Sunday, October 18, 2009
Food Blog: Ion Greatness
Previously, I have mentioned that Ion's basement is a food heaven. They serve yummy Japanese food and munchers. This time round, I had bought my trusty LX2 out with me, so I managed to snap pictures before the food was sent down to my tummy fast and furiously!
Ramen first. It was my second time there, so had a change of taste. The noodles was al dente, soup was fabulous, just that the charsiew and tamago needs some improvements. The charsiews aint that amazing yet, the standards kinda flucuats; soft on some, hard on the others.
Simple menu
Green tea with lotsa powder residue at the bottom of the cup
Hokkaido Kaiko Ramen
Notice the ramen was served with xiaobaicai rather than cabbages, or bamboo shoots like the other ramens I've eaten before. So it was kinda eye-opening. I think for a bowl of good ramen, the soup base and the noodles are the most important ingredients. heh
Their soup base comes in white miso (original) or red miso (chilli) or soy sauce (shoyu). Tried the spicy ramen twice with white miso and red miso. Just that the red miso tasted extremely hot with the spicy soup base. It was a challenge to finish it yet it tasted so god-like =P
Next on, takoyaki. heh. Long and snaky queues can always be seen. The balls are good, crispy on the inside, fillings are filled to the maximum in the inside. Sinfully good~ hahah
There're a few more yummylicious food which I've tried there. Show it to you guys again when I took photos of it =P
Labels: Food - Japanese, Ion, Ramen, Takoyaki
11:04 PM
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Food blog: Yoshimaru Ramen Bar
I was pretty excited when I heard another ramen shop from Japan had set up an outlet here in Singapore, Holland Village, especially since they specialised in tonkotsu. We din purposedly went down to try but was there to get breads from Provence and saw that, so must as well gave it a try.
Apparently, Yoshimaru originates from Hakata, Kyushu, and Hakata Ramen is a distinctive ultra thin ramen served in a rich tonkotsu (pork bones) broth. Their menu is not as extensive as some of the bigger Ramen chains but focused, so it is easy to decide what to go for. A full array of condiments was at one's disposal. They served mini burgers too.
We had an order of Traditional Hakata Ramen, Shabu Shabu Pork Ramen and gyoza.
When the shabu shabu pork ramen was served, we got a tad disappointed as it doesnt look ramen-ish, more of chinese noodles. On having a mouthful of the broth, it tasted very pepperish and something like pig's stomach soup, totally off from what I had before :(
Furthermore, the noodles isnt al dente even though it's thin. I think the standard is around Aijisen's, on par or below. For their info, shabu shabu pork ought to be thinly sliced that could easily tear by the teeth. The pork slices here were terribly sliced in portions and were lumped together, which was so hard to consume and worst of all, it had the horrible pork smell. YIKES!
Shabu Shabu Pork Ramen ($13)
We made a complaint by showing the above picture to the waitress and the chef saw it too. Next was my Traditional Hakata Ramen. The broth was thick and incredibly rich on the first mouth. Subsequently, it seemed to alright but definitely not the best. However, the 2 slices of char siew was miserably small and it didnt melt in my mouth. It was quite hard and there's a smell. Total NIGHTMARE!
Traditional Hakata Ramen ($11)
On a lighter note, the most commendable one was the egg. It was perfectly done with its glorious still-runny yolk!! Moreover, it tasted flavoursome with the light sauce entangled in it. If eaten alone, it will be quite salty.
For the gyoza, it was surprisingly limp! Not crispy, not juicy and small in size!!
Thus, this ramen bar ishighly not recommended. Firstly, I dunno if they are authentic, with all the ATs cooking and serving. Secondly, they dun have the atmosphere even though they have the counter seats and keep on blasting Ayumi's concert dvd -_- Lastly and most importantly, they serve horrible ramen. This is the worst ramen I've eaten so far. I think Aijisen though quite bad still taste better?
Whoever (A number) commented on the forum, saying that this ramen restaurant is quite good ought to be shot. tsssssk. Or probably, together with my partner, we have higher expectations. heh
All photos taken with my dying K800i, it's a phone, not camera because my beloved camera is lying somewhere in Admiratly for almost two weeks! heh
Sidetrack:
Manu damn lousy nowadays. Cant really score, cant defend for nuts. Watching them playing is like having my heart in my mouth. Idk what happened to them ever since the trashing by the Reds. Anyway, Macheda seems to be a lucky substitute. Hope they will keep the lead and also win Porto this coming weekday UCL match
Sidetrack again. hmm. These 2 weeks was peacefully GREAT! Yet time waits for no man, good times ended especially fast. Gotta get back to reality and do what I'm supposed to do. Then again, I still can indulge in this wonderful addiction. hahah. Me ish greedy! lol
Labels: Food - Japanese, Holland V, Provence, Ramen
2:05 AM
