Ramen
There was a recent article in the Straits Times which got my dad up and about, taking us to every other location in the article in our weekly ramen hunt. It lists the restaurants in no particular order of merit but I'll be kind and break it down for you. Its generally accepted that the best Japanese food comes from Japan. Still, you'd be surprised to find there's actually pretty good ramen in Singapore. The tendency is for me to see more Japanese than locals eating at the two places I'm mentioning, which are the pick of the bunch for me.
If you want super simple and accessible ramen which you'll keep going back to, its none other than Ohsho @ Cuppage Plaza. Tucked away in a blink and you'll miss corner, its packed all the time and the only ramen you have to try before you die is their tamago ramen. The stock is deceivingly simple yet delicious and its the main reason why you'll be smacking your lips when your bowl is empty and panging for more. I'd recommend not eating the egg until they've warmed in the stock. Resist any temptation to order anything with chilli or miso in it. Don't think for an instant that its more flavourful that way. It just covers the real taste of the soup. You're not getting bang for your buck that way. Some things are meant to be simple. Tamago or no go. At $10... this is the best value ramen and fabulous to experience on a consistent basis. Their location in Orchard just makes them all the more compelling.
If you want to spend a few more bucks, then hop over to Liang Court and dig into the ramen at Tampopo. If you didn't know, Tampopo is this Japanese movie about ramen. I remember watching it as a wide eyed 12 year old as the male and female leads exchanged an egg yolk in their mouths. Anyway, the main draw here is the black pig, or berkshire pork, ultra thin slices of char siew that seem to melt into the soup if you leave them there. In this case, I highly recommend ordering an extra order of char siew. Disregard foolish health concerns about fatty pork for a few seconds. Your tongue will thank you. At $13.80 a bowl, its pricier but with extras like roe going on top of the excellent noodles and soup, its still worth experiencing at least once. Their stock only pales very very marginally to Ohsho's but the overall package takes them over the edge for me.
I'm pretty certain I will never set foot in any old chain ramen store again.
*Update 5th Aug 2006! Somehow I got mixed up with the Tampopo ramen. The first time I went down, I actually ordered their Kyushu ramen as they ran out of the black pig shabu shabu pork. I went there again just a day ago and ordered the black pig shabu shabu ramen. This one comes with a chillified soup. The pork is even more melty and its great but I really prefer the Kyushu ramen.
