Matsuri Ramen: A celebration of good, light tastes

Intro:

Despite the prevalence of pork broths here, I’ve always had a soft spot for chicken-based Ramen, created by the now-defunct Gensuke’s unforgettable take on it, along with my grandmother’s home-made chicken soup. At that point in time (mid-2012), Singapore was just not ready for anything other than Tonkotsu Ramen, which caused Gensuke’s mournful departure from Ramen Champion. Two stores serving chicken Ramen have popped up since then, one being Matsuri Ramen and the other being Keisuke’s Tori King, of which I will be reviewing the former today.

Matsuri Ramen's cosy interior

To rehash a little on the nature of the chickens used at Matsuri Ramen (you can read more here), they are of the Sakura variety, which are reared using more humane methods and are supposedly healthier by extension (and more expensive, doubtless). While I’m not entirely convinced by the touted health benefits of Sakura chicken, I definitely welcome the presence of another joint serving chicken Ramen.

Ambience:

Even the entrance to the toilet feels welcoming

Like all Ramen stores, Matsuri Ramen has the obligatory Japanese decorations around its store, along with the every-bit-as-obligatory Japanese music playing over the speakers. Unlike the gargantuan proportions of Ramen Champion though, Matsuri Ramen probably has a maximum seating capacity of 18 people in its store, although there is outside seating available as well. This evokes a sense of homeliness, which is compounded by the all-Japanese staff, consisting of all of 3 men. In fact, as I had my meal, I witnessed a friendly conversation in Japanese between a staff member and a customer. 

Besides this, we did receive rather efficient and friendly service from all the staff in general, highlighting that the above-mentioned incident wasn’t just a countryman-specific one-off. The overall willingness of the staff to interact with their customers and their attentiveness to them is much appreciated and makes diners feel welcome, which is unfortunately lost in most of the more commercialised Ramen joints here.

Quality and Taste:

The menu, with other options as well. Pork broth menu not shown

Sakura Chicken with Spring Onion Sauce ($7.00, free of charge via J Passport until 27th June)
This dish was served chilled, which provided a refreshing contrast from my Ramen (more on that later). It doesn’t look like a particularly big portion, but this is attributed more to the generous serving of spring onions covering it, and was substantial enough for my girlfriend and me.  In general, the chicken was well-marinated, veering a little on the salty side, although this wasn’t enough to be overwhelming.

Despite its title stating the sauce to be spring onion, it probably isn’t composed of that alone, as I could taste prominent hints of ginger too. The combined effects of these two flavours, along with the cool temperature of the dish, resulted in it being a sheer delight to eat while enjoying the Ramen.

(On a side note and as a point for comparison, this really reminded me of the wine chicken served by dimsum restaurants.)

Rich Soup with Tamago ($13.90)

Unlike the hard-hitting heaviness of pork-based broths, the chicken broth used here relied more on subtlety, with its herb-like undertones and spring onions creating a sweet fragrance. The flavour of chicken was unsurprisingly apparent too, though I did feel that even when taking chicken’s naturally lighter flavour into account, it remained just a bit too light for my liking.

Rich Soup with Tamago ($13.90)

The noodles were unusually curly, almost maggimee-esque, which I suppose is for the purpose of having more soup cling on to it, given the broth’s lighter nature. However, I felt like they were a little overcooked as they didn’t really provide much resistance to the bite.

A poster set meal at Matsuri Ramen

I found the chicken chashu rather unremarkable, which was a letdown considering its grilled exterior. Don’t get me wrong, the texture was done alright, it’s just that it was lacking a little in flavour, and I much prefer the chicken in spring onion sauce.

The promising grilled chicken chashu skin

The flavoured egg was one area in which they could have gotten away with an infusion of strong flavour but didn’t, rendering it quite a disappointment. Despite the yolk being done pretty well, I really feel that the chefs could have seasoned it more to make it stand out against the rest of the light ingredients.

Value:

I really like the fact that the prices shown on the menu are net prices, in which case the Ramen is cheaper than the industry’s average price, and which also subverts my expectations that Mozart-listening chickens would cost the consumer more. The price of $13.90 for the Ramen feels about right, although I have some gripes with the misnomer “Rich Soup”. As for the side dish, I felt that it was a fantastic promotion, but its usual price is on the pricey side, especially given its portion.

