from menya shinchan with love

spicy mazesoba - dry ramen with charsiew, crispy bits, mayo and cheese - 10/10

yeah. i know i haven't posted for awhile. please don't blame me. it's not that i've been particularly lazy (ok maybe i have) or particularly busy. truth be told, i haven't been trying that many new things for me to write about. why, you may ask. could it be possible that i'm actually stopped being a glutton? or worse, could it be possible that i'm on a diet? (insert creepy twilight zone music here)

well, the answer is no. in fact, i've actually been eating alot of the same food recently. because there is actually something that has made me go back almost every week since i tried that place. it's so bad that it's become an obsession, a love affair, so seductive that it can't be resisted. in fact, i half-considered not publishing this post because i didn't want more people to go out and eat there. the place is wonderful and i really don't want it to get overcrowded. but after battling with my conscience, i finally overcame my innate selfish, gluttonous desires and decided to share the love.

i wrote about menya shinchan's ramen before. but i'm going to write about it again. this time a more updated version, as i've tried several more things. i've been back so often now that the girl there kinda knows what i want. well two of the girls there never get my order right so i always go back to this particular girl.

lets start off. for those of you who haven't read my other post, menya shinchan is THE absolute best place for ramen in singapore. first of all, please don't compare this to the one at central (marutama ramen), or the one at shenton way (men-tai ramen). firstly, the one that is overly popular (marutama) serves their ramen with chicken-based soup! can you believe it. that is absoulutely insane. blasphemous. there is no way in the world that chicken soup ramen is going to be better than pork bone. don't even try to convince me. if your'e going to have chicken soup ramen, you may as well get instant noodles. some of that nissin should do the trick. ok, maybe its not as bad as it sounds, but it's no where near as good as menya. secondly, mentai (at shenton) is no where near as good too. ok they do use pork for the broth, but the place is so damn crowded. the reason they are so popular is because they cater to the lunch crowd at shenton. any restaurant that opens there is going to do decently well. i must admit i think it is better than marutama, but still it's no menya.

salty pork bone ramen (rich) - 10/10

menya shinchan is located at robertson quay. if you drive and park there, you come up the stairs from the basement and you turn around to face the 7-eleven. go straight past it and then turn at the alley on the left. the restaurant will be on your left from there. well it's more like a little shop that serves ramen. there is a counter where you can sit and several tables, both inside and outside if you choose to.

now on to the menu. if it's your first time there, you're really going to be confused with the menu. it's written half in japanese and half in english, and there is no structure or organization whatsover. now they make damn good ramen, but i think they need to up their marketing and presentation skills just a tad. the owner handmakes his ramen daily in the noodle making room, which is on the right of the entrance as you can see. so it's always fresh. the outcome, is somewhat different from what you would get in regular ramen shops. the ramen is more al-dente and firmer to the bite.

for all your ramen dishes, you can choose from three types of noodles. you can have it thin (like mee kia) type, medium sized, or thick (like prawn noodle size). the default is medium sized, which i think is the perfect size for the soup ramen.

there are several types of raman that you can choose from.

charsiew

first, you have a selection of pork bone ramens. you have the shoyu pork bone ramen, the miso pork bone ramen, and salty pork bone ramen. they also have the chilli pork bone ramen and the scorched sesame pork bone ramen. for each of these, you can choose if you want the soup to be rich or light. over here, "light" is already the stuff you get at most other restaurants. it's tasty and rich. but if you want the real thing, you have to get the rich version. mind you though, this is not for the faint of heart. it's really oily and you can actually see the little bits of fat floating around (see picture above). but if you can get past its looks, the taste is well worth it. (i usually quickly stir it in the moment i get it so that i don't see all the oil and fat. talk about kidding yourself).

the shoyu pork bone ramen is the soya sauce based one. it's good, and you get it in most ramen shops in singapore.

the miso is the miso soup based pork bone ramen. i never liked miso ramen, so i didn't really fancy this.

the chilli is just the spicier version of the pork bone ramen.

the scorched sesame is the salty pork bone ramen, which has scorched sesame over it so that when you stir it in, it becomes all black. the taste is quite unique for those of you who want to try it. i like it, but it's not as good as my favorite.

all the soup ramens are about $11, which is think is quite fair given the quality you get.


my absolute favorite of all time is the salty pork bone ramen, rich version. i always get the large size. it comes with a white soup base, with charsiew, bamboo shoots, half an egg and a truckload of flavor. mmm.. the soup is really rich and delicious. but i like to up it a notch by adding minced garlic that they provide on the table. it really takes the already tasty soup and shoots it to the moon. the egg is soft on the inside and slightly salty, making it uber yummy. my buddy from japan says it's really good and quite similar to the ones there.

a little note on the portion sizes. the regular size that they give you is already pretty decent. it should be more than enough for any girl (d can finish the whole thing with extra charsiew and bamboo shoots). but if you're a real man, you gotta at least get a large. the large size has 1.5 times more noodles that the regular size for one buck more. for 2 dollars more, you can get the "double" which is 2 times the size of the regular or you can get the "triple" for 4 bucks more. now i was wondering who in the world eats the triple when i can barely finish the large. so i asked the girl there and she said apparently some guy comes in regularly and always gets triple. respect.

ok, so besides the pork bone ones, they do have other things. i tried the cold ramen. i tried it cause i saw some japanese family eating it. it was interesting. like cold soba but it's ramen. and the dipping sauce is hot. not may favourite, but a nice, refreshing change.

they also have the seafood based one's which i haven't tried. i've read that it tastes like sardine stock or ikan bilis stock.

but what i really liked was the mazesoba ramen, spicy version. it's dry ramen (they use the thick noodles)which is topped with some crunchy noodles, cabbage, bean sprouts, charsiew and some mayo and a slice of cheese. unusual if you asked me, but when you stir it all it, it is damn tasty if i do say so myself. i brought my brother and mom here and they liked the dry one better than the salty pork bone one! i must admit that it is really good, and i would gladly have it anyday. my second favourite.

another one of their specials is the sinjiro ramen. it comprises of thick noodles, with your choice of broth and a HEAPload of vegetables. when i say heapload, i mean it. it comes with a pile of vegetables on top. way too much veggies for me. i already have a hard time shoving down the 3 pieces of brocolli that mum gives me. no way can i finish a heap. but it's one of the house specials.

lastly, i almost forget to mention. you cannot eat ramen without gyoza. it's like cardinal sin. you got to have good gyoza with ramen. otherwise the meal isn't just complete. so get it. the gyoza comes in five pieces and it's really yummy. they have the steam ones too if you like. but the grilled ones are better.

i'm sure you can tell how enthused i am about this place. i really love it. and maybe if you try it, you will too. just don't be surprised if one day you bump into me at menya shinchan, cause i'm definitely going back again.