Japanese, the word often associated with being hardworking, efficient and is also the missus's favorite cuisine. We are always on the lookout for new Japanese restaurant and what better than Kuriya Japanese Market which houses several different brands into one location.
Kuriya is essentially a Japanese food court which each stall serving its own specialty ranging from sushi, udon, ramen, Yakitori and even a stall selling sweet potatoes. Patrons are to secure their own tables and food are self served bringing down the price of the food but still retaining the quality. For our visit we patronise Stall 2 (Menichi express) and Stall 3 (Idaten Udon).
Menichi brand is not new in Singapore and they have restaurants in Jurong Point and also Nex. They are well known for their Tonkatsu Ramen which is rich in collagen and also creamy in texture. We tired the curry Tonkotsu ramen this time was it was apparently a limited period item. We were given a saucer upon ordering to alert us to pick up our food when it was ready and that took about 10minutes.
The ramen was of the thin variant and springy in texture. The noodles were able to abscorb the flavour of the soup well and it was very enjoying savoring every mouthful. Bamboo shoots, halff a onsen egg and sliced cha shu were part of the package. Interestingly, the soup did not have much of a tonkotsu taste but was quite similar to mykuali instant curry noodles which were a hit among Singaporeans for a period of time.
Curry Tonkotsu ramen (Menichi)
Idaten had also set up shop in Nex and Citylink prior to this opening and was quite popular. Their concept stretches a little further from Tamoya Udon in that noodle type can be selected. By topping up $1, we can select flavored udon such as Matcha, Yozu, Tomato and Pumpkin. The usual side dishes of Tempura can also be selected to go along with the udon and broth of your choosing.
Missus love Japanese noodles and she tried the Zaru Udon from Idaten Udon. She wasn't feeling too adventurous and settled for the classic udon noodles. The noodles were cooked and then placed in a draining mat. Some spring onion and dipping sauce was provided and it was similar to eating cold soba. The noodles were smooth and missus had a great time enjoying every strand of the chewy noodles.
Zaru Udon (Idaten Udon)
To go along with the Udon, we ordered the missus favorite egg which was soft boiled and very similar to the Ya Kun style we have for breakfast. Udon is best enjoyed with tempura and we indulged ourselves by ordering the crab meat and enoki mushroom. The crab meat tempura was different from the regular ones we have in Yong Tau Fu and it was about twice the size. The enoki was spread out into a fan shape before frying and was appealing to the eyes.
soft boil egg (Idaten Udon)
Inoki and crab meat Tempura (Idaten Udon)
I will definitely recommend this place for the variety but be sure to come early as it can be packed during meal times and seats are limited. The quality of the food was decent and pricing also affordable. Prices displayed are net and we did not have to pay any service charge being a self served place. We will be back to try other stalls!
Damage(Menichi): $11.80
Food: 7/10
Damage(Idaten): $9.00Food: 7/10
Location:
Kuriya Japanese Market
#B1-07 Tampines one
Tel: 6444 6601
[REVISIT]
We head back to the ever popular Kuriya one Sunday evening at 6pm and was pleasantly surprised by the empty restaurant.
The missus had Kitsune Togarashi Udon which came in a clear broth and 2 pieces of sweet kitsune that were slightly charred. Kitsune is similar in texture with our beancurd skin (taupok) but it is sweet in texture and we love it. We did not go for the regular noodles and had the limited edition red pepper version. The noodles had tiny slices of red bell peppers (tiny red specks in 2nd picture) in them and were naturally spicy which was interesting and goes well with the broth. The texture was not as bouncy as the ones found in Tamoya which is still our favourite.
Kitsune Togarashi Udon (Idaten Udon)
To go with the udon we had fried tempura as usual. This time we also ordered the deep fried squid which had a nice crispy batter around. It was crunchy and reminds me of biting down on a piece of KFC fried chicken,
Deep Fried Squid (Idaten Udon)
Kuriya still remains one of our favourite no frills japanese places to get quality japanese cusine at reasonable prices. We were glad to have the foresight to arrive early for dinner or we will be left looking for a seat as we found out during our meals. If you have not been to Kuriya, do head down to try the wonderful cuisine and try to be there early
Damage(Menichi): $12.30
Food: 7/10
Damage(Idaten): $13.80Food: 7/10
Location:
Kuriya Japanese Market
#B1-07 Tampines one
Tel: 6444 6601
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