Japanese

Always one of my go-to places if I have cravings for ramen and am at 313. Chabuton's ramen is always topped with white sesame (I like)! The char siew pieces are so tender that you can easily tear them using the chopsticks and spoon. You can also customise the hardness of the noodles, and request for less salt less oil. If you have a smaller appetite, order the half noodle (only applicable for ramen with 1 slice of char siew).

Price: $16.50++

Apparently Marugane Udon is known to be the No. 1 udon noodles restaurant chain in the world! It is located at B4 of ION Orchard, with a seating of 30-40 pax. There is a dedicated aisle for ordering and collection. So you'll place order, wait for a few minutes while your food is prepared. Once prepared, choose to add on some tempura and drinks and make payment. There is also a seasonings corner where you get to add coriander, spring onions, grated ginger, wasabi and tempura bits (at no additional charge).

The Pork Udon in Spicy Miso Soup ($11.90 nett) is nothing like the miso soup base we are used to when eating ramen. I found the soup a little salty on the first taste, but gradually got used to it. They are pretty generous with the sliced pork (fried in spicy sauce and onions). Interestingly, they serve lady's fingers and broccoli with the udon! And the udon noodles were really chewy.

Oh, for those with larger appetite, you may opt for the large bowl ($13.70).

Priced at $14, Ajisai's Kara Red Miso is generous with their ingredients - bamboo shoots, cabbage, leek. If you dig into the soup, you would find pieces of tender cha siu too. The large piece of cha siu on the other hand is a little tough and bland on its own (but it's all lean). The soup is kinda on the salty side, so soak the cha siu into the soup to get some taste! Oh, and they have free flow spicy marinated beansprouts. Perfect match to throw the beansprouts into your bowl of ramen!

Note: Hokkaido Marche only accepts cash, and there is no GST or service charge.

Haven't had my favourite Kaisendon from Teppei in a while! The marinade was really on point and chunky, and I almost couldn't find the rice! 😂

Only learned today that this is where the Teppei craze started. They are famous for the omakase and it's said that you'll have to make reservation at least 1-2 months in advance. Our friend is a regular of the restaurant and we got preferential treatment today. We were probably the only ones who could dine in with their ala carte menu. The others had to buy takeaway cos they were only serving omakase today. Such privilege!

I was expecting the place to be crowded since it only started operations 2 days ago. Hokkaido Marche doesn't have a really large seating capacity. The area is brightly lit and looks so welcoming. It is free seating and works just like a food court, but with only Japanese cuisine. You will also be issued a buzzer upon ordering for self collection.

Tried the Karakuchi Miso Ramen aka spicy miso ramen ($14) topped with Ajitama aka seasoned egg ($1.50). The egg was disappointing cos the seasoning tasted a little sour and the yolk was pretty cooked - not what I was expecting. The spicy miso ramen wasn't spicy to me, but could be for those who don't/can't take spicy well. The miso though rich, didn't make the soup too salty like many other ramen shops. What's different is also the pieces of pork chunks instead of the usual slices of pork cha siu. The pork was seasoned really well. Try chewing on the pork chunks on its own and you would taste the essence in it.

Other ingredients in each bowl: black fungus, seaweed, bean sprouts, carrot, bamboo shoots, spring onions, leek.

Note: Hokkaido Marche only accepts cash, and there is no GST or service charge.

2nd visit here and there has been a change in their menu. They now have green spicy soup base which is wasabi flavoured. And their special topping includes 2 large slices of chicken and 2 pieces of chicken balls. So I ordered the rich soup version ($11.90) and added special toppings ($5.00). What is special about this outlet is that each bowl of ramen comes with a huge tender chicken drumstick and creamy chicken broth. And of course with every other Keisuke outlets, there is free flow hard-boiled eggs and beansprouts for the dine-in customers. My friend is a frequent customer of Keisuke and claims that the white eggs are easier to peel. Try that to find out!

Note that the restaurant charges the usual 10% service charge and 7% GST. Average damage: $20 - $25

Never tired of Kaisendon but there is hardly any that's comparable to Teppei's. This bowl of Kaisendon didn't have chunks of sashimi and personally I don't think it's worth $16.

Nonetheless, Platform M is a higher end food court which serves dishes from restaurants in a food court setting. Probably other stalls would be more worthy.

My second visit to Monster Curry. I remember during my first visit, I wasn't sure of the spiciness and only ordered extra spicy (Level 2). This time round, I got the monster spicy (Level 5)! Considering that my tolerance level for spiciness is very high, Level 5 was quite nothing. But it tasted nice overall since anything more than that would possibly ruin the taste of the Japanese curry. The pork katsu was juicy and tender, and the serving was generous - worth the money ($13++)!

The TONKOTSU broth is based of simmering fresh TONKOTSU carefully for 12 hours in order to make concentrated delicious soup blended with mild texture and rich TORI soup. Freshly made noodle by using in-shop noodle making machine topped with flavored soft-boiled egg, aburi chashu, dried seaweed and black fungus.

Hanare Cafe and Hana-Hana are both under the Teppei group and are located just some metres away on Tanjong Pagar Road. Located at the 2nd floor just next to The Blue Ginger, Hanare is like a hidden gem. Ordered the daily special: Barachirashi don with yellowtail ($19.80 nett). They serve fresh sashimi and offer a complimentary buffet line of side dishes (drinks, miso soup and rice inclusive). The chunky bamboo shoots in the buffet line were so juicy and good that we went for multiple servings! However if you were to compare Hanare with Teppei Syokudo at Ion and Takashimaya, the former loses out in the nice mix of shoyu marinade and rice.

I was expecting a queue for this takeaway ramen but there wasn't any at 1pm! The staff would cook and pack everything (including the seaweed) into one plastic bag and you are ready to go! They also have a condiments corner at the collection counter, where you can choose to add sesame, chili powder, salt or pepper to your food. The disappointing part about the $12 ramen is that the soup was too salty (I chose the standard option). Save on the 10% service charge and eat your ramen at the food court or elsewhere!

The Kaisendon at this outlet doesn't taste as good as that at Taka and ION Orchard. It's as though the marinating sauce was lacking. But the assorted sashimi are still as good!