[Invited Tasting & Revisit] Ramen Champion, Great World City

Ramen Champion has opened yet another outlet at Great World City. It occupies the spot previously helmed by Bishamon Zero alone. There are 4 stores here at Great World City, a smaller outfit compared to the 6 at the Bugis+ branch. but you still get to traverse the Japanese islands with their signature Tokyo, Hakata, and Sapporo variations of ramen. And now that the rainy monsoon season is well upon us, it is most comforting to dig into a steaming hot bowl of soupy noodles.

As with all of my invited tasting reviews, we returned for a revisit with my family, and the food was just as good, if not better, due to the sheer numbers of bloggers attending the mass invited tasting earlier in the week. My and the Hubs' favourite's the pork & vegetable ramen from Miyamoto, while my shoyu-loving littlest brother's pick was the special sukiyaki from Butaou, and my not-so-little brother's choice was the Sapporo Miso from Bishamon Zero. Clearly, there was one ramen to suit each of our peculiar preferences.

Bishamon Zero

Ramen Champion "absorbed" Bishamon Zero into its stable of ramen competitors in this Great World City outlet because Bishamon Zero is owned by the same people behind Ramen Champion. Of note, it has the most varieties of side dishes and rice dishes apart from the staple ramen.

We kicked off the tasting with the Okonomiyaki Gyoza, topped with airy bonito flakes and dressed in mayo and sweet tare.

At the revisit, the Okonomiyaki Gyoza ($5.80 for 5 pcs) was well-received for its unique twist of bonito flakes, juicy fillings and chewy skin.

The Mentaiko Gyoza ($5.80 for 5 pcs) is another unique variant, but I didn't quite like the overwhelmingly creamy mentaiko. This is strictly for mentaiko-lovers.

At the revisit, we mistakenly ordered the Original ($4.80) instead (thanks to my dumbass brother), and while it looked a little over done, the burnt ends were delicious in their caramelization.

The Tori Karaage was pretty good, succulent on the inside, crackling crisp on the out.

At the revisit, the littlest mentioned that the Tori Karaage ($4.80) marinade tasted a little like the Colonel's secret recipe spice seasoning, and I quite agree. Little wonder this was so addictive and wolfed down in seconds.

The Sapporo Miso Ramen will please miso lovers, the pork and chicken based broth was sweet and complex.

At the revisit, I loved the combination of toppings in the Sapporo Miso Ramen ($14.80). It had my favourite buttered corn, and awesome bamboo shoots, but the raw garlic was a bit too startling. I would have preferred this sans the sharp bite of raw garlic.  The not-so-little brother loved this though. He said the raw garlic gave this a subtle heat and brightness.

Pops wasn't feeling up to ramen, and ordered the Bishamon Curry Rice ($14.50) instead. This was pretty good, with moist, dense meat packed into crisp battered crust, and a mellow peppery and sweet curry sauce.

Tonkotsu Itto

The Special Tonkotsu Ramen is reminiscent of Chinese mee sua. The broth was the plainest of them all, with thin mee sua-like noodles dunked in a watery milky broth, julienned black fungus, eggs that were 2 seconds too cooked and tender cha shu.

At the revisit, we thought that while the tonkotsu broth was the weakest, the Special Tonkotsu Ramen ($16.50) had the best cha shu. It had that most meltingly tender, sumptuously fatty texture of all 4 ramen shops. Also, the egg was done better this time compared to the fully boiled one at the tasting.

Miyamoto

Ah, this was mine and the Hubs' favourite. The Pork & Vegetable Ramen was generously loaded with beansprouts and stewed cabbage, making for a sweet and rich soup base.

At the revisit, I asked them to lay off the garlic. The broth was sweet, having simmered generous amounts of cabbage into the base, and loaded generously with pork cubes and cha shu. A heap of crunchy beansprouts cut through and balanced out the rich sweetness of the stock.

Butaou

The shoyu-based Special Sukiyaki Ramen balanced the fatty pork belly, marinated sukiyaki-style, and cha shu.

At the revisit, the Special Sukiyaki Ramen ($16) was most favored by the littlest one, a shoyu loyalist. I thought it was a tad too salty. That said, the sukiyaki streaky pork belly was sinfully awesome.

The Spicy Chicken, with a liberal dusting of chilli powder, was surprisingly spicy. My tongue went numb after the first bite, and I was left with a runny nose thereafter.

