea Ice Cream, Pan-fried Gyoza, and Salmon Sashimi Sushi.

I will start of with the ramen since that's what this post should be about. Although I will eventually evaluate Tampopo as a whole restaurant like I have done for all the previous posts. Do just keep your eye on the ramen if you are also on the search for best ramen.

Ramen

Dragon Ball
I tested the Dragon Ball first, since the bowl of ramen costs more if you choose to add this.

The ball is huge, like the size of a large egg, except round, or a good big scoop of Haagen Dazs ice cream. Good impression since it costs $1 more. Can't be paying for a quail egg size right, it's not fish roe or foie gras.

Taste is okay. It's not those super tasty pork some people might like. So if you are looking for pork taste, perhaps not this. However, based on the lack of fats and salt, I'd actually qualify this minced meat ball as good. Reason being, you are cheated if you are sold more than 50% fats. Even Bak Kut Teh lovers and Vinegar-ed Pig Leg lovers would agree that the meat needs to has meat rather than just bone coated with fats or fats in sour black sauce.

This entire issue of being sold fats deserves a separate post, which I will do as soon as possible.

Texture wise, the meat ball is also rather firm, okay, in fact very firm, yet highly breakable with your teeth. Not hard, just firm.

Overall, this is a good meat ball that for meat ball lovers, you might just want to try. You might also want to try if your quest is to look for the best meat ball in Singapore. Yet due to the lack of real taste, as in unique taste that can make your eyes gleam, I do not see the need for the mass market to pay for it. Based on this, I find the entire Dragon Ball and poster card on the ceiling a gimmick. Don't fall for it, since you wouldn't be missing out any great taste if your Black Pig Ramen comes without it.


Rating: 3.5/5
Marks given because I don't want to kill the person who in the kitchen who makes this, and on second thought, it does makes my photos of Black Pig Ramen quite a lot better. Added element. lol. Moreover, it was really just a dollar more, not like $2.50, which people would crazily pay for tiny macarons, yeah?

Soup
Okay, the disappointment kicks in from here. In the course of eating and taking picture of Dragon Ball, I accidentally tasted some soup, and my face changed immediately.

What would you say if a bowl of ramen tasted like instant noodles from any brand you can make at home?

I don't know about you, but I don't want to pay for overly-seasoned instant noodles!! I swear this tastes like what you get when you pour the whole packet of that seasoning in. Extremely salty as layerless.

I would definitely forgive the salt and give credit for layer in flavour like I did with Santouka, whose soup was salty but kept reminding me of miso, and made me take more scoops to find the secret. In culinary terms, the Chinese know it as 层次感. It is detectable when you put something into your mouth, first get an initial taste, then another, and another, and some main taste slowly creeps in, even leaving what is called an aftertaste at the back of your throat after swallowing, much like a good cup of kopi for the Chinese or fine wine and chocolate for the Westerners.

Rating: 0/5
Fails miserably, since I wouldn't even make the mistake of pouring in all the seasoning for my instant noodles. I can't stomach it.

Noodles
The noodle sealed the impression that this bowl of ramen is instant noodles.

It was not Q. It isn't bad. Not overly soaked and squishy or undercooked and hard. It breaks easily with a bite. But that's it. It doesn't have the resistance.

The reason why I emphasize so much on Q (spring or bounce) is because even people who make instant noodles for themselves to eat at home ask that of themselves.

The first time I came across this term was 5 years ago, when a friend reviewed to me that she can make the noodles Q by dipping it in cold water, hot water then cold water again, right after it has been cooked in the boiling water. So you see, if a normal person bothers to go through these steps to make instant noodles at home, what excuse does it gives restaurants? Unless of course, one claims that the cook doesn't knows of such thing as Q noodles.

Rating: 3/5
Good just bite and break noodles, but lack that bounce that I would like to be paying for. I have also given a little bit more marks since Tampopo is not a dedicated ramen restaurant.

Pork
I am glad to say that the pork did not disappoint. =)

I couldn't taste if this is really black pig or white pig or what, but the slices of pork I could scoop up from underneath was quite a lot, and every piece was delightfully soft and tender. This is an art that hawkers somehow fail to grasp.

Yet, the taste was lacking. Great texture and feel in the mouth, but there was no real pork taste or any unique seasoning taste. Just good feel pork. All I ask for is that I can at least tell it's pork rather than super tender piece of flour or something.


