Ramen Champion Revisited @ Illuma

It would have been ideal if I managed to get that many friends to try all six at a go - hence the numerous visits I have to make to finish trying them all. 3 more months before the ultimate winner is revealed and according to the cashier, it's a massive tough fight amongst them all. Read about my first attempt here!

street scene

Relatively empty for a weekday.

stalls

Really empty.

taishoken buzzer


The buzzer concept that still gets me all uptight when the alarm goes off.



Taishoken

dipping noodle


Tsukemen Deluxe, Regular ($15)

broth

With a broth made from pork, chicken and anchovies, boiled to such concentration - the intensity of the broth was flavourful and deemed too salty and rich for some. The lady grinned at me and told me to head back to dilute the soup later. What attracted me was the dipping sauce which I found interesting and different from the rest. Tetsu has the same! As complex as the broth sounds, it did not taste as complex as Tetsu's, in fact alot lighter.

