I'm finally trying more stuff on my restaurant wishlist! This is a pretty old post cos I went there before my exams. It's finally over! I'm looking fw to my 10 wks of pseudo holiday! I've just bought a new food guide, shall read it later tonight and find new places to go to!
I encountered a bit of trouble locating the place, cos it's outside the building, facing Cuppage Terrace, and the security guards at the info counter didn't know where it was.
Like most Japanese ramen speciality stores, the menu is very limited, and they have about 6 kinds of ramen, a few rice dishes (but no one will go to a ramen place to have rice) :P Namely, shoyu (soya sauce) ramen ($10), Shio (salt) ramen ($10), Charsiew Ramen ($12), Miso Ramen ($12), Kimuchi Ramen ($12), Stewed Boiled Egg Ramen ($12) and Cold Ramen ($12).
Stewed Egg Ramen ($12) which came with a piece of charsiew and a half boiled egg. A good ramen is judged mostly by its broth. I find that on hungrygowhere, ramen stores tend to have lower ratings, cos alot of people say that there's only ONE piece of charsiew, why the heck am I paying 12 bucks for this? They're completely missing the point cos lots of care and hard work has been placed into making the perfect broth. The soup is boiled for many many hours, and has all the flavour from the bones used.
According to the menu, the broth at Noodle House Ken is boiled for 8 hours and no MSG is used. What I liked about it was that you can request for less salt and less oil to suit your taste. I find Japanese food is usually more salty than our local cusine, so I asked for less salt in the soup. The soup was perfect, not salty and very robust.
I ordered the Cold Ramen ($12), which I was craving cos it was very hot and I wanted to taste the sesamse sauce that Julie and ice were raving about. The noodles were very tangy, and the freshly chopped cucumber, beansprouts, pork and omelette went well with the creamy fragrant sesame sauce. I liked that the noodles here was much springier than the cooked one (perhaps I ate the hot ramen after I was done with my cold ramen, so I found the noodles slightly soggy. I didn't try it immediately after it was served, so I'm not sure if the noodles are soggy to begin with, or the noodles are soggy cos they've been soaking too long.)
Side dish of stewed charsiew ($5) - it comes with a black sweet sauce. The pork used here is very lean, unlike most ramen places which uses very fatty pork so that it melts in your mouth. Only the edges have a bit of fat, but it's not tough at all, and its very smooth and doesn't have a porky smell. It's served with a small dollop of mustard at the side too.
Gyoza ($5) - aka guo tie. The way they cook this is pretty cool - they have this rectangular griller and they sandwich the gyoza in between 2 hot grills. They also pour lots of oil/water (i'm not sure I think it's water) periodically to drench the gyoza. Ok my description is very incoherent so I think you should just sit inside and look at it yourself.
Noodle House Ken's main restaurant (where they cook the ramen) only has counter seats, and it's pretty stuffy inside. There's a small al fresco dining area outside the restaurant. But after I went around exploring the place, I discovered a newer wing of Noodle House Ken which had proper tables and good aircon. It's further inside and looks more comfy than sweating it out infront of the boilers. But I think I'll rather sit where the action happens, cos I really like seeing the chefs prepare food :D The great thing about the restaurant is that the service is friendly, prompt and best of all, they serve cold water free of charge.
Noodle House Ken
I encountered a bit of trouble locating the place, cos it's outside the building, facing Cuppage Terrace, and the security guards at the info counter didn't know where it was.
Like most Japanese ramen speciality stores, the menu is very limited, and they have about 6 kinds of ramen, a few rice dishes (but no one will go to a ramen place to have rice) :P Namely, shoyu (soya sauce) ramen ($10), Shio (salt) ramen ($10), Charsiew Ramen ($12), Miso Ramen ($12), Kimuchi Ramen ($12), Stewed Boiled Egg Ramen ($12) and Cold Ramen ($12). You can add toppings such as sweet corn, seaweed, bambooshoots and butter for $1 each, and spring onion, stewed boiled egg ad charsiew for $2 each.
For people who absolutely detest ramen, there are 3 types of rice dishes (Small portions), and they mostly make use of the same ingredients as the ramen. There's Char Siew Rice ($5), Spicy Fish Roe Rice ($5) and Rice balls ($3/piece).
Stewed Egg Ramen ($12) which came with a piece of charsiew and a half boiled egg. A good ramen is judged mostly by its broth. I find that on hungrygowhere, ramen stores tend to have lower ratings, cos alot of people say that there's only ONE piece of charsiew, why the heck am I paying 12 bucks for this? They're completely missing the point cos lots of care and hard work has been placed into making the perfect broth. The soup is boiled for many many hours, and has all the flavour from the bones used. According to the menu, the broth at Noodle House Ken is boiled for 8 hours and no MSG is used. What I liked about it was that you can request for less salt and less oil to suit your taste. I find Japanese food is usually more salty than our local cusine, so I asked for less salt in the soup. The soup was perfect, not salty and very robust.I ordered the Cold Ramen ($12), which I was craving cos it was very hot and I wanted to taste the sesamse sauce that Julie and ice were raving about. The noodles were very tangy, and the freshly chopped cucumber, beansprouts, pork and omelette went well with the creamy fragrant sesame sauce. I liked that the noodles here was much springier than the cooked one (perhaps I ate the hot ramen after I was done with my cold ramen, so I found the noodles slightly soggy. I didn't try it immediately after it was served, so I'm not sure if the noodles are soggy to begin with, or the noodles are soggy cos they've been soaking too long.)
Side dish of stewed charsiew ($5) - it comes with a black sweet sauce. The pork used here is very lean, unlike most ramen places which uses very fatty pork so that it melts in your mouth. Only the edges have a bit of fat, but it's not tough at all, and its very smooth and doesn't have a porky smell. It's served with a small dollop of mustard at the side too.Gyoza ($5) - aka guo tie. The way they cook this is pretty cool - they have this rectangular griller and they sandwich the gyoza in between 2 hot grills. They also pour lots of oil/water (i'm not sure I think it's water) periodically to drench the gyoza. Ok my description is very incoherent so I think you should just sit inside and look at it yourself.Noodle House Ken's main restaurant (where they cook the ramen) only has counter seats, and it's pretty stuffy inside. There's a small al fresco dining area outside the restaurant. But after I went around exploring the place, I discovered a newer wing of Noodle House Ken which had proper tables and good aircon. It's further inside and looks more comfy than sweating it out infront of the boilers. But I think I'll rather sit where the action happens, cos I really like seeing the chefs prepare food :D The great thing about the restaurant is that the service is friendly, prompt and best of all, they serve cold water free of charge.
Noodle House Ken150 Orchard Road
#01-17/18 Orchard Plaza
Tel: 6235 5540
Opening Hours: Mon-Sat: 12noon - 2pm, 6pm - 2am(Closed on Sundays)
They're opened till their soup runs out lol so call first before zooming down for supper or you might be dissappointed.
They're opened till their soup runs out lol so call first before zooming down for supper or you might be dissappointed.
2 comments:
heh, actually Baikohken's & Miharu's char siew dons are pretty good & are very popular with Jap patrons. :) But now you're making me crave for NHK's cold ramen. The noodle for cold ramen here is very springy coz they deliberately do so this way. The waitress even asked if I want to opt for the "softer" version which most locals prefer. I stuck to the original.
This steam-fry method is the Jap way of cooking gyoza, much like those I watch on Japan Hour.
hello ice!I'm dying to try miharu ramen. I was at nhk recently but they were closed (for cny?) so I ended up at osho eating super salty food:(
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