Irashaimasen! Ramen anyone?

It is no wonder I am an avid fan of Japanese Food … well … maybe not just Japanese food… I also love the spicy Korean noodles and Kimchi, the cheesy pizza, pasta, the flavorful chinese Ba kut Teh and fish soup, Gelato ice cream (any flavor)and the list can go on and on.

But what is so special about Japanese food is that it is a juxtapost of all the food I like mixed into one. They have fish in the form of sashimi or Sushi. They have QQ noodles in the form of Ramen, Udon and soba and I can never get enough of their curry rice and their Chawanmushi.

It just happens that last friday after work, me and my wife was contemplating where and what to eat for dinner when we wandered in to Central Mall. That place is a haven for food enthusiast. Gathered there are a variety of resturants and you can have a decent chinese, Western or Japanese meal and all that limits you is the size of your wallet.

And so while walking, we were attracted by the aroma of chicken soup and the smell led us right to the door step of this stall called Marutama Ramen. This is the only branch in Singapore (I think) and their main branch are in Japan. This is their webpage. Unfortunately it is all in Japanese. And this is their name card.

Anyway, at about 630 in the evening, there is already a queue of 5 to 10 persons waiting to be seated and the resturant is alreayd packed. As we wanted to find out if the soup taste as good as it smelled, we joined the queue. The shop is small with about 8 tables with a sitting capacity of 6 persons each and about 8 to 10 counter seats. If you are willing to take the counter seats, chances are, you would be seated and served faster. But even then, I waited for a cool 15 minutes or so.

Unfortunately I did not bring my camera that day and could not snap a layout of the shop or a pic of the delicious pipping hot ramen that eventually arrived in front of me. But well I guess you wil just have to imagine as I describe.

The shop sells 2 distinct ramen soup base. One is the chichken soup (with or without green chilli), which is the aroma that attracted us and the other is their special soup base made from several nuts. The basic ramen comes with some spring onions sprinkled on top, some sea weed and a picec of Char siew. (Cost S$12) If you want to add toppings, you would have to pay extra S$1 to S$4 more. Toppings that can be added include additional spring onions, see weed or even more pieces of char siew. Oh yea before I forget .. the cost does not included GST or service charge.

Well with the price setled, lets tuck in. The soup as described earlier smells very rich but its texture is surprising light and the taste goes very well with the noodles and the rest of the ingredients. The ramen itself is very Q. Not soogy and not too hard. You actually can feel the individual strands of noodles before they give way to your chomping teeth. The Char Siew is the best. It had been heavily seasoned and boiled until it is super soft. You will think that you are eating cotton and not pork. The meat justs melts on your tongue and the aroma of the seasoning will fill your mouth. Unfortunately you are only given a small piece (unless you decide to add 3 pieces of Char siew at S$4) so savour every bit of it.

Not to mention we had a hearty meal and I will definitely be back to try to other dishes…. provided i get a resevation first.