Overall:

As a whole, Matsuri Ramen does deliver on its promise of being a healthier version of Ramen, and I didn’t end the meal feeling bloated like I would when eating Bario, for instance. It serves a refreshing take on Ramen, one which I do appreciate. It’s clearly a small operation, which I feel gives it a certain kind of homely, old-school charm. Matsuri Ramen isn’t helped by its less accessible location, which is about 250m from Clarke Quay MRT, and most Singaporeans wouldn’t be accustomed to its chicken broth. Still, I hope that it isn’t overlooked because of these, as it is a nice change-up from oily pork broths and a welcome addition to Singapore’s Ramen scene.

Kitchen staff hard at work

FOODIE’S RATING
Quality & Taste(75%)	7.0	Healthy isn't bland by any means
Value (15%)	7.3	Low net prices are much appreciated
Ambience & others (10%)	7.7	Cosy, unpretentious atmosphere
Total	7.1	A solid 7, not just for the health-conscious

Address:

7 North Canal Road (along a stretch of shophouses between Raffles Place MRT and Clarke Quay MRT, although Clarke Quay is nearer)

Opening Hours:

Mondays to Saturdays: 11:30am to 3pm, 6pm to 10pm

Closed on Sundays and public holidays

Nantsuttei - Ramen's Black Gold

By Mark

Intro:

Nantsuttei is a highly popular standalone Ramen shop that's worth a visit (or several). While its uses the ever-popular tonkotsu broth, it differentiates itself from the rest with its potent addition of mayu (fried garlic oil), making it an extremely memorable bowl of ramen.

Ambience:

While I'm not as idealistic to believe that the repeated exclamations of Japanese welcome's and thank you's in Ramen shops are out of spontaneity, Nantsuttei's staff appear to adhere to a rather rigid regime of phrase-chanting (ie one waitress would shout a phrase out and the kitchen staff would complete it for her simaultaneously). Yes, it is supposed to add to the authenticity of the eatery, and I'm certainly not ignorantly complaining about the noise it creates, but my issue is with the management-dictated feel of it, instead of it being something more spontaneous. Apart from the above-mentioned point, I suppose it could be put down to the staff's lack of enthusiasm as well. It's not like they don't put in effort -they do, and in fact, shout the phrases at the top of their voices, and there's absolutely no faulting them there. I just get the feeling that like mindless soldiers, the staff are merely implementing orders to the best of their ability, instead of doing this because they enjoy being here. Smiles betray sincerity, and I didn't spot a single one on the staff's face. Take a look at Starbucks -while I'm critical of its prostituting cafes, the staff there have been sufficiently inculcated into its culture to genuinely feel a sense of belonging, however misplaced that may be. That sense of family, I believe, is what's sorely missing here.

The store's entrance, where you'd usually see hordes of people queuing

With its Japanese-inspired décor on its interior and exterior, and its rather limited seating capacity, Nantsuttei's the kind of shop that I wouldn't be surprised to see occupying a corner space by the roadside, meaning by extension that it looks slightly out of place in the modern, glitzy Millenia Walk. Like a corner shop though, it enjoys long, snaking queues, especially on weekends, outdoing its neighbouring rival, Keisuke Tokyo.

Its interior décor features a lot of Japanese calligraphy and a couple of articles about its founder. It felt to me like the calligraphy was posted there just to occupy wall space and prevent the place from looking too dull, but then again, I know next to nothing about the language and architecture, so I'm not in much of a position to comment, except from a hungry customer's viewpoint.

At this juncture, I should add that my S.O. and I were once kept waiting for 30 minutes while a large segment of the restaurant was unoccupied, save for a few typically anti-social diners wasting time away on their handphones while waiting for the rest of their dinner group to arrive. That's a truly horrible feeling to have, and I'd place the blame entirely on the shop's management. It's just plain inefficient to seat people without having the entire group present, especially in a shop of this size, and is something that wouldn't be seen happening in any of Keisuke's outlets (they have an all-diners-present policy implemented specifically to prevent such idiocy). I'd have left, if not for my love of the amazing ramen here, which brings me nicely to the food itself.

Bar seating, giving you a nice view of the preparation of your ramen

Food:

Gyoza ($6.00)

Departing from my standard practice of reviewing an eatery's ramen only, we had gyoza as well this time round. At first sight, the gyoza's burnt areas led me to suspect that it was either frozen  instead of being made fresh, or the work of a gorilla left unsupervised in the kitchen. The former suspicions were unsurprisingly confirmed after taking a bite of it. While juicy, the gyoza was clearly underdone and didn't contain much in the way of fillings, which in itself was unremarkable. The individual pieces of gyoza were also stuck together, thereby eliminating the gorilla chef theory and making me undeniably certain that it was far from fresh.

