Mar 14th is white day and a special day for the ladies in Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan. It marks the day that the guys have to do something special for the ladies. In these cultures, valentine's day is usually celebrated by couples with the ladies preparing a little something for the guys and white day is the time for the guys to return the favour. As the missus is Korean, I had to do a little something and we decided to come to Shin-Sapporo to have a blast and boy did we get what we were after!
The branch we went too is located at the basement of century square which is conveniently located 2mins away from Tampines MRT station. As their name suggests, it is a ramen restaurant and we were there to sample their new offerings which is the fire and sake ramen! Do note that if you are keen to try the fire ramen, prior reservation is recommended and walk ins to try the dish might leave you disappointed as we found out the hard way previously.
Like many of the Japanese restaurants, the ordering system has moved into an electronic form and patrons placed their order using the iPad. The fire ramen has its roots from Kyoto, Japan and I was very excited to be able to try this dish locally. Missus did not want to risk getting burnt and went with the comfort and safe sake ramen.
I was directed to another table deem to be safer for the fire ramen and given a set of instructions to follow. The friendly waitress then reassured me that the bowl of noodles will not endanger my life and it is safe.
I was made to wear their in house apron and have a piece of cloth placed on my lap.
The lights were then turn off to provide a better atmosphere. This got the attention of many people from the neighboring restaurants which thought we had a black out. The chef came forward with a ladle of flaming oil and once everyone was ready started pouring slowly into the bowl of noodles. The flaming liquid splutter on contact with the soup and burst into a huge flame which was definitely a sight to behold. I was very surprised by the "performance" which sent my heart racing and it totally made my day. This lasted a good 20 seconds which ended in applause at the end. The missus totally enjoyed it at a safe distance and mentioned that it seem that I was having a birthday celebration
After having the spectacle, i was directed back to my original seat and the noodles was served to me. I went with a cup of honey lemon to calm my nerves and the missus had the usual cold green tea.
The honey lemon tasted not too sweet and was a refreshing drink which ended up in missus hands in the end.
Fire Ramen 7.2/10
The missus's sake ramen was very interesting. Similar to the fire ramen, the broth was of the tonkotsu varient and had very good flavour. We were able to select a free side item and it was a easy choice to
go with the egg which was a joy to savour with every bite. We were able to taste the distinctive sake taste with every scoop of the uber delicious soup. The bamboo shoots and mushroom provided different textures to the dish which all combined really well with the soft but springy noodles. It was absolutely delightful. The asian flush I got from enjoying too many spoonful of soups meant that the chefs were not kidding to name the dish Sake Ramen.
Sake Ramen 7.5/10
If you fancy some the fried garlic taste, you are welcome to add some to the ramen to enhance the already beautiful flavours.
To compliment our noodles, we had the Tonpei Yaki which is basically pork and cabbage covered by the delicious egg like the omurice. The tiny pieces of pork was very well marinated. It was extremely pleasurable placing cabbage and eggs on the tiny pieces of pork and getting a whole spoonful in my mouth. Sorry for the greedy expression but it was really that good!
Tonpei Yaki 7.5/10
To add, we are told we can have unlimited noodles as we have soup left and that sounds really attractive. Even though the ramen was mouth watering, I need to watch the waistline and missus already had her fill. The effort from the staff to make the fire ramen is really commendable and made me feel very privileged, like I was celebrating my birthday. I will recommend everyone to go try!.
Food: 7.3/10
Service: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Location:
2 Tampines Central 5
2 Tampines Central 5
#B1-10/11 Century Square
Tel +65 6783 6304
