Japanese

This ramen is so stuffed with meat: pork belly, ox tail, char siew and free flow eggs! Love the collagen soup broth. The ox tail has a strong flavour that is either loved or hated by people. Very filling bowl and worth every penny.

Located on the third floor of Bugis Cube, this tiny ramen-ya dishes out affordable, hearty bowls of noodles and rice. Seating is limited, so come with a small party. Instead of having a waiter attend to you, the store employs a self-service approach, where you can customise your ramen from its flavour to the add-ons using tabs. To complete the ordering process, bring your desired tabs to the cashier and make payment. They have an extensive menu with six options including spicy miso, tom yum and even a cheese truffle ramen. The choice pick, however, is the Shoyu Ramen ($11) that Burpple Tastemaker Vanessa Kou enjoys. The soy-based ramen has just the right amount of salt and oil, and comes topped with grilled meat, hanjuku egg, seaweed and a side of crispy deep-fried enoki mushrooms. For Vanessa, the highlight of the bowl was the "sliced grilled meat as the nicely charred exterior complemented the tender bits of fats, and was melt-in-your-mouth good".
Avg Price: $15 per person
Photo by Burpple Tastemaker Vanessa Kou

A pretty new spot in the CBD, Yuki Onna serves dons and make-your-own-bowls for lunch with fresh cuts of sashimi. If raw fish isn't your thing, they've got pork and truffle beef yakiniku (so coming back for this!!!)

Cold Truffle Somen with Hotate ($14.90) was delightfully light and fragrantly doused with truffle oil, and had a nice bite to it. Served with sweet Hokkaido scallops, and little bursts of caviar. Portion was ok for me but I'm a pretty small-eater so it might be insufficient for some. Added a side dish of salmon sashimi ($4.80) to complete the meal and satisfy my greed.

This is not savory. This is actually a dessert/sweet treat. Yummy! #burpple #tingzieeats

I may be late to the Muji party, but better late than never. Such a peaceful space to dine-in and enjoy me-time. And work-friendly too (plenty of plugs).

My set comes with 2 hot & 2 cold deli selections + choice of white rice/bread; the rest of the items were not included. My favourites in this order: Omelette with Japanese-style mushrooms (flavourful and thick with ingredients), Tofu patty with shiitake mushroom sauce (super umami!), Marinated veggies in dashi-flavoured broth (tart & appetising, and Baked salmon with miso sauce. You can also order these ala carte, at $4.90 each.

Pay just $1 more to upgrade it to 10 grain rice (recommended), and add-on items such as onsen egg and too-watery carrot & pumpkin soup at just $1 as well. They were having a promo where each set meal comes with free dessert; choice of Caramel egg pudding/Soft serve, and you get $1 off any drink. The Iced Matcha Latte ($4.90 before discount) was fragrant and not too milky/sweet. The bill came up to $23-ish, but it was well worth the money. I'll be back for more.

Located on the first floor of Pacific Plaza, this 18-seater ramen joint is Tsuta's first international outlet outside of Japan. There are only two soup variations on the menu of the world's only Michelin-starred ramen restaurant — shio (salt) or shoyu (soy sauce). Both soup bases stem from a chicken stock boiled with vegetables, clams and seafood for additional depth — think of it as soul-warming chicken noodle soup. Go for the crowd favourite Char Siu Ajitama Shoyu Soba ($22.80) that comes with the full works — four slices of char siu, flavoured egg, bamboo shoot and leek. The Tsuta rendition gets an unexpected umami boost from the scoop of truffle pureed in truffle oil. Otherwise, shio purists will enjoy tucking into the Char Siu Ajitama Shio Soba ($22.80). It comes with the same toppings, except that the the truffle is replaced by green olives in truffle oil.
Avg Price: $25 per person
Photo by Burpple Tastemaker Eleanor Tay

New additions to the City Hall area are not to be taken for granted, at least not for those working nearby. Located on the second floor of Raffles City Shopping Centre, the newly opened Muji also houses their second Muji Cafe, making it a one-stop shop for Japanophiles. While we wouldn't necessarily go out of our way to splurge $16.90 on any casual lunch, this healthy yet tasty Basic Set ($7.80) is right up our alley. Choose from two styles, Japanese or Western, and select one cold deli of your choice, one side (hijiki salad or onsen egg), one soup (miso or cream of pumpkin and carrot) and one base (white rice or bread). There's also the Chicken Nanban Donburi ($14.90) that comes with fried chicken, avocado, mesclun salad, cherry tomatoes and daikon sprouts set on a bed of their yummy ten grain rice.
Avg price: $15 per person
Photo by Burppler Hilary See

My personal favourite of the 3 Flying Noodles at Hana! :) The sauce was simply addictive and the little shrimps and Ikura were so yummy! I'll definitely need to order an extra side of sauce when I order these flying noodles next round ! 😍🍜 #WingardiumLeviosa #hanarestaurantsg

If so, start your meal right with dessert first? 😂 Try @hanarestaurantsg's Matcha Misu. It seriously stole my heart. Light tiramisu flavour with subtle matcha aroma and taste that wasn’t sweet and great for everyone, even non-matcha lovers.

Prepare your cameras to capture the levitating chopsticks holding the smooth noodles in place on a double-deck dim sum basket!

HANA is super popular now with snakey queues and fully filled tables. But is the food worth all the hype, waiting time and money? Well, it's a no 🙅 for us. We prefer the traditional somen with dipping sauce that has a clear and refreshing taste. Even our local mee sua with sesame oil would please us more. 😅

However, we can't deny that these flying noodles are extremely instagrammable and we were so excited, just like when we saw the flying car in the Harry Potter movie. 😄

The first thing I did was took a sip of the "soup". Wrong choice. It is purely a dipping sauce rather than soup as it it way too salty. Unless you want to get high blood pressure, then drink the "soup" as you may. Although the initial mistake, it is an amazing dipping sauce! Served piping hot, it warms up the cold soba to the right temperature. There's a generous serving of beef and vegetables in the sauce as well, and of cause not forgetting the soft boiled egg that I popped in my mouth. 😋