My dining companions and I were looking for a place to lunch at Westgate yesterday when we chanced upon Menya Musashi's lunch sets at $13.90 for a ramen and a side dish. Since Ippudo has yet to open and Paul is better known for its pastries and sweets, we decided to try this Japanese ramen chain located on the 2nd floor. Established since 1996 in Japan, it was named after legendary samurai Miyamoto Musashi famous for his double sword style. Other branches in Singapore include Bedok Mall, Ion Orchard, Raffles City Shopping Centre, The Star Vista, Thomson Plaza and VivoCity. There are three versions of soup base for its ramen – white or original, red (spicy) and black with garlic. The tonkotsu broth is supposedly boiled with a substantial amount of pork bones for more than 9 hours with a chef stirring it every half an hour to prevent the bottom from being burned. According to the website, it is creamier than most other places.
Ordered via a mini iPad at our table and as we did not order any beverages, complimentary water was promptly served by thoughtful staff. Among us, we had a Musashi Cha Shu Negi Don Set and all three types of soup base with the fluted and more elastic noodle exclusive to Westgate. Its H-shaped cross-section is suitable for Tsukemen or dipping noodles, with more proportion of surface to take more soup. However, it was too thick for my liking and not springy. As the red soup was a tad spicy and I am not a garlic fan, the white one was my favourite except they were all too oily and salty. Interestingly, the ramen was not served with seaweed but a deep-fried tau kee (beancurd skin) I could not fault. Neither could I rave about the small piece of tender and fatty-yet-not-overly-so cha shu, half a soft-boiled egg and strips of black fungus. With the exception of Golden Mushroom Tempura so oily and salty I cringed, the other sides – Bokuto Gyoza with thin skin and Cha Shu Maki, were safe.
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