These aren’t just any old ordinary instant noodles.

After the Peking duck dinner at Imperial Treasure, LK recommended to us a ramen restaurant called Ippudo, right across Orchard Road in the Mandarin Gallery hotel. We made plans to meet another friend there the next day. Annie wanted to go shopping down Orchard Rd, since it was our last full day in Singapore, and the Great Singapore Sale was on (more on that in another post).

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to hook up with our friend and so we decided to just eat at Ippudo on our own. We got there past lunch time, so the lunch crowd had thinned out. We were greeted with an enthusiastic “Irasshaimase!”, seated right away and handed our menus.

Order Up

The interior decor is quite nice. Modern but not stark. On one wall is a sculpture featuring dozens of different kinds of ramen bowls. On another wall, there’s a set of manga comics on the wall which talks about the style of ramen noodle served at this restaurant, and how to order it.

Manga on the Wall at Ippudo

But first, our appetizers: six pieces of pan-fried gyoza. Usually, when we make gyoza at home, they are quite hefty. But Ippudo’s gyoza are about the size of my thumb. They are tasty little morsels, with the emphasis on little.

Gyoza at Ippudo

I got the Shiromaru Classic ramen, which is a creamy, tonkotsu (pork bone-based) broth paired with thin, straight noodles. It comes with a couple of slices of chashu (roast pork loin), some green onions, and some pickled ginger. Though the noodles were thin, they were perfectly cooked. They held together well and still had some spring in them. Very nice.

Shiromaru Classic Ramen at Ippudo

Annie got the Kyushu Miso Tokotsu special. The broth was a blend of the Shiromaru broth and miso, giving it a stronger flavor. Her noodles were thicker and chewier than mine. Besides the green onions and chashu, it also came with some leeks and a boiled egg. Annie loved hers so much, she cleared the entire bowl!

Kyushu Miso Tokotsu Ramen at Ippudo

We haven’t had good ramen like this since Yotteko-Ya in Honolulu. Though the noodles here were pretty good, we both agreed that Yotteko-Ya was better.

Still, there’s nothing like eating ramen in Japan. Which is what we’re looking forward to. Because in about a month, we’ll be traveling to Tokyo for a week to see what we can see, and eat what we can eat. And you can be sure we’ll be eating lots of ramen! Stay tuned.

Aloha, Nate

Got any recommendations for good ramen or other good eats in Tokyo? Leave a comment and tell us about it!