NOODLE HOUSE KEN & RAMEN SANTOUKA

After checking out both Netsuretsu Ichiban-Tei and Baikohken last month, it was another round of ramen frenzy time again. This time I checked out another 2 hokkaido-style ramen restaurants. The first was Noodle House Ken, located at Orchard Plaza level one. I ordered the shoyu ramen, plus a plate of gyoza. The noodle (thicker than Baikohken) was well-cooked and not too soggy. The charsiew was quite tender and delicious, but the stewed egg was quite ordinary. The soup was not too salty but somehow had a strange pork bone smell. How disappointing! The 5 pieces of gyoza were average, not very well-fried. Done in a hurry I suppose. Service from the waitresses was not too friendly.

• Food & Beverage 7/10 • Ambience 6/10 • Service 5.5/10





The second ramen restaurant was Ramen Santouka (www.santouka.co.jp), located at The Central Shopping Mall level two. I ordered the shio ramen, plus a plate of gyoza. The fat curly noodle was well-cooked and springy. Very delicious. The tasty charsiew was not too fatty, simply melted in my mouth. The soup was very concentrated, salty and quite oily. The fried chopped garlic gave the soup a strong aroma and taste. Certainly my favourite kind of soup - INTENSE! Overall the shio ramen was outstanding. The 5 pieces of gyoza were nothing to shout about, too soft and not crispy. The waitresses gave very friendly service. They even provided a basket to put my bag.

• Food & Beverage 8/10 • Ambience 7.5/10 • Service 8/10