Kanshoku Ramen Bar

I thought there was an aroma of truffles in the air. Sniffing around to trace its source, it seemed to come from Kanshoku Ramen Bar. Located at B3 of Ion Orchard between Imperial Treasure Noodle & Congee House and Wrap & Roll, this is a local brand and its 3rd branch after The Metropolis and Orchard Gateway. We found a table for four and sat ourselves down. An order chit (but no writing instrument) was brought to us. My dining companions ordered Signature Kanshoku Ramen while I had the dry version of Truffle Ramen. Also shared Black Truffle Edamame – simply edamame drizzled with truffle oil, and Pork Gyoza. The latter was the best dish of our meal as the Hakata-style ramen was a tad hard and mine was too dry despite the onsen egg. Could neither rave about the Ramen Egg that we added nor fault the torched caramelised Chashu that one of us found sweet.

Shin-Sapporo Ramen

It was a weekday and we were looking for a place to have dinner. Settled on Shin-Sapporo Ramen, which was located at B2 of Orchard Gateway, as there was no queue. According to its website, Sapporo was hailed as the birthplace of miso ramen after it was created in 1954 by Morito Omiya from Sapporo. Was deciding between Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen and Tsukemen (not many places offer this) but was recommended the former. While I found the creamy rich pork bone broth cooked over high heat to extract essence of the meat and bones a tad salty, could neither rave about the bamboo shoots and vegetables nor fault the thin and straight Hakata noodles. I loved the perfectly soft-boiled egg, tender and well-marinated chashu and stewed pork chunks though would prefer more meats in my portion. Chose pork over shrimp gyoza – a good choice as the thin skin, char-grilled crisp on some parts, went well with the sweet and juicy pork filling. And the chawanmushi was smooth and lovely.

Noodle Place Restaurant

Queues can be seen at Noodle Place Restaurant during meal times. Shifted from across the road, it is now located on the 1st floor of Orchard Gateway beside 313@somerset. Visited not once but twice for late lunches on different weekends and tried its Shrimp Dumpling & Shrimp Wanton Noodles, Triple Mixed Roast Meat and Noodle Place Special Congee. Interestingly, preserved vegetables and braised peanuts were served only during our first visit. Both were nothing to rave about or fault, just like the shrimp wanton. Loved the springy noodles though could not say the same of its shrimp dumpling with fillings of minced pork (too mushy for my liking) and prawns, mushrooms instead of the familiar crunchy black fungus.