Kazutake Ramen (Ang Mo Kio)

It is interesting to find a 24 hours operating ramen shop at where I’m staying in Ang Mo Kio, considering this neighbourhood a little walk away from AMK Central.

While I’m not sure whether there’s really people coming past midnight for supper, but it is definitely a cosy and air-conditioned space to enjoy a bowl of warm ramen.

Although it is so near to my house, i only found a good time to visit today to grab my lunch.

You need to make your order at the self-service kiosk that located outside the shop, before you proceed to your seat inside and wait for your order number to be called.

I went for something unusual, choosing the duck meat ramen this time. The duck meat is tender, soup is tasty, springy noodle and egg. A comforting meal I would say.

Mentioned about a 24-hour establishment that serves up Japanese ramen around Singapore and one particular brand name would instantly come to mind — that particular brand name also seems to be the only concept venturing into 24-hour operation as a stall that specialises in serving Japanese Ramen but there seems to be a new contender in town. Situated at Blk 530 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 is the new Kazutake Ramen; a relatively new establishment that had recently just opened its doors in the same neighbourhood where other notable F&B establishments are also located — think the likes of The Pine Garden, as well as that of Magic Kitchen AM:PM Cafe; this neighbourhood was at one point of time the hippiest neighbourhood in Ang Mo Kio anyway. It is surprising to see the size of the space that Kazutake Ramen occupied here — there is actually quite a good number of seats that cater to dine-in patrons here with a mix of counter seats as well as normal dining tables that is great for groups of two to four pax. The space attempts to bring a Japanese flair featuring wallpapers of an oriental vibe; the dining chairs coming with an wooden accent while the table tops come with a marble-esque look to go along. While the influences of which Kazutake Ramen had drawn from are rather obvious, the menu at Kazutake Ramen does seem wider than that of the other brand that is well known for its 24-hour operation as a Japanese ramen shop — the menu not only features a variety of dry and soup ramen with different broth bases (think Shoyu, Miso and Mala for a start), but they do also offer a variety of sashimi and sushi dishes as well as Donburi; there are also ala-carte sides which one can also opt for to share across the table as well. For those into bubble tea, Kazutake Ramen does offer a range of that; this would be aside from the hot tea which they also offer.

Since soup ramen isn’t quite our sort of thing, it is needless to say that our attention to as placed on their dry ramen offerings after noticing that they do offer Donburi and dry ramen from the menu board on the wall that is located beside the ordering counter. Kazutake Ramen does have self-service POS systems located right outside its shop space; that being said, the POS system were not in service when we made our visit to Kazutake Ramen on a weekday dinner service shortly after the news of its existence had started to spread around social media. Kazutake Ramen is pretty much a self-service establishment; patrons make their order at the counter, and the o see number will be called out by the display system once the food has been prepared and ready for collection at the counter. The Karui Mazemen is an item that is supposed to mimic similar dishes that other Mazemen-specialty stores serve up — the dish itself featuring spicy minced pork, spring onions, Onsen egg and seaweed that is supposed to be mixed with the thick Ramen noodles beneath for a good flavour. While we admittedly liked the flavours of the Karui Mazemen here, there was one key issue with the Karui Mazemen that marred the entire experience — no doubt we liked that spicy kick of the minced pork and how it mixes with the sous-vide egg for a creamy texture that just clings onto the noodles; that being said, the noodles were served lukewarm, which did not help the fact that the noodles were also a little bit hard for a chewier texture. All else was great; from the texture of the entire dish with the crunch from the spring onions, to how the flavours are just about right — even bearing a suitable level of spiciness that attempts to tingle the taste buds, which we felt was a little bit of a shame. We did notice that the soup ramen at other tables does come piping hot here — perhaps just a case of us ordering the wrong items. That being said, we do feel that the food at Kazutake Ramen isn’t much to shout about — the Salmon Sashimi being decent but joust stops at that. Still, a spot that residents around the neighbourhood would enjoy having at their convenience.