Look at the burnt bits and the stuck-togetherness. Not very appetising

Ramen with Ajitsuke Tamago ($13.00)

Fortunately, Nantsuttei's ramen is not as bad as its gyoza and its service, which are in dire need of serious improvement. Its broth, which is its most noticeable feature with its oil-like colour and texture, is one of the best I've had the privilege of trying in Singapore. The way it strikes an almost perfect balance between the pork undertones and the mayu signifies tremendous amounts of effort poured into creating the perfect broth. On one memorable occasion, a reverent hush descended on my group the moment we took a sip of the broth, and continued for a good 5 minutes or so, well into our eating time. Eating a dish becomes a shared religious experience when a group of 6 otherwise-noisy hot-blooded males are so moved by it that they fall silent. Nantsuttei's broth is simply incredible, and there's really no other way to describe it.

Fortunately, this saves the day

The noodles are similarly well done, in the Hakata style that we're so accustomed to seeing accompany tonkotsu broths. They have a very satisfying bite to them, and despite the heaviness of the broth, retain their individual taste, indicating that they weren't over or under-cooked and are adequately fresh. They're mixed with juicy, succulent bean sprouts, which provide a pleasantly refreshing sensation against the broth's heaviness.

On sight, the cut of chashu used here is also exceptional, with just the right amount of fat and leaner parts. This indeed proved to be the case, and along with its tender texture, allowed me to enjoy one of the better chashus I've had for quite some time. Unfortunately though, it got a bit drowned out by the broth's heavy taste, and perhaps should have been better marinated.

That layer of oil... Oh boy this is gonna be good

The egg was quite a letdown though. On all the instances I've eaten here, the egg has always been nearly hard-boiled, and the amount of seasoning is virtually non-existent. This time, I guess they decided to change things up a bit by making it so that the yolk was more or less identical to that of a soft-boiled eggs. Of course, it goes without mention that it remained unseasoned.

As a whole, Nantsuttei's ramen is quite spectacular, and not just its broth, but the entire package (sans the egg) is just so harmoniously balanced and complementary, which is a hallmark of great ramen. Pity about the egg though, and the gyoza's simply not worth wasting money on.

It's waiting for you!

Value-for-money:

As for the ramen itself, $12.00 for the basic ramen is quite a reasonable price for such quality ramen, although it doesn't include the prevailing GST and service charge. It also doesn't account for the sub-standard customer service, which defeats the purpose of having a service charge to begin with. The gyoza on the other hand, I felt, could have been better prepared. As it stands now, it seems like just a convenient way for the uninitiated to signal that they've money to spare, and thereafter, relieve themselves of it.

Conclusion:

Here come two bombs: firstly, the mayu used is poured out from plastic packaging, and isn't fried in the eatery itself. Who knows how old it is. And secondly, Nantsuttei isn't a standalone shop, but is instead a chain of shops (albeit a small chain), having a number of outlets in Japan, which comes as a surprise to me as I'd thought all along that it was a standalone store, although that doesn't take anything away from its spectacular ramen. As far as I know, Singapore's the only foreign country they've set up shop in. So much for romantic standalone authenticity.

While the service is rather mediocre and the gyoza wasn't done very well, they shouldn't deviate your attention from the incredible ramen served by Nantsuttei. Despite all of its failings, I can't deny that Nantsuttei serves one of the best Ramen in Singapore, and is certainly one of a kind. For everyone who hasn't tried it before, and for everyone who has, go down to Millenia Walk and give it a try -it's worth your time!

Have you had anything from here before? What was your experience like? We're interested -do share with us in the comments below!

