OK, regulars of Tampopo will recognise the ramen pictures immediately. This place has earned mixed reviews, so I haven't made any concerted effort to come here. Only ended up here today because I was nearby at Fort Canning after hubby's rock band performance at the Art Market.
I notice that Tampopo has dropped the "Jyangara" name from its Kyushu pork bone ramen. It has no relation whatsoever to the famous Tokyo Kyushu Jyangara ramen (which is out of its league by far). My bowl came with one and a half pieces of chasyu, some small, frilly wood ear fungus, a dollop of mentaiko and chopped spring onions. Oh, and a whole undercooked egg, still runny on the inside. I know that's how it's meant to be and many people like it this way, but not me. I hate soft-boiled eggs. Much prefer them boiled to death (that dreaded grey ring around the yolk? I like that too!). Poor egg, I pretty much left it uneaten.
Oh the ramen itself? Well, hmm, it tasted sorta "safe". Noodles a tad too soft but the soup was savoury enough (with pork bones purportedly boiled for two days to extract maximum flavour). However, I just vaguely recall having better tonkotsu ramen from an instant packet (Sapporo Ichiban banzai!!!). There, that's the one, on the right.
Hubby had the spicy Kurobuta (black pig, literally) shabu shabu ramen. I did try to subtly talk him out of it but he just wanted something SPICY! OK, fine, we took a gamble. Plus, this would be our first encounter with the infamous black pig (hubby wished the Japanese didn't give the Berkshire pig such an undesirable name).
Turns out the ramen wasn't really spicy, despite its looks. It came with lots of lettuce and bamboo shoots (fortunately edible versions, unlike the Miharu ones!). I took a slurp of the soup - hmmm, a strong porky taste! Hubby thought it was worse than Ajisen (oh my!). But the biggest shocker was that the Kurobuta slices just looked like the fattiest bacon ever! OMG. We could not eat that!
Well, that's it for ramen at Tampopo. If I ever do come back, I would try the other dishes instead - there's a sakura ebi chahan that looks quite nice. And there's still the Tomton shio tonkatsu that looks so crispy and enticing.
TAMPOPO
177 River Valley Road
#B1-50 Liang Court Shopping Centre
Tel: 6338-3186
Open 11.30am to 10pm daily.
Hi, can I have more information on the "better tonkotsu ramen from an instant packet (Sapporo Ichiban)", where do I get this and how much? I live at River Valley, hopefully this is a common item.
ReplyDeleteOh you can get this packet noodle from most normal supermarkets like Cold Storage. I'm sure Meidi-Ya will have some too. If I can, I'll take a picture of it sometime and post it up here. The Shio ramen flavour is not bad too. Cost is about $8-ish for pack of five.
ReplyDeleteWow, I would love to try that. I have fractured my jaw and have been on soft foods for weeks (mostly porridge and mee sua and noodles)..so if you can email me any details would be great like brand, colour? I live opposite a small cold storage. I'll try to check back here but not sure if I'll lose track of old posts after awhile.
ReplyDeletecin@amoopoint.com
hey just wondering if you ever did get down to taking a pic of the instant ramen? heh am on a ramen craze now, just bought a packet from meidi-ya but not sure if its the right one. does it say tonkotsu in big font on the front?
ReplyDeleteHi annanana, I've updated the post with pic of Sapporo Ichiban tonkotsu ramen. Yes, it has the word "tonkotsu" boldly in black on the front. You probably got the right one!
ReplyDelete