Ramen Nagi at Suntec City

The media recently reported that the famous Tokyo ramen - Ramen Nagi, just opened its door right here at Suntec City, Singapore.  I have never heard of Ramen Nagi before, but as it is said to be a famous one from Tokyo, I must give it a try!

The address is Suntec City Tower 2, North Wing, #01-512/513, but actually it is not quite easy to find it.  First you have to find the north artrium, then you have walk OUTSIDE of Suntec City, and then turn back facing Suntec City, and then you will find it.

The interior deco is one of a kind.  Red, blue, yellow banners hanging down from the ceiling, at first glance, I almost mistook myself in a Tibetan temple.

The staff asked me whether it was my first time there, obviously yes.  Then he told me that there is a basket below every seat to put your bag.  Good, very safe :-)  And for ordering, I was given a sheet and a red pencil.  I had to decide which type of ramen, what kind of toppings and any extra, level of spiciness, etc.

My Ordering Slip

I decided to try their signature ramen, which is the Butao King.  I went for 'normal' for everything, and for spiciness, I also took the advise from the ordering slip to level 1 for 1st timer visitors.  For the pricing, I was actually very surprised that they charge $1.50 for extra green onions.

Ramen Butao King, $13.90+

My ramen came pretty fast after placing the order.  As usual, I tried the soup base first.  The richness level I ordered was 'Normal', so the soup was not as salty as those in 'authentic' Japanese ramen, which is a good point.  However, it was also a bit too diluted, the richness of flavor from the big bones somehow is lost.

The ramen itself was similar to our wanton noodle, thin and long.  It was firm, but not very chewy.  The portion was very small though, a few mouthfuls and it was gone, leaving me fruitlessly ploughing through the soup.  Spiciness of the ramen is determined by the amount of chili sauce they add to your ramen before serving.  Do you see that dark speck next to the red spoon in the photo above?  That was my chili sauce.  For level 1 spiciness, it was just a sting to your palates once in a long while.  And for some reason, the temperature of my ramen was rather uneven.  Some part of it was hot, some part of it was cold?

Last but not least, the pork shoulder.  I think it is the crown jewel of the ramen.  The portion was generous, about 4 pieces, where elsewhere you could only get 2 pieces without paying extra.  The shoulder meat was firm but not tough, easy to bite.

The dining environment may not be very comfortable if the place is almost full, as all the tables are crammed together, Japanese-style, leaving barely any space between you and the next diner.

Overall, Ramen Nagi serves decent ramen at a reasonable price.  If you have a sudden craving for ramen around the area, it can be a good choice.

Xin Yuan Mutton at Kampung Admiralty

The new hawker center at Kampung Admiralty, the very first vertical kampung in Singapore, opened recently, and has quite some interesting stalls.  Xin Yuan Mutton sells everything, no prize for your guess, mutton.

Mutton Soup, $5.00

I gave their mutton soup a try.  Surprised that their mutton soup has little oil , unlike the usually mutton soups in which you can see large patches of oil.  The soup is slightly milky, and has no traces of herbs.  The only fragrance came from the parsley and spring onion.  For people who hate herbal smells, this will be a good choice.

Very important for any mutton soup is it didn't have that singular smell unique to mutton.  Most people can't stand that smell, and it is really an art to get rid of it.  At this stall, I think they did a good job.  Other than the fragrance of the mutton, I didn't detect any unpleasant smell.  The mutton was firm, yet still pleasant to chew at.  You feel the warmth of the mutton somehow goes into your body, keeping you warm too.  It will be perfect if you have it on a rainy day.

They also sell trotters at $2.50 each, minimum order of 2 pieces.  They looked good too.  I would very much like to try that next time. 

Update on 30 May 2018:
This stall had closed down since.  

Luk Yu aka Tang Yan at Chinatown Point

Luk Yu, with its old name still visible

Luk Yu (陆羽), a Cantonese restaurant at Chinatown Point, recently changed its name to Tang Yan (唐筵), probably with a change of management too.  Well, the name change doesn't matter, the taste is what matters to foodies.

