Ippudo Ramen: The BEST ramen I ever had!

A piping hot bowl of tonkotsu ramen is my absolute comfort food! There are so many good ramen places in Singapore, but Ippudo Ramen is indubitably the best ramen i have tasted in recent years! 

Ippudo is a Japanese Ramen chain which has gained recognition as the best ramen in Singapore. It was founded in 1985 in Japan’s ramen capital of Hakata. There are currently 4 outlets in Singapore; Mandarin Gallery, Mohamed Sultan, Asia Square Tower 2 and Westgate. I have heard from friends that the queue at Mandarin Gallery is crazy! 

Picture credit to calvinteo.blogspot.com

I patronized the outlet at Westgate and to my delight, the queue was relatively short despite visiting at dinner time. My friend and I was in the queue for about 20 minutes. I have to commend on their service as we were promptly given the menu to browse on and were constantly updated with the waiting time. 

As the both of us were starving, we waste no time to place our order the minute we were seated down. We ordered two bowls of ramen, the Shiromaru Motoaji and Akamaru Shinaji with tamago (Japanese braised egg). We were able to choose the texture of our noodles, both of us went with the medium done noodles.

Did you know the staff at Ippudo has to arrange the chopsticks in a specific manner?

The walls of the restaurant was lined up with ramen bowl.

We waited for about 5 minutes before the ramen arrived. To be honest, the entire time we were waiting, I could smell the bowl of ramen from the table next to me. I was eyeing his bowl of ramen for so long! Thank god our ramen came just in time!

Looking at the picture now, i can still taste the delicious broth in my mouth.

Shiromaru Tamago

I had the Shiromaru Tamago! It is Ippudo's classic range of ramen with thin noodles, bara chashu (pork belly), cabbage, kikurage (black fungus), spring onions and a flavoured egg.

I kid you not, this bowl of ramen packs a punch. The tonkotsu broth is extremely flavourful but not too rich! I have had ramen before with really thick broth that makes you sick, but this is not too thick at all! Just the way I like my soup to be. 

The tonkotsu broth, when paired with spring onions, complements each other so well. It is savoury, creamy and oh so yummy! After I took this picture, i added in some sesame seeds and chilli powder to bring the soup to another level. It tastes even better! The soup is so addictive i even finished it to the last drop!

Now on to the noodles, we ordered medium doneness for our noodles. How strange, but it reminded me of how i order steak! The noodles turned out perfectly al dente and springy. The noodles they serve here are much thinner than the usual ramen places. The noodles is so good even on its own!

The best part of the ramen has to be the chashu, i have never ever had chashu slices that were this tender and well seasoned. Let me repeat, I NEVER EVER had chashu slices this incredible! It's such a pity that there were only two slices in the dish, i could easily finish 10 or more! The fat to meat ratio on the chashu is perfect. I would come back just to eat the chashu again.

I love my ramen with cabbage! The small pieces of cabbage gives the ramen more layers and adds a new texture! I approve!

Do not be alarmed, this is not any weird Asian delicacy, it is just cooked black fungus! I usually prefer my black fungus to be more soggy, however this has a good crunch. My favourite black fungus would still be at Keisuke Tonkotsu King.

Last but not least, the much anticipated braised egg! To be honest, i'm not a big fan of the egg here. The egg was slightly overcooked and did not have the characteristic of Japanese soft boiled egg at all. Nonetheless, it is still delectable and tasted very much like an ... egg.

If you are considering Ippudo for your next meal, do try the Shiromaru Motoaj!

Akamaru Tamago

Ippudo ramen's modern creation, the Akamaru Shinaji ramen! Akamaru Shinaji is enhanced with a special-blended miso paste that transforms the tonkotsu broth to a pleasant and savoury soup. It is served with fragrant garlic oil which adds a garlicky taste to the ramen. 

The soup turned to a nice brown colour as you mix the ingredients together. This bowl of ramen is distinctly different from Shiromaru Motoaji. It has a much more complex flavour and is much more salty as compared to the original broth. 

For two pax, we spent about $18 each. We did not order any appetizer or side dishes as we wanted to savour the authentic taste of the ramen. For this price, I would say it is definitely very worth it! I already cannot wait for my next visit to Ippudo!

Overall, I strongly recommend others to try the ramen over here at Ippudo. I hereby announce that Ippudo is now my favourite ramen in Singapore! An exceptional bowl of ramen do not need a lot of fancy ingredients. A robust broth, al dente noodles and great pieces of chashu would bring it up a notch!

Yes, the soup is really that satisfying.