Rating: 3.8/5

Overall Ramen Rating: 2.55/5
Based on a pass and fail system that I used for commenting on ieatishootipost, I actually failed this, since everything fails from the purely ramen point of view. Like I wrote there, as a ramen, fail, as a bowl of instant noodles, barely pass. I have gotten over an initial disappointment (even though I came with not much expectations!), and use a rating system instead, which gives credit to things like the person cooking, how something would add looks to the dish etc. So I guess, this rating system goes in line with it being an extremely normal bowl of noodles which you can cook at home, rather than a contender for Top 10 ramen in Singapore.

I tried, and I cannot find a reason for those who haven't visited Tampopo to try their ramen. =( Considering the large variety of food in the much, much more accessible Orchard Belt, and a lot, a lot that are nice, I really don't want to make people run down to Liang Court for something that can be left to the last to try.

(To be continued... ...) Read more "Tampopo Part I: The Ramen - Net voted best. Really the best?..."

Santouka 山头火 Ramen - A Recommendation by ieatishootipost & gang

I have no idea why I am only blogging about ieatishootipost now, given that I have been reading it for a few years and also own a handful of blogs prior to this. Moreover, I always recommend my friends to read it if they really wanted to find something good to eat in Singapore, because that blog seriously only blogs about good food, and nothing else.

This time round, ieat has gone on the search for the best ramen in Singapore to list down the Top 10, and I, being a Japanese lover, just had to get into the fun and excitement of the search! Enjoying the adrenaline rush that builds up. =)

[Since History was my most-hated subject in school, after Literature, I shall not post much on beginnings and whatnot. Furthermore, I think the writeup on all food at ieatishootipost is already so perfect! Read Santouka on ieatishootipost here. I prefer to focus on the entirety of the restaurant, as we all know we are paying for it in cosmopolitan Singapore. Yes, so don't waste your $$$ on yucky food.]

Santouka 山头火 Ramen

Setting & Ambience

First step in Santouka was delightful with the wide-open view of Singapore river and very much unblocked blue sky, together soft sunlight setting in on the entire restaurant.

It's always nice seeing greenery and water during mealtimes.

The furniture is well-spaced despite the narrow and not very big place, unlike many Chinese restaurants which squeezes me up at too close a proximity to the next diner, for comfort, and no space to place my belongings.

The surroundings certainly goes into my book as a place that couples can have a good meal at.

However, the decoration is slightly sparse in contrast to glitzy restaurants like Ippudo and Watami. Perhaps not the first date, but yes for a regular hangout.

On a side note, there is a long line of cushioned sofas outside the restaurant, so that people may queue in comfort during peak hours. I really take my hat of that as most places would give you a row of single chairs, and strange ones like Ippudo give you a big waiting table to stand around at.

Rating: 4/5

Service

I was greeted nicely by a new staff, who very promptly brought me a jug of water, the menu and a basket to be placed on the floor and hold my bags.


I wanted to change seats for more lighting, and she gladly shifted everything to the next table. In the process, she was also well-aided by the more experienced staff, which was heart-warming, since I know that this kind of peer help do not exists in many restaurants.


Throughout, service was prompt, polite, and pleasant, with a lot of thank you as the cashier.

Rating: 4.5/5

Food

Menu

The menu is sparse in the sense that this is a dedicated ramen restaurant, so you do not get the dizzying array of sashimi, rice dishes and dessert, as you would as chains like Sakae, Sushi Tei or Watami.

All you see will be the different types of ramen.

Ramen - Toro Niku Kara (Spicy) Miso Ramen

As the title goes, I ordered the Toro Niku Kara (Spicy) Miso Ramen, as the pork cheeks are highly recommended by one of ieat's gang.

I put them all together and decorated it myself! hehe.

I didn't really like the way that you have to order the pork cheeks separately and then the noodles, as it ups the price this way. =(

The Pork Cheeks

The pork cheeks are good, such that I could finish them despite having eaten two other ramen meals right before visiting Santouka. Also, normally, no matter how great the taste is, I'd still control myself and don't eat so much fattening meat. So pork cheeks is one of the exceptions.

The serving is quite a lot, with 6 big pieces, and I only bite about 1/4 of the piece for each mouthful of noodles I take. So by the time it finishes, I ate enough noodles and drank enough soup to be very full.

The taste, though good, was a little bit disappointing, as it reminded me of Narcissus brand canned stew pork. I was a little surprised at the quite normal taste since I have eaten this from 20 years ago. It is a good taste, and I do not compromise on the taste of my canned stew pork. I only buy Narcissus. So yes, the pork cheeks tastes good, but not unique for me.

