Firstly I find all of the different types of ramen truly mind boggling. The BFF and I stood in front of the vast menu board at Menya Noodle Bar in Chinatown for a good 15 minutes and ended up being more confused than when we walked in. Whilst we stood scratching our head ramen lovers walked right up to the counter to place their order without even a glace towards the menu board. What on earth where they ordering?
One thing is clear though - there are no pretty much no vegetarian options when it comes to ramen...you either go with chicken (tori gari) or pork (tonkotsu) broth. That said, the broth can sometimes be a mixture of both. There are also variations with or without miso/soy/fish stock added. The options are truly mind boggling.
After dilly-dallying over my order for nearly 20 minutes I should've gone with my usual "garlic" broth type of ramen as it really is quite tasty - Kogashi Ninniku ($11.30). Needless to say I had massive food envy over The BFFs bowl of aromatic and tasty ramen. The garlic really adds a great depth of flavour.
Compared to The BFFs garlic ramen my big steaming bowl of Ton-toro ramen ($12.30) seems rather bland...although the fatty pieces of pork belly are melt-in-the-mouth soft. Perhaps it would've been a bit more punchy with the addition of miso or shoyu (whatever that may be)....or perhaps one of those wonderful Japanese soft-yolked eggs.
I did order a side of VERY spicy eschallots that I added to my ton-toro broth which gave it a nice chilli hit. They were just a bit too spicy to eat on their own, but I gave it my best try anyway.
Do you have any tips on which is the best type of ramen to order? What is your favourite? HELP ME!
Menya Noodle Bar is at Shop TG8, 8 Quay Street, Haymarket.
This is mind boggling for me too...I have never eaten ramen. It all sounds interesting :)
ReplyDeleteGarlic makes everything better! Menya's bro joint - I should head on over :) I do love a good tonkotsu broth :D I'm no ramen conoisseur myself so my knowledge of ramen is probably limited to what you know as well!
ReplyDeleteMust have been the weekend for noodles - I had some yesterday, too, at another place in Chinatown. The spicy eschallots looks yummy - would like to try that, looking for a good spicy kick!
ReplyDeleteIt all comes down to preferences, I think. I'd take ramen over udon any day..!
ReplyDeleteI used to go here ALL the time when I was a uni student, not realising what it was ever called. I really am a fan of the menya group, they're pretty good at what they do!
ReplyDeleteI must admit I prefer udon (and Menya Mappen) to ramen. Thinking I would suffer from a severe case of indecision at this place too - sooo many choices.. lol
ReplyDeleteI love this place!!! I actually didn't know what it was called either! I always knew it as the place under all the Asian grocceries and near the bbq place on the corner hahaha. Quite surprised that they are part of the menya group!
ReplyDeleteHmm good question about what type of ramen! It depends on the mood. If I'm really hungry or it is cold, then tonkotsu is my favourite as it's so rich. I always like a slice of pork in it too and an egg and nori too :)
ReplyDeleteI have the same problem choosing Ramen!!!
ReplyDeleteI just select and hope and if it isn't exactly what I felt like I swap with Mr GG ;)... isn't that what hubbies are for :)
I will have to try this place next time I am down :)
I've only eaten Ramen in Japan once, it was delicious. Have you seen the movie Tampopo it's a sweet Japanese film about making the perfect ramen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tampopo
ReplyDeleteMmmmmm that garlic ramen does look good!! got me a craving for ramen now!
ReplyDeleteGah! That is truly an impressive menu board! Too many options can be quite a headache!
ReplyDeleteYou can never go wrong with Menya... I always go with the terriyaki chicken soba. I have no idea what broth comes with it...but it tastas AMAZING :)
ReplyDeleteWith the weather as it was tonight, and my nose all sniffly as it is, gimme ramen! Craving it now, for me it is tonkotsu all the way.
ReplyDeletethere's pretty clear descriptions of the different types of broth on the menya website
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