The new name has appeared

Moon Spinach, $12.00

The first dish that came was poached egg with spinach, or Moon Spinach as its Chinese name.  It was spinach immersed in a milky broth, top with a poached egg, and pieces of crab meat.  The egg yoke represents the moon, giving this dish a poetic sensation.   For such a simple dish, what makes a difference is the broth.  which was sweet and most probably cooked for hours with fresh ingredients.

Wuxi Pork Rib, $18.00

Next dish was Wuxi pork rib.  It was my first time hearing such a name, basically it was stewed pork rib on vegetables.  The pork ribs had been cooked with slow fire for hours, I guess.  The meat no longer sticks to the bone and a single bite could easily separate the two from each other.  It is perfect for dining with seniors who may have problem with their teeth.  The sauce provided additional flavor to the pork ribs. 

Deep Fried Mantou

Interestingly, the Wuxi Pork Rib was served with deep fried mantou, those that are usually served with chili crabs.  Well, until now I still couldn't figure out the link between the pork ribs and the mantou and how the two could come together.  Still scratching my head...

Shrimp Chee Cheong Fun, $6.00

Xiao Long Bao, $4.80

Chives Dumpling, $4.80

XO Chee Cheong Fun, $5.50

We also ordered some dim sum dishes.  They were all decent, but then nothing to rave about.  The shrimp chee cheong fun was not done right.  The skin was too soft, and broken. 

I probably will return to this restaurant, but more for their ala carte dishes, which are prepared with more effort and have a much better taste. 

The service there was good, prompt and polite.  The dining environment somehow gives me a sense of dining in Hong Kong.  The two gentlemen sitting at the table behind me probably were businessmen catching with each other over lunch.  There were also some tourist-looking patrons, but the majority seem to be local Singaporeans.  

Akimitsu Tendon at VivoCity

Akimitsu is a new Japanese restaurant at VivoCity, which claims to be the original inventor of Tendon in Tokyo's Asakusa area.  What is tendon?  Tendon, I guess, is a Japanese word by combining "Ten" in tempura, and "don", which is the Japanese word for rice bowl, or rice pot.  Tendon in this case means tempura on rice. 

I first visited this place on a Friday evening, a long queue at the entrance, so I decided to come again on a Monday evening.  Luckily this time there was no queue, and we were ushered in swiftly. 

The place is not very big and all the tables are crammed together, leaving little privacy between tables.  Whatever your conversation is, you must be ready to share it with the people on the next table. 

There were two plastic boxes on the table, one contains preserved cabbage, the other preserved bean sprouts.  You can have a free flow of these two side dishes.  The bean sprouts were too salty for my taste.  The cabbage was not bad.  My friend and I munched quite a bit of the cabbage before our food arrived. 

Signature Don, $14.90

I ordered their signature don.  It consists of prawn, fish, long bean, mushroom, carrot, and egg.  Of course, all the tempura are put in a rice bowl, on top of the rice.  When we ordered, we were also asked what kind of tempura sauce we would like, but when the food came, there was no sauce.  Puzzled, we asked the staff, the reply was the sauce was already in the rice.  If we would like to have extra sauce, we could help ourselves to the tendon sauce bottle on the table.  Beside the tendon, the meal also came with a small portion of steamed egg and a bowl of miso soup. 

I am not an expert on tempura, especially how to tell whether it is good or bad.  The tempura here is not extremely crispy, but acceptable.  The outside appeared to be still quite oily.  For the health-conscious, this may not be a very good choice.  In terms of taste, for my untrained palates, I could only tell the flavor from the tendon sauce. 

The portion was reasonable, enough to feed a guy and fill his stomach. 

Yan Ji Seafood Soup

Yan Ji seafood soup stall is hidden deep in Woodlands, in an area where residential buildings meet industrial buildings - 19 Marsiling Lane.  It is quite a distance from Woodlands MRT, and I actually had to ride an Obike to get to this place. 