FOODIE’S RATING
Quality & Taste(75%)	7.8	A sure 8.2 or higher if not for the disappointing egg, gyoza and instant ingredients
Value (15%)	6.5	Pretty average as far as prices go, until you take customer service into account
Ambience & others (10%)	6.0	Contrived at best
Total	7.4	Great ramen, but the eatery is lacking in other aspects

Address:
#P3-06, Millenia Walk, 9 Raffles Boulevard

Operating hours:
11am to 9:30pm daily

A completely unabashed endorsement for a company that's going through undeserved struggling and is being treated as a punching bag for the media:

I typed out this entire post on my Blackberry Q10, which is hands-down one of the most productive and efficient phones on the market. Some of its more outstanding productivity-driven features include of course, its signature keyboard and its Remember note-taking application, for instance. Remember is particularly outstanding in how it allows me to add photos into the note itself, enabling me to quickly upload my photos onto the blog, as well as refer to them easily as and when I need to. Currently, Remember is the only mobile note-taking app that supports Rich Text, meaning that if I copy a chunk of text, the font and colour are retained, instead of being changed to the phone's native font. Also, tables can be copied, like the weightage table above. TABLES CAN BE COPIED ONTO A MOBILE NOTE-TAKING APP, THAT'S REVOLUTIONARY! The photos were also taken using my Q10's much-improved camera, which while not matching a DSLR in sheer image quality, is still pretty impressive for a mobile phone's. Also, the native editing function allows me to touch up the photos on the go. All in all, an amazing phone for people who value getting work done instead of playing trivial apps (which by the way, are not lacking because Blackberry 10 can sideload nearly all Android apps), and that will hopefully see a few more sales as a result of this post :)

Ramen Champion Great World City -A Brave New World

By: Mark

Their new emblem or something

Intro:

Arthur and I were invited to the much- anticipated opening of Ramen Champion's new outlet at Great World City on 19th November. I, to say the least, was incredibly excited and practically salivating over the opportunity to try the various new ramen stalls. In fact, after waiting close to 2 weeks for it to open, I succumbed and headed down on my own prior to the food tasting session, at the expense of being labelled a "ramen rapist" by Arthur. Bearing in mind my much-documented inability to resist ramen's seductive allure, this title is well-deserved I suppose, and one that I now carry around with a similar pride to that which is bestowed upon war medals. Veering back from that deviation, I'm delighted to say that Ramen Champion's new outlet deserves all the attention it's been receiving recently from the media. This outlet is yet another haven for Ramen lovers, and will definitely receive a warm welcome from them.

Ambience:
Like the outlet at Bugis+, Great World City’s Ramen Champion is unmistakable with its broth-derived aroma wafting in the air, attracting anyone with a nose and a stomach who happens to be on the same floor (true story –I was unable to find the store until I picked up the scent of ramen broth).

Decorative entrance

In contrast to the outlet at Bugis+ which had the rustic feel of a foreign land far-removed from reality, Great World City’s felt a lot more modern, with brighter lightings and more chic interior finishing. Its windows that separate it from the building's exterior are not fully covered with stickers, causing me to feel not as isolated from outside life than Bugis+.  The result is an eatery that feels less distant from the real world and bears more resemblance to other eateries around its price range. There’s nothing here to complain about however, and I believe that Komars wanted to preserve a sense of identity for each different outlet of Ramen Champion, instead of creating homogeneous eateries much like huge fast food chains.

At the end of the outlet, there are large tables with long benches accompanying them, which will accommodate bigger groups more easily. This is definitely a nod in the right direction by Komars, recognising and catering for the Marche-type crowd (ie large groups in search of an eatery with a good variety of food) that’s likely to patronise a place like this.

I must say that I really like this place. Like Bugis+, it clearly strives to integrate elements of Japan into its overall architecture, from its finishing to its furniture. This is bound to please ramen lovers, and the atmosphere of the eatery makes it extremely conducive to indulge in ramen gluttony.

Food (initial impressions): 
During the tasting session, we were provided with a free flow of the ramen stalls’ various side dishes and ramen (which of course, allowed us to eat to our very spacious stomachs’ content). The side dishes included gyozas with various toppings, chicken karaage and spicy chicken wings, which were in general, very well done. Arthur and I felt though that the central focus of Ramen Champion should be placed on the ramen dishes themselves, which is why we are not including photos or detailed reviews of the sides. Make no mistake though, they are very worthy appetizers, and I’d definitely recommend them to any seriously starving customers, to whom a bowl of ramen by itself wouldn’t be enough. Also, this section will only include our initial impressions of the ramen, with reviews being put up soon.

Bishamon Zero

BISHAMON ZERO

This rendition of miso ramen tasted as perfect as miso ramen gets. Considering the frankly mediocre standards of Bishamon outlets outside, this is surprising, albeit in a welcome way. The broth was well-balanced, with no individual flavours overwhelming the others. It also had a tinge of spiciness to it, which, like the other flavours, wasn’t overwhelming at all. These factors, combined with the other ingredients, made the components of the ramen perfectly complementary, making us tremendously impressed.

