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Have heard about the long queue at the outlet at Central so was quite curious to try and new outlet at Cuppage. Having the 1-4-1 coupon from 8Days helped of course.
They don't take reservations so had to leave my name at 7pm on a weekday evening for an indoor seating. Small seating as well so the place fills up quite quickly.
Tonkusen Toroniku ($16.80) - this came with 3 choices of soup base: shio (salt), miso, or spicy. I picked the shio after reading up prior to my visit and found it very nicely balanced, with just the right amount of fragrant but not overbearing milky porky broth. Didnt taste like there was an overkill of salt as well.
The ramen itself was a bit thinner than most but had the right amount of spring in it and thankfully not overcooked.
The supposedly highlight of the dish was the pork cheeks which came on a side plate, as with all the garnishes. Clever of them. It was the first time I had pork cheeks and my first piece tasted wonderfully tender and rich. But the salt quantum and fatty bits took a toll on me a few pieces later, with me carefully scrapping off the fats for the last few and ultimately not finishing it.
I had a taste of the spicy base also, which I thought was quite good as it had the fragrance of the bean paste. Nice.
Despite the pork cheeks being overly salty, I will still pick this over Ippudo in general. Better soup and better ramen :D
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Tried Santouka finally (after all the rave reviews). I'm quite a big ramen fan, and these ramen speciality restaurants are a must-try for me. I got myself the highly recommended Tokusen Toroniku (Choice Pork) Ramen ($18 ). It's the speciality dish here - roasted pork cheeks which are tender and bursting with flavour and melt in the mouth. According to the menu, pork cheeks are really valuable since only 200-300 g of cheek meat per pig.
The ramen base comes in 4 different flavours: Shio (salt flavour), shoyu (soy sauce), Miso (soybean paste flavour) and kara-miso (spicy soybean paste flavour). I tried the miso flavour, it's not too salty, very milky and robust and incredibly satisfying.
The ramen comes in 3 sizes, for a smaller bowl you take $1 off the menu price, and add $2 for a large bowl. Small on the left and regular on the right of the 3rd picture. I ate the normal size one - it's pretty filling because of all the soup.
Though I really like the 9 nuts (or was it 7?) ramen from Marutama, I think this will be a better place to bring a group of people who might not want to eat ramen to cos they have a wider selection of ramen and there are other rice choices besides ramen.
The restaurant is brightly lit and overlooks the Singapore River. Cold water is provided in abundance - a huge jug of it is left at your table for your convenience.The restaurant also provides a pecial basket from Japan to place your bags in. Seating area is rather small so do call in advance if you're going to bring a group of people.
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Heard many good things about Santouka or らーめん 山頭火 since its opening at Central a couple of months back so popped by for dinner one weekend. Santouka originates from Hokkaido and has a chain of about 50 stores in Japan. Their shio (salted) ramen has been praised by many as one of the best around.
Hidden in an obscure corner of Central just behind Grains, Santouka occupies a small dining area which overlooks Clarke Quay and the river. Sitting capacity probably peaks at about 30 pax so queues are a common sight. Just for the record, I had to wait for a good 25 mins for a table at 745pm on a Saturday evening.
Char Siew Rice Shio - This came as a set consisting of char siew rice, char siew ramen (shio) and an egg. Honestly, the ramen looked like instant noodles to me but thankfully, it tasted a whole lot better - springy and light. The milky pork base broth was rather rich and intense in flavour and had a very distinctive pork taste. Not that its really a good thing though because it made me nauseous after a while. The char siew slices were a little too soft for my liking and it didn't help that they were salty.
The char siew rice was average, but at least the rice helped to neutralise the saltiness of the char siew. As for the egg, I've never eaten such stuff before but I didn't quite take to it as the texture of the egg white was a little jelly like, which turned me off.
Toro Niku Shio Ramen - Toro Niku is precious cheek meat from a pig and is said to have the right amount of fat and tenderness. I agree to a certain extent. Right amount of fat, yes. Tenderness, a little too tender if you ask me. And it was plain salty which made me uneasy after a while. It definitely didn't help that the broth was rich. Salty and milky equals a recipe for nausea, for me at least. As with the char siew shio ramen, the ramen itself was springy and light.
Tokusen Toroniku - This was a side order of the beef cheek, which did seem like a mistake after all. A little too tender and salty, just like the ones that came with the Toro Niku Shio Ramen. And $8 for 6 slices of meat isn't exactly value for money honestly.
Dinner for 2 came up to a nice round figure of $50 and we walked out feeling nauseous. That's too much milky and salty stuff for you. In all fairness, the ramen was actually very decent but I still prefer Tampopo's rendition, if anything, for the pork. For me, once is enough. I really don't fancy queuing up for 30 mins just to have a go at Santouka again.
See all my pictures here.
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Ever since Marutama entered the ramen scene, there hadn’t been a new entrant that created such a wave of euphoria as one like Ramen Santouka. Touted as the 1st place winner in the most delicious ramen noodle salt-flavoured soup category by the popular magazine “Hokkaido Walker” in the year 2006, this place is also famous for its house speciality of Tokusen Toroniku, or Choice Pork that is said to be limited to 60 servings per day! This is because only 200 to 300 grams of this highly coveted pork cheek, known for its taste and tenderness, can be found per pig.
After hearing so much rave reviews of this place, my cousin and I set off for dinner at The Central. Finding this outlet is a little tricky – hidden away in the corner of 2nd floor, one would need to cut through Grains, which occupy both sides of the passageway to get to it. What greeted us was a nice frontage that grants one a view of the Singapore River, but inside was a pretty small outlet that I suspect, sit not more than 20 pax.
Beside their award winning Shio, or Salt Flavoured Ramen, Ramen Santouka also offers Shoyu, or Soy Sauce Flavoured Ramen and Miso, Soybean Paste Flavoured Ramen, along with Kara-Miso, or spicy version of the Miso. We pick the Shoyu and Miso ($12.00 each), along with sides of Tokusen Toroniku ($8.00), Gyoza ($5.00) and Komi-Tamago, or Flavoured Egg ($1.00). The Choice Pork was the first to arrive and I was surprise by its tenderness despite the lacked of marbling fats. This result in a texture that provides one with a bite before the meat disintegrates into the mouth. However, Marutama’s Char Siu is still the one to beat in terms of tenderness IMHO.
The Flavoured Egg was next to arrived and to say I was disappointed was an understatement. In fact it was done so badly that ‘disgust’ would be a better word to describe it. The yolk was way too overcooked till the side has hardened, and there was hardly any flavour on the white. It was so bad that I did not even finished it and definitely not even worth the dollar I have paid for it.
The Ramen was served next and the first remark my cousin made was “Oh, certainly looks like Maggie Mee to me”. The noodle was fat and curly, similar to Miharu, though texture wise a tad rougher. My bet on why people are coming back lies on the milky Tonkotsu soup based. However, before one complains that the soup does not come piping hot enough, be made known that it is intentionally done so that elderly and child can enjoy it better and reassured that it is also within this temperature that their soup is most delicious. The soup was so rich and intense, that I rate it slightly better than Ichiban-Tei, but too much of it and one might find it greasy. Both of us agree that the Shoyu was also slightly better than the Miso.
The Gyoza eventually arrived after a wait but it was nothing to shout about. Not that it was bad, but nothing noteworthy to mention really.
Overall, my preference is still Marutama on the 3rd level, despite its not so intense soup. The only reason I can see why I should be back is to sample the award winning Shio version, otherwise it would not merit a re-visit especially after the explicitly outrageous experience of its Tamago.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
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