At the revisit, they'd forgotten to sprinkle chilli powder on the Spicy Chicken ($5 for 3 pcs), which was fine by me. This was decent, if a little forgettable.

Thanks to Joanne and Malcolm of Brand Blitz PR for the invite and hosting us all.

Ramen Champion
1 Kim Seng Promenade
Great World City #01-22
Tel: 6235 1295
Open daily from 11.30am to 10.30pm
Website: www.ramenchampion.com.sg/#

Itacho Sushi, Plaza Singapura

Itacho Sushi opened to much fanfare and tiresome snaking queues. I'd heard good stuff about them but waited till the crazy long lines dwindled before we decided to dine here. We were curious as to how the Japanese fare here stacked up against Sushi Tei, the frontrunner in the mid-priced, mass market, casual Japanese chain restaurant market.

As it turns out, the food here is a little overhyped. I wasn't particularly impressed with their stuff and left baffled as to how some people actually queued up an hour for this. Granted, I only dined on their cooked foods, so maybe Itacho shines in the raw foods department. However, based on the random sampling of the menu, my take is that Sushi Tei easily trumps Itacho Sushi.

The Grilled Salmon ($8) seasoned with spicy miso, was saccharine and overwhelmed the natural taste of the salmon. Worse still was that it was overcooked, resulting in a somewhat dry piece of fish.

The Shrimp Tempura ($5) fared much better. Light crisp batter swathed the fresh bouncy prawns.

The Vegetable Tempura ($4.50), a medley of eggplant, peppers, yam, sweet potatoes, lady's finger and shitake, was also good. Sweet, toothsome vegetables with a crisp battered crust.

The Edamame ($2.80) should have been an easy peasy dish, but because it was unsalted, it was consequently tasteless.

Itacho Sushi
#02-35 Plaza Singapura
68 Orchard Road
Tel: 6337 8922
Open Sundays to Tursdays from 11am to 10pm;
Fridays to Saturdays from 11am to 11pm

Chowon Garden Korean Restaurant

Ray & Pat visited our sunny island over the weekend, and Pat was hankering for Korean cuisine. We don't usually eat Korean fare unless we're in Seoul, but we made an exception for our dear Pat because there's apparently a dearth of East Asian cuisine in Kuching. They'd dined at ChoWon Garden before and found the food pretty decent, and so, brought us here to sample the Korean cuisine.

Walking in, you'd be struck at how much this place would fit right into any Seoul gil. From the boisterous group of Korean salarymen drinking at a corner, to the trio of Korean women sitting with their legs propped up on their chairs, right down to the surly attitude of the waitress, in typical Korean fashion of course (we had a running bet throughout dinner as to who could make her crack a smile), this cosy homely restaurant is as authentic as it gets. The Hubs said that the restaurant makes him feel like he's back home, hah.

The food here is, like the homely ambience, very homespun. Like what you'd expect out of a homecook's kitchen. Not quite impressive, a little forgettable, but not entirely bad. Just very average fare.

We were quickly served up complimentary Banchan to fill you up and nibble all through the night with soju.

The Kimchi was fairly authentic, a good amount of spice and depth. The Hubs liked it and ordered another portion just for himself.

The Sigeumchi Namul, parboiled spinach dressed lightly in soy and chilli, was a tad dry and plain.

The Fishcake was my personal fave, it was clear, light and bouncy. We got seconds and thirds of this.

An unusual banchan was the Cockles Bokkeum, freshly shucked and juicy, stir-fried with gochujang chilli pepper paste.

The Myulchi Bokkeum, anchovies fried with chilli, was lacking that kickass saltiness present in better renditions.

The Spicy Pickled Radish was crunchy and refreshing.

The Kimchi Jjigae ($13), kimchi stew, was wonderfully comforting in the current rainy weather. Chunked up with soft beancurd cubes, this had enough depth, sinus-clearing spice and sweetness.

The Galbi-Tang ($18), beef ribs soup, didn't fare as well. The broth could be sweeter, and the beef ribs were practically devoid of taste. A big disappointment, this one.

The Jap-Chae ($20), tung hoon fried with slivers of pork, zucchini, spinach, onions and black fungus, was pretty good; garlicky with a hint of sweetness.

