Lester has been talking about this Ramen store ever since he tasted, Ramen Santouka, located at Central just below Ma Maison. This is a slightly different style of ramen compared to Ma-Rutama. The noodle is thicker, eggier, starchier.
Entrance
Thicker noodle + clear soup base + spring onion + bamboo shoot
If you eat char siew (pork), there are a few different soup bases to choose from. However, if you don’t eat pork (like me), the chicken ramen only comes in clear soup base. Pork ramen’s soup base tastes nicer~ No matter what soup bases you choose from, it is less saltish than Ma-Rutama, I find. However, Lester is complaining about the fats around the meat while chicken ramen has all the lean chicken breast meat (I can’t be sure it is breast but Lester says so). I would say the chicken meat is very well marinated, you can taste it even though it is soaked in the soup. The texture of the meat is really different, probably the way they cut or the part they choose, it is very firm when you bite, not like western food chicken breast meat where you basically “shred” the meat.
Pork Ramen
Chicken Ramen Not all ramen comes with the shoyu egg. My chicken ramen comes with half of it, pork one has none. You can order the shoyu eggs separately from the side dish menu section. In terms of taste, Ma-Rutama beats this shop. This shop is a bit bland, but tenderness is there.
Shoyu eggsI forgot to say that each bowl is super duper hot on the outside, wonder did they oven it or what, so that your noodle still maintain that temperature till you finish your last strand of noodle.
I believe everyone has encounter instances when your spoon slips into your bowl of soup. This ramen store has an interesting spoon with a slit cut so that it can lean on the circumference of the bowl to prevent such things to happen. But the bowl isn’t that big nor does it has a steep slope on the side, maybe this invention is not really useful here.
Shouyu eggsActually we saw a couple of Japanese customers patronizing the store, then we realise they have many many branches in Japan. I believe they have a certain standing in this ramen market. Some may love Ma-Rutama others prefer Ramen Santouka but they are similar yet strictly speaking different. Maybe you guys can give it a try, this is really individual.
Last but not least, Lester’s favourite: 1 whole flask of water for us to self service.
1 flask of water on the table
It’s been 5 years, I still don’t understand why he can’t start his food without drinks. This is especially true when it comes to eating in food court as we need to take turns to buy our food. Standard procedure will be: I buy my food, then his turn, he will eat half way or even before he starts, he will queue for drinks. If the queue is long, his cooked food is left to “chill”. I really can’t do this leh. I cannot afford my food to turn cold. I will usually say “Buy later lah…” He will say “Cannot lah… Thirsty~” But he could be eating fishball noodle, got soup what~
Throughout his meal, he will drink at least 2 glasses of water (or equivalent up to 2 cans of ice lemon tea if we are at food courts) while I will only sip at the start of my meal and drink again only after my meal. Wha~ Like that stomach won’t get bloated meh?
But he also “fast-in fast-out” type, very fast want to go toilet liao~ So want to watch any long hours movies or concerts with him, you must make sure he empties his bladder cleanly.
Still fails…
