24 June 2007, ST
Ramen seems to be the rage with three new eateries opening and queues at some existing shops
By Brenda Goh
THREE new ramen shops have opened here in the past four months, adding to about 23 existing outlets here.
At one of them, Marutama Ra-Men at the new Central mall, long queues form every day. It serves at least 300 customers daily and the owners say they cannot cope.
Singaporeans, it seems, cannot get enough of this Japanese version of a Chinese dish comprising wheat noodles in a rich soup stock.
Mr Lim Wei Gien, 38, who owns Ramen Ramen at the Rail Mall in Upper Bukit Timah, opened Manpodo Ramen in Atrium@Orchard last week. He says he did so because customers wanted more authentic ramen in town.
Other new outlets include Ichibantei's third shop, which opened in China Square Central in April.
And the Beppu Menkan chain will open a fourth outlet, also in China Square Central, next month.
Existing outlets are not losing out. Most of the owners LifeStyle talked to say their outlets serve an average of 200 customers daily.
Ajisen, a chain of 10 ramen shops, sells 8,000 bowls of ramen a day.
The most popular kind of ramen here, most owners agree, is the tonkotsu ramen. It comes from the Japanese island of Kyushu, and has a collagen-rich, milky-white soup stock that is made by simmering pork bones for many hours.
In Japan, there is usually a layer of oil over the soup, which coats the noodles as they are pulled out of the soup.
Mr Michael Seng, 52, co-owner of Beppu Mekan with his brother Kevin, says: 'It's really yummy when it's oily and the noodles get very smooth. The layer of oil helps to keep the soup hot.'
But many of the shops here tweak their noodles to suit Singaporean tastebuds, cutting down on the salt and oil and making the stock more spicy, among other changes.
Mr Lim says that when he opened Ramen Ramen four years ago, the ramen he served was 'very oily, salty and had a lot of garlic in it'.
A cool reception from customers prompted him to cut down on the grease and salt.
Beppu's Mr Seng says he upped the spice quotient in his ramen by adding chilli paste and chilli powder to the soup.
He says: 'Singaporeans love spicy food, so we have five levels of spiciness. In Japan, the spiciness of the ramen only goes up to level two.'
Unlike ramen shops in Japan, which usually offer only gyoza or pork dumplings as a side dish, those in Singapore sell everything from fried soft-shell crabs to sashimi.
'This gives Singaporeans variety, which they like,' said Ramen Ten's operations manager, Mr Christopher Ho.
And there are even more radical tweaks.
Ramen Ten, which has two outlets, began offering dry noodles five years ago, in flavours like tom yam, and continued to call it ramen, even though the word is synonymous with noodles and soup.
Mr Ho, 38, says: 'Our ramen is like Singaporean meepok - it appeals to everyone.'
But some restaurants say they are sticking to the original recipes.
'Our tonkotsu ramen is our most popular dish and we tailor it to suit the Japanese,' says chef Chan Chee Hong, 33, from Ichibantei at The Quayside. About half its clientele is Japanese.
Kado Man at the Grand Plaza Hotel Shopping Arcade, where six in 10 customers are Japanese, does so too, as does Orchard Plaza's Noodle House Ken.
One of the latter's regular customers, Mr Louis Kee, 26, a chef, says that he prefers it this way.
He says: 'It's tastier. Since it's from Japan, we should keep it the way it is.'
For ramen-lovers like sales officer Jessie Tan, 29, a regular at Miharu in Gallery Hotel, the influx of new ramen eateries is good news.
She says: 'It's definitely a good thing for consumers, especially since it gives us more variety and choice.'
Ramen seems to be the rage with three new eateries opening and queues at some existing shops
By Brenda Goh
THREE new ramen shops have opened here in the past four months, adding to about 23 existing outlets here.
At one of them, Marutama Ra-Men at the new Central mall, long queues form every day. It serves at least 300 customers daily and the owners say they cannot cope.
Singaporeans, it seems, cannot get enough of this Japanese version of a Chinese dish comprising wheat noodles in a rich soup stock.
Mr Lim Wei Gien, 38, who owns Ramen Ramen at the Rail Mall in Upper Bukit Timah, opened Manpodo Ramen in Atrium@Orchard last week. He says he did so because customers wanted more authentic ramen in town.
Other new outlets include Ichibantei's third shop, which opened in China Square Central in April.
And the Beppu Menkan chain will open a fourth outlet, also in China Square Central, next month.
Existing outlets are not losing out. Most of the owners LifeStyle talked to say their outlets serve an average of 200 customers daily.
Ajisen, a chain of 10 ramen shops, sells 8,000 bowls of ramen a day.
The most popular kind of ramen here, most owners agree, is the tonkotsu ramen. It comes from the Japanese island of Kyushu, and has a collagen-rich, milky-white soup stock that is made by simmering pork bones for many hours.
In Japan, there is usually a layer of oil over the soup, which coats the noodles as they are pulled out of the soup.
Mr Michael Seng, 52, co-owner of Beppu Mekan with his brother Kevin, says: 'It's really yummy when it's oily and the noodles get very smooth. The layer of oil helps to keep the soup hot.'
But many of the shops here tweak their noodles to suit Singaporean tastebuds, cutting down on the salt and oil and making the stock more spicy, among other changes.
Mr Lim says that when he opened Ramen Ramen four years ago, the ramen he served was 'very oily, salty and had a lot of garlic in it'.
A cool reception from customers prompted him to cut down on the grease and salt.
Beppu's Mr Seng says he upped the spice quotient in his ramen by adding chilli paste and chilli powder to the soup.
He says: 'Singaporeans love spicy food, so we have five levels of spiciness. In Japan, the spiciness of the ramen only goes up to level two.'
Unlike ramen shops in Japan, which usually offer only gyoza or pork dumplings as a side dish, those in Singapore sell everything from fried soft-shell crabs to sashimi.
'This gives Singaporeans variety, which they like,' said Ramen Ten's operations manager, Mr Christopher Ho.
And there are even more radical tweaks.
Ramen Ten, which has two outlets, began offering dry noodles five years ago, in flavours like tom yam, and continued to call it ramen, even though the word is synonymous with noodles and soup.
Mr Ho, 38, says: 'Our ramen is like Singaporean meepok - it appeals to everyone.'
But some restaurants say they are sticking to the original recipes.
'Our tonkotsu ramen is our most popular dish and we tailor it to suit the Japanese,' says chef Chan Chee Hong, 33, from Ichibantei at The Quayside. About half its clientele is Japanese.
Kado Man at the Grand Plaza Hotel Shopping Arcade, where six in 10 customers are Japanese, does so too, as does Orchard Plaza's Noodle House Ken.
One of the latter's regular customers, Mr Louis Kee, 26, a chef, says that he prefers it this way.
He says: 'It's tastier. Since it's from Japan, we should keep it the way it is.'
For ramen-lovers like sales officer Jessie Tan, 29, a regular at Miharu in Gallery Hotel, the influx of new ramen eateries is good news.
She says: 'It's definitely a good thing for consumers, especially since it gives us more variety and choice.'
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