In spite of the cold-er weather we've been experiencing, the Hubs wanted to try the Mul-Naeng-Myon ($17), cold noodles, in a beef broth with julienned pears, cucumbers, poached beef slices and half a boiled egg. He'd been missing this a bit. This was icily refreshing, with a fair bite to the chewy noodles.

Chowon Garden Korean Restaurant
2 Peck Seah Street #01-01
Tel: 6225 1317
Open daily from 11.30am to 2.30pm for lunch; 5.30pm to 10pm for dinner

ToTT's Showcase of Best Brunch Ever Cookbook and Launch of e-Commerce Shop

Prior to fitting out my home, I'd been content with Ikea's very affordable kitchenware. Until a couple of my mates told me about ToTT at Sime Darby Centre. It's the sister outfit to Sia Huat which supplies kitchenware to the hotels and restaurants. I initially had reservations about ToTT because it'd looked quite upmarket, but it all changed after we went down one Sunday, and went nuts in the store like sugar-deprived kids in Candylicious. Although their dinnerware is considerably nicer than Ikea's, it's actually cheaper than at Ikea! Basically, shopping at ToTT is like shopping at Williams Sonoma but at Ikea-ish prices. A damn good find, all thanks to S and J, if there ever was one.

And now that ToTT has launched its online e-commerce site, shopping has never been easier. Or more addictive. Especially now that the streets are a tangled mess of holiday shoppers, shopping online in the comfort of your home, away from the holiday horde, is a damn fine idea. Oh this note, all of my friends can expect presents this year from online retailers. I'd already gotten the Hubs' board shorts from the notable local multi-boutique e-shop Zalora (they really carry the most extensive range of brands here!).

In case you think that ToTT is only good for stocking up on kitchenware, it also runs cooking classes, and a bistro as well. It's basically a one-stop shop for any budding home chef wannabe, where you fit out your kitchen, pick up cooking tips and fuel up as well.

ToTT's also launched a cookbook as well, a collaboration with some pretty esteemed chefs, to commemorate their 3rd anniversary. I was invited to a showcase of some of the recipes in the cookbook, a dizzying display of the chefs' mad skills, in a foreign kitchen no less, and their interpretation on brunch classics. 

First up at the showcase was a Spaghetti Piccanti by Chef Antonio Facchinetti, the soft-spoken chef de cuisine of one of my favourite Italian restaurants in town, Prego. The pasta reminds me very much of aglio olio, with salty anchovies and fresh bouncy squid sprucing up the simple flavoursome classic.   

This recipe is the one I'm most eager to try my hand. Like most Italian dishes, the recipe is straightforward, non-fussy and uncomplicated. Just really fresh and good ingredients. Akan datang for my re-creation!

Next up was the Eggs a la Coq, by the revered chef Nicolas Joanny of the eponymous Nicolas Le Restaurant at the Keong Siak conservation area. I'd been to his restaurant years ago and had the most amazing food there, and true to form, his brunch dish of eggs baked eggs with a prawn crisp thingy didn't disappoint. It may look unimpressively simple, but OMG, this totally blew me away with how precise and exquisite it was. But, the recipe is totally intimidating. Like, wth is fleur de sel?! I had to google the term. (it's a type of salt, btw)

The recipe of baked eggs, with the chef evidently drawing inspiration from his childhood in Africa, employs French techniques on traditional African ingredients.

Love the gorgeous egg cup, it's a little frivolous but will make a great gift for Christmas. 

The big surprise of the showcase was the Cornbread Wedges with Bacon Jam, by the entertainingly affable chef Dan Segall, the group executive chef of The Big Idea, the group behind restaurants such as Fat Cow, Kinki and Bedrock. I would never think to put bacon in a jam but this totally works. It balances the salty and sweet and savoury and smoky so well, and while the cornbread wasn't super moist, it does set up the jam beautifully. 

I'm gonna shortcut this by getting Kenny Rogers' corn muffins and pairing them with the bacon jam here. The recipe may look tedious, with a cooking time of more than an hour, but it's actually quite simple. It just needs oodles of TLC to ensure the bottom of the pot doesn't get burned.

The last dish of the day was the Banh Cuon, Vietnamese steamed rice rolls with a minced pork filling, by Chi Quang Trinh, sous chef of Addictions Cafe and Remedy Bar. This was pretty good, hearty but light.