Besides that, I like the taste of pork neck in teppanyaki better than cheeks.

However, the texture and amount of fats (which is little and not visible, so is good grade meat) is definitely something you would not get outside Santouka. =) So yes, I do like the taste, and the meat as a whole.

As far as I know, on the mass market, Santouka is the only place that serves pork cheeks.

Supposedly, for maximum taste and best texture, you dip the cheek in the boiling hot soup and melt the interwoven fats, so that the cheeks would melt in your mouth. However, I enjoyed the plain version as much, so I basically soaked half in the soup and ate half plain.

Rating: 4/5

Soup

The soup is strong and tasty, and has that special slightly herb-y taste. It was so refreshing that I drank 1/3 the bowl until I finally figured out the secret behind that great taste.

It is miso, as I ordered of course! haha, but I sort of forgotten because I was taken aback by the shot of eye-gleaming (which is a grade lower than eye-PoPpInG. hahaha.) curry-lookalike soup.

It is on the salty side and I would advise not to drink it, since Japanese also do not usually drink ramen soup. They use it as flavouring for the noodles and ingredients.

See! Got sesame one! Cute.

Also, I need to point out that I felt very thirsty after that, and so it could be an overdose of MSG.

The part that wasn't satisfying for me is the apparent lack of spiciness despite the menu calling it spicy. I take that as failure to do as promised, which I feel is very important for products.

If you are looking for the same taste of soup (in fact, I think better), Beppu Japanese Noodles at Tiong Bahru Plaza is better. I drank up every drop, and if you choose spicy, it is really spicy. However, the meat and noodles are definitely no match for Santouka (which is also expectedly more expensive). =)

Rating: 4.5/5

Noodles

Yes, the noodles pass the QQ-test. =)

I would set this as the minimum pass benchmark for Q ramen, and I'd expect all ramen joints/chains/restaurants to produce this grade of standard round and long noodles.

Rating: 4/5

Drink

The green tea here is good, because you get a whole boiling teapot to yourself with the tea bag. I guess that means no free flow. But the two cups that the one pot poured was more than enough for me.

Side - Egg

The half-cooked hard-boiled egg is good too, with very flowy yolk, which can be a bit messy if held slantedly. I'd prefer slightly more cooked yolk, and slightly less salty, yet more flavourful egg though.

For egg only, I recommend O-An Japanese Restaurant, which I will blog about in later posts.


Rating: 4/5

Price/ Value-for-money

The normal ramen are reasonably priced at around $14 before service charge. However, the pork cheeks really ups the ante quite a bit. So I am posting to psychological prep anyone who needs it.

1 Japanese Tea $2
1 Toro Niku Kara (Spicy) Miso Ramen $20.50
1 Komi-Tamago (Half-cooked Hard-boiled Japanese style ramen egg)
10% Svc Charge $2.35
7% GST $1.81
Total $27.65

I find it a tad expensive, as this is not a 5/5 dish for me. However, this is the best bowl of ramen for holydrummer of ieat makan buddies. So, go try. It is good, and probably wouldn't garner complains.

Rating: 4.8/5

Would I go back?

Yes, to try the other styles. But I am not in love, and so maybe not so soon. I do not really find the cheeks die-die must eat, and I must have it again. But I feel, yes, they are must-tries in your life. And once in a while. =)

Would I recommend?
Yes, but no need to rush, no need to make special trips. For the next time the girlfriend complains nothing to eat since the location is quite central, or a friend reunion, yes. =)


Overall rating: 8/10

RAMEN SANTOUKA
6 Eu Tong Sen St S'pore 059817
#02-76 The Central
Tel 62240668


Walking Directions:
From Clark Quay MRT Station, turn left on exiting the barricades, and left again to the exit saying "To Central" (besides the flight of 90 steps staircase). Seeing Subway at the end of the escalators, turn to Azabu Sabo's side, take the one level escalator to 2nd floor, you should see lots of banners and Japanese words already. Walk all the way pass Manhatten Fish Market and Billy Bombers, it's the tiny shop at the end! =)

PS: Quite sad that the pictures are not very good for this. Sat at the wrong place. I actually feel like going back for better pictures that will do Santouka justice. So tired after long walks that day. haha, just felt like pouncing on the food due to the recommendation. Read more "Santouka 山头火 Ramen - A Recommendation by ieatishootipost & gang..."