Mazesoba

🥢 Centered with an Onsen Egg resting on top of marinated minced Pork, Chashu, Chives, Spring Onions and Seaweed

🧾 SGD$12.80

✍🏻 ★★★★★★★★★☆〘9/10〙

💬 Instantly regretted ordering just a regular. This was too good! The noodles were so thick and chewy, and cooked superbly al dente. Started salivating the moment I broke the onsen egg. The yolk added a layer of creaminess to the already delicious meat sauce, and together they coated every strand of noodle with saucey goodness. Each slurp was further elevated with hints of spiciness mixed in. The minced meat was super flavourful. Chashu slices were a little dry but forgivable just because everything else was so good. To not cloy your palate, pour in the kombu vinegar midbowl for its acidity. It transforms the dish entirely; the vinegar itself on the sweeter side, adding a nice sour-y sweet note. This tangy vinegar helps to cut through the creamy richness of the sauce, thus balancing out the flavours. By far the best mazesoba I have tried in Singapore! The noodles are definitely my favourite!

🥢 Centered with a raw Egg resting on top of marinated minced Pork, Chives, Scallions, Seaweed and Bonito Powder

🧾 SGD$12.00

✍🏻 ★★★★★★★☆☆☆〘7/10〙

💬 A raw egg sitting pretty on top! Do not see that too often here in Singapore. Also, why is it so gratifying to puncture a yolk and watch it trickle down? With the creamy yolk and meat sauce, every strand of ramen was enveloped with a thick umami gravy. I even doubled down on the umami-ness by mixing in the entire heap of bonito powder, because how can I say no to more umami goodness?! The minced meat were very well marinated and paired perfectly with the refreshing fragrance from the generous amounts of chives and scallions. The noodles were amazingly thick and chewy, imparting a great mouthfeel alongside a medley of flavours as it ferries everything into your mouth. And like for all mazesoba, a drizzle of vinegar changes everything and makes it even better. My biggest gripe with this bowl however, was that the taste of pepper was too strong. It added flavour at first but as I kept eating, the dominant peppery notes eventually got too overwhelming; leaving an unpleasant aftertaste. Still a great bowl of mazesoba nonetheless!

🥢 Spiffed up with chunks of aburi Chashu, flavoured Egg, Nori, Bamboo Shoots and Leek

🧾 SGD$14.00

✍🏻 ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆〘6/10〙

💬 I love Sanpoutei's noodles. Their consistency is always spot on; perfectly chewy and al dente with the right noodle thickness. I always go for their tsukemen but I figured I might finally give something else on their menu a try. I ordered the mazesoba and it came slicked in a slightly spicy dried sardine oil x shoyu sauce blend. After a thorough mix, my ramen was still pretty dry and with the sauce being slightly oily and on the heavier side, it can get "jelak" very quickly. After a few slurps, I felt like I had lip balm applied all over my lips. The spice here was essential to cut through all that. I was kinda disappointed at the sauce though as I could barely taste the sardine; which is a polar opposite to their tsukemen's dipping broth. However, they made up for it with the generous serving of aburi chashu cubes. They were very well seasoned and tender. Now here comes a twist: I tend to disregard soups that comes with dry dishes, but this chicken soup served exclusively with the mazesoba was astonishingly good. I would even go as far as saying it tasted better than the ramen itself. I finally get what people mean by a good soup warms the heart and soul! It was rich, flavourful and just simply delicious. Oh the irony; the star of the show was not the sardine x shoyu sauce but everything else on the bowl instead. Sanpoutei needs to open a sister restaurant selling tori paitan (chicken broth) ramen, it would be an easy 8/10! (Also oops I forgot to snap a pic of the soup)

🥢 Centered with a half-boiled Egg, sitting on minced Pork, Seaweed and Green Onions

🧾 SGD$13.80

✍🏻 ★★★★★★★☆☆☆〘7/10〙

💬 Finally paid a visit to Kajiken for their signature Nagoya-style Mazesoba that I had seen everywhere on social media. Mazesoba is Japanese for mixed noodles, kinda like our local "Bak Chor Mee" with the minced pork. The heaps of green onion provided an aesthetically pleasing vibrant green contrast to everything else on the bowl. My job now is to mix everything up, starting by breaking the perfectly half-boiled egg and watching the yolk coat every single strand of noodle. These yellow noodles were cooked al dente resulting in a great chewy texture. The minced meat tucked below were slightly spicy but only mildly seasoned, which was unusual as they are usually the ones packing all the flavour (could be a consistency issue). One thing to note is that the vinegar; quintessential for flavour enhancement, was not served together with my order and is something you have to specifically ask for separately, unlike other mazesoba places. Overall still a good bowl to kickstart your venture into the yummy world of mazesoba!