Trust us. It's as good as it looks.

Butaou

BUTAOU RAMEN

This stall’s name and sukiyaki style of ramen bear uncanny resemblances to Bugis+’s Buta God, making us wonder if they shared the same chef. However, we were assured by the PR team that they were separate entities. As compared to Buta God, Butaou’s broth was almost diabetically sweet, signalling an overuse of soy sauce without enough pork to ground it and give it substance. Also, I found Buta God’s pork more well-marinated and homely than Butaou’s. With their near-identical styles of ramen, these stalls are in unavoidably direct competition with each other, but if you asked me, I’d definitely take Buta God over Butaou any day of the week.

Cheap looking bowl does not mean cheap tasting Ramen.

Tonkotsu Itto
I (Arthur) felt particularly strongly about the following two Ramen stores and as a result decided to "fight" Mark for the rights to covering this section of his post. He was reluctant at first but with a costly bribe of one Chasu , he finally gave in to me. With that out of the way, here are my initial impressions:

TONKOTSU ITTO

To start with, Tonkotsu Itto was unmemorable to say the least. When I first read Mark's review, I was actually a little disagreeable with his harsh rating, even taking to a long discussion with him regarding it. Now however, having tried it myself, I must agree that this stores Ramen, as of now, is quite unimpressive indeed. The first word that came to my mind when sipping in the soup was "deception". What I mean here is that the soup is decently thick, but deceivingly so. Why? Because, as far as I could taste, much of the soup's thickness comes from starch and not actual time and effort put into the boiling it. Don't get me wrong, adding starch to the soup might not be too bad an idea, but here it just ends up tasting bland and looking thick on initial observation, a combination that creates anticipation then crushes expectations. The noodles are similarly mishandled, overcooked to the point of complete brittleness, having minimal resistance and chew to them. As for the egg and Chasu, they were pretty average at best.

Look closely at the soup...

Miyamoto
I was particularly interested in this store's Ramen, being that it seems to share a style quite similar to Bario Ramens'. I was personally quite hopeful that Miyamoto would be able to match Bario's flavorful experience whilst presenting a few tricks of their own, being that Bario seems to be the only one of its style around in Singapore till date. To that end, it's actually a little iffy; and my hopes were in a way, half granted. 

MIYAMOTO RAMEN

Let's start with the good points. The first was clear once the bowl arrived on our table. Coupled with the broth and noodles was a generous serving of succulent, fatty looking Chasu which beckoned drooling. It didnt only look good though, it tasted good too. The meat was of good quality and had been lovingly marinated and cooked to give off a heavy and well smoked flavour. Here's the thing though, Miyamoto's broth is especially light, a broth of chicken and pork that was clearly flavored off with salt. This made for a confusing eat that contrasted extremely heavy with light taste. As of now, i am still undecided as to whether this should be considered a good or bad paring, but generally, the soup was decent enough. Its like a ever slightly heavier version of your standard Shio Ramen with a slightly more sophisticated taste. 

High hopes for this guy...High hopes still.

The noodles on the other hand was not very well done. Similar to Tonkotsu Itto, it was quite brittle, though its bulkier thickness did help, it was not sufficient to make it great. As for the egg? That might as well have been hard boiled.  

Overall:

Bishamon Zero was undoubtedly the star of this food tasting session, with the others lagging quite far behind it. However, ramen quality can suffer, and it’s clear that they put in a special effort in their food preparation to accommodate the tasting session’s attendees, meaning that it wouldn’t be completely objective to base our judgement of the stalls on this tasting session alone. Rest assured that we’ll be back to write up more comprehensive reviews of this outlet, the process (ie more ramen!) of which I’m obviously looking forward to.

As a whole, Komars has put in a commendable effort in opening this new branch , and I suspect that having an outlet in Great World City would serve as a reason for many to visit this mall. We’d like to thank them for their hospitality during the tasting session. Although they aren’t directly involved in the preparation of the ramen, they have advanced the ramen culture in Singapore by sourcing for ramen stores in Japan to bring over, and by providing the capital to set up Ramen Champion (along with all the accompanying risks of a business venture), among many other things. Their dedication to ramen is clear to all, and much appreciated by ramen lovers like us.

