Okinawa Ramen

We had the char siu tonkotsu ramen from Okinawa Ramen at Shifu Food Court, and it was savoury.
Only $6.90, definitely coming back for more!

Been checking out the new Shifu Coffee Shop that is located within Bras Basah Complex since it is quite a convenient location for us, whilst it is also filled with quite a number of interesting tenants which are new to the local F&B scene here. For those whom are unaware, Shifu Coffee Shop has taken over the former premises of the now-defunct Coffee Express 2000 there — notable tenants located here would include an outlet of 椿风满面 (Chun Feng Man Mian) Chun Noodle (originally from Amoy Street Food Centre) as well as an outlet of Penang Island (originally from Kopitiam food court at Plaza Singapura). Okinawa Ramen is one of tenants that occupies a stall within the coffeeshop; these folks are fairly new to the local F&B scene here, with this location seemingly being their very first one around — they are however not the only stall serving up Japanese cuisine here, with Haru Haru being the other stall at Shifu Coffee Shop to be serving up Mentaiko-based rice bowls and Japanese Curry Rice. As the namesake of Okinawa Ramen suggests, the stall specialises in Japanese Ramen; the menu being segmented into categories such as Ramen, Soba and Ala-carte.

Interestingly, the mention of “Soba” in the menu of Okinawa Ramen actually refers to that of Dry Soba or Mazesoba rather than the Japanese noodles that are being made of buckwheat flour — Okinawa Ramen actually served up a variation of four (4) different types of Soba on the menu; each comes with a different variation of meat. We found ourselves going for the Karaage Soba; while the menu at Okinawa Ramen does not describe the various elements that would accompany the dish, it is noted that apart from the Chicken Karaage, the Karaage Soba also came with elements like corn nibs, strips of Nori (i.e. Japanese dried seaweed), Aji Tamago (i.e. Japanese Ramen egg), minced meat and a bowl of soup on the side. Giving everything a little bit of a toss, we did feel that there wasn’t quite enough minced meat to go around the entire bowl — the minced meat here lacks the punchy, spicy notes that one would typically expect out of such items that are being served at stores specialising in Mazesoba; not that they did promise on the spiciness either, though we note that they do carry a Spicy Tan-Tan Soba on their menu. We liked how there wasn’t any undesirable porky stench that came with the minced meat, though the flavours do seem to be veering towards that of the sweetness that it was marinated in rather than being savoury. The noodles here do come springy and chewy though it also felt a little less premium as the ones they one would get from a stall that specialises in such offerings as well.

The Karaage Chicken was something which we found to eh pretty decent; sized larger than the typical Japanese-style Chicken Karaage, these were tender and juicy without being greasy — lightly crisp, though wouldn’t be quite right for those whom are looking for an authentic take. For one, the batter comes lightly sweet; the Karaage also ladle the firmer bite that actual Japanese variants tend to carry. Other elements like the corn nibs and strips of Nori provide a hint of sweetness and umami-ness to the dish, while the molten yolk from the half of an Aji Tamago also hit the spot being well creamy for a good mouthfeel — it does lack the savoury notes that one would expect out of the soy-marinated variants however. It does seem to be noted that these folks are seemingly going for the rich and lip-smackingly sticky consistency of the Tori Paitan (i.e. Chicken White Broth) for the bowl of soup accompanying the Karaage Soba, though the version here seemed to have somehow included the use of cream(?) somewhat. We also tried the Fried Pork Gyoza during our visit here — these were decent with crisp edges and were well-filled with tender and savoury pork filling; all drenched with mayonnaise and Takoyaki sauce for an added contrast of savouriness. Overall, Okinawa Ramen isn’t quite that spot to hit if one is craving for an authentic bowl of Japanese Mazesoba; that being said, it does provide diners at Shifu Coffee Shop with a decent alternative that is different from the usual. Prices of its ramen / soba offerings are in the range of $6.90 to $8.50 — quite wallet-friendly to be considered as a weekday meal option for those whom are working in the area.