Seafood Soup, $12.00

I ordered the seafood soup with crayfish for $12.00.  The crayfish looked really good, big in size.  I tried the soup first.  Mmmh.....It tasted more than a pork meat soup than a seafood soup.  I carefully moved the crayfish aside, three big chunks of minced pork were underneath, which explained why it tasted more like pork soup. 

I decided to start with the crayfish.  It was good.  The meat was firm and bouncy, You could peel the entire chunk of crayfish meat out from its shell in a single attempt, evidence for fresh crayfish!  Nothing beats the fresh taste when it comes to seafood.  The crayfish itself is worth at least $9 out of its $12 price. 

The rest of the ingredients and the soup were a big disappointment though.  First, let me talk about the soup.  It had only one distinguishable flavor - Salty!  Very very salty!  I think they marinated the minced pork with lots of salt, that's the reason why the soup was so salty, and it became more and more salty as you got to the bottom. 

The other ingredients included a fish ball, 2-3 clams, 1-2 small prawns which were not really that fresh, and some tiny pieces of squid. 

Overall I will give it a Fail.  The only saving grace was the crayfish which really was the crown jewel of this almost unpalatable seafood soup.  No, no, no next time. 

Soi Thai Kitchen at Serangoon Garden

Serangoon Garden is quite a food paradise, with a variety of cuisines available, from the local hawker fare at Chomp Chomp, to Chongqing BBQ, to Italian food, there is always something for everyone.

Went to Soi Thai Kitchen for a quick lunch the other day.  The place goes for a no-frills setting.   High ceiling and ample space between tables.  You won't feel being cramped into a small place.  The downside, of course, is there is no air-conditioning.  It could be quite hot in Singapore's tropical weather.  In addition, the restaurant is just 1-2 meters away from the car park.  If you are sitting at the shop front, and a car is starting, the exhaust can blow right into your face.  I must say it is quite a turn off.  Morale of the story?  Don't sit near the entrance.

Basil with minced pork and egg, $6.00

Soi Thai Kitchen makes available some Thai food at food court price so that you can even go there for a casual lunch, just like me.  I ordered their basil with minced pork and egg, served with plain rice for a grand total of $6.00!  No service charge, no GST! 

The food was decent.  The minced pork was on the more fat side, so it was not that great.  The basil leaves and the chili somehow compensated for that, offering appetizing fragrance and the hot stimulus to your taste buds.  For $6, I think it is not much to be too critical of.

Hawker Chan

I visited Hawker Chan at their Toa Payoh branch on a Sunday morning.  They are open from 11am, but at 10.50am, there was already a small queue in front of the shop.  There were newspaper cutting on the glass wall, about the history of this hawker with a prestigious Michelin 1-star.  It was interesting to know the owner came from Ipoh, Malaysia, started out his own business in roast chicken as a hawker in Singapore, eventually gaining fame obtaining the Michelin 1-star, probably the only hawker with a Michelin star at that time. 

Their Chinese name, 了凡, is of significance as well.  I think it is from 了凡四训, a Chinese book written by a Mr Yuan Liaofan.  He was resigned to his fate in his early years, but after he was enlightened by a Buddhist monk, he decided to change his own fate by practicing the Buddhist teachings and through charity work.  I think the name fits Hawker Chan's story too.

The shop retains its simplicity of its hawker origin, but incorporated many modern features to improve its efficiency.  For example, customer will queue up to order their food at the counter.  Then they will be given a number to collect their food. 

I ordered their roast chicken rice, and added char siew (BBQ pork).  Actually I like their char siew more than the roast chicken.  Why?  The char siew has a good mixture of fat and lean meat, rendering it sufficiently juicy, yet still not too oily.  Unlike your normal char siew, tastes like the sugar cane with all the juice been squeezed out. 

Hawker Chan firmly remembers its hawker root, so is their pricing.  For my order, it only set me back by a mere $6.80, less than a meal at some high end food courts! 

Overall, I think it is pretty good value for money, and the quality doesn't disappoint.  Kudos to our hawker star!