Have you had anything from here before? What was your experience like? We're interested -do share with us in the comments below!

Address:
#01-22, Great World City, 1 Kim Seng Promenade

Operating hours:
11:30am to 10:30pm daily

 

Tonkotsu Itto -Ikkousha's undeserving successor

Introduction:

Ikkousha’s (the two-time Ramen Champion which constantly sold twice the amount of ramen bowls its closest competitor sold, and would have conceivably won the competition until 2050) recent departure meant that a stall had been vacated. Tonkotsu Itto is the newcomer with the privilege of inheriting Ikkousha’s corner location, along with assuming its heavy mantle. This (judging it using its predecessor’s excellence as a benchmark) isn’t necessarily fair for Tonkotsu Itto, but eating great ramen from the corner stall is what customers have unsurprisingly grown accustomed to.

Quality

What I had: Tonkotsu Ramen with Egg ($13.50)

Upon receiving my bowl of ramen, I took a deep breath and immediately liked the heavy pork smell wafting from it –a harbinger of a thick, flavoursome broth. Never mind the shallow, concave bowl with its paltrier than usual serving size, I thought, it wouldn’t matter if the broth was as good as I hoped it’d be.

You can't tell how small it is from here

As per my ramen-eating routine, the egg was the first to go. To call it mediocre would be an insult to stalls with really mediocre eggs –this was worse than that. Just take a look at the yolk, which was almost venturing into Ajisen’s territory in providing hard-boiled egg yolks. While its somewhat adequate seasoning made it still some way from matching Ajisen’s eggs, I was still deeply disappointed in the clear lack of effort. The other stalls here may be degrading themselves and offering almost hard-boiled eggs, but the successor to the best stall to emerge from Ramen Champion shouldn’t follow suit! In any case, Tonkotsu Itto’s eggs are worse than the rest.

Although calling the noodles beehoon-thin would have been an exaggeration (albeit not a major one), I was tempted to label it as such. Its near strawlike width provided the broth with too little surface area to cling to, causing the unsurprising end result to be noodles that didn’t retain the broth’s taste. In addition, I felt that the noodles had too little bite to them and were slightly overcooked.

Just look at how ridiculously thin it is!

The chashu was paper-thin. Yes, I resisted the urge to exaggerate about the noodles’ thinness earlier on, but I promise that wasn’t an excuse to postpone the exaggeration to apply to the chashu. It really was paper-thin, almost as thin as a piece of vanguard paper. Perhaps the chef was well-intentioned in doing this, by intending for it to have that melt-in-your-mouth quality, in which case he achieved his aim. Still, providing just one piece of chashu was never going to be enough.

If the broth had been outstanding as I’d initially thought it’d be, all of the above would have been forgivable. They may perhaps even be endearing, in the way minor flaws in something perfect remind us that they’re made by fallible humans. However, the broth had little taste from the beginning and only got worse from there, faltering in the usual way most ramen stalls here do, in that the broth loses intensity as the meal progresses. You know you’re in trouble when your spring onions (and not a very large serving of spring onions at that) are the most noticeable flavour in your broth. This is the first broth I’ve had that doesn’t leave an aftertaste of any sort, which ought to tell you how bad it is.

Value-for-money

Chashu that was barely present, noodles that were too thin to retain the broth’s taste, a broth that had no taste to begin with, and to top it all off, a downright paltry serving size to which photos cannot do justice? I’d think even a person in a coma could write this section. Come to think of it, the chef probably could too.

Conclusion

I admit that this review has been scathing at times. Ardent defenders (if they exist) of Tonkotsu Itto may argue that the lighter (read: non-existent) broth is catered for a different consumer group, one that can’t stomach the heaviness of normal ramen. I’m calling bollocks on that, because generally speaking, Tonkotsu broth is meant to be heavy almost by definition. Needless to say, Tonkotsu Itto can’t begin to hold a candle to Ikkousha’s sustained excellence, and I fully expect it to be the first stall to be ousted from this year’s competition.

Have you eaten here before? What was your experience like? We're interested -do share with us in the comments below!

FOODIE’S RATING
Quality, Taste and Presentation (80%)	4.7	Non-existent taste by ramen standards
Value (20%)	5.0	Miserly serving makes it poor value
Ambience & others (0%)	nil	Check Ramen Champion main page on the blog for ambience
Total	4.8	The weak-stomached may appreciate this (highly doubtful)