The poor chef wasn't quite used to the ToTT kitchen and couldn't quite get the rice rolls right. They were either too thick or broke apart easily. I think I'm gonna learn from him and get those ready-made rice rolls from the supermarket instead. Much easier, methinks.

The chefs from left to right: Nicolas, Dan, Chi and Antonio. I had the most fun talking to Dan, as his American accent was the most easily decipherable. Turns out his brother is a lawyer too, guess he got the family's chatterbug genes!

The cookbook, Best Brunch Ever - Delicious Morning Recipes, is available at ToTT at $12.90.

Thanks to Nicholas and Jael of FoodNews PR for the invite!

ToTT 'Tools of The Trade'
896 Dunearn Road
Sime Darby Centre
Tel: 6219 7077
Store opens Weekdays from 11am to 9pm; Weekends from 10am to 9pm
Bistro opens Weekdays from 10.30am to 9pm; Weekends from 9.30am to 9pm
Website: www.tottstore.com

Ippudo SG, Mandarin Gallery

I finally tried Ippudo, the famed ramen joint with the infamous snaking lines. It's been a couple of years since the lauded ramen king landed on our shores and they now have 3 outlets. So while the notorious queues have subsided, their hearty and robust ramen ensures a steady flow, and on occasion, flash flood, of diners.

An observation we made over dinner last Thursday was that the restaurant isn't catered to date nights. It's more a place to dine and dash, with payment of the bill made first, of course. The din of the crowded restaurant makes hearing your dining companion(s) a feat, and the overt clearing of dishes in order to turn over the diners efficiently deters any lingering.

The Shiromaru Motoaji ($15), Ippudo's original tonkotsu broth is what made them famous. I thought the full-bodied, albeit oily, soup base was decent, with hardly a sticky film present in most substandard tonkotsu broths. We chose the popular medium texture for the noodles (there's soft, medium, hard and extra hard to choose from), and it was a nice contrast to the still-crunchy cabbage, radish and black fungus. The cha shu is tender enough but not particular spectacular.

However, the standout was their seasonal ramen, the Spicy Black ($18), a "zeng-ed" up version of the original tonkotsu, with spicy niku miso, black pepper, and spicy koyu oil. I loved loved LOVED this. The black pepper lent a nuanced kick to the broth and balanced the tonkotsu base. I was still daydreaming and salivating over this days after.

We added a Soy Egg ($3) to our dishes, and this was perfectly done, if a little pricey. Cooked through but still wobbly and soft insides.

Ippudo SG
333A Orchard Road
Mandarin Gallery #04-02
Tel: 6235 2797
Open Mondays to Saturdays from 11am to 11pm
Sundays from 11am to 10pm
Website: www.ippudo.com.sg

Symmetry

It's been a year since we last had brunch here and the past year has, evidently, been very kind to Symmetry, a hipster-ish café at the charming Kampong Glam area. It's gotten significantly more popular, resulting in the corridor outside being annexed as part of the dining premises. The menu is slightly spruced up as well, and there are now a couple of dishes here not previously on the menu.

We were intrigued by the Symmetry Eggs Sur Le Plat ($22), as it sounded like a shashouka of sorts, and I'm totally biased towards the Turkish breakfast staple. Symmetry's version is quite different though, even if it does, at first brush, look similar. A couple of eggs are baked in a medley of piquillo puree, pork sausage, garlic confit, cream spinach, topped with melted cheese, lettuce and brioche. This was a lot less saucey than I'd like, and the addition of creamed spinach tipped the concoction into the cloying realm. The eggs were perfectly cooked though, scrumptiously runny when pricked.

The Bacon and Cheese Rissoles ($16), seasoned with apple cider and accompanied by an onion dip, was AWESOME. The potato-based puffs were moist on the inside, crisp on the outside, and totally addictive. They were so good that we promptly "dabao-ed" another portion of this to snack on.

We loved how cool the complimentary starter of iced grapes was.

We supplemented brunch with a cooler of lychee mint which was refreshingly sweet.

And Orangina, for a touch of nostalgia.

Symmetry 9 Jalan Kubor #01-01
Tel: 6291 9901
Open Tuesdays to Thursdays from 11am to 11pm
Fridays and Saturdays from 11am to 12midnight
Sundays from 11am to 7pm
Website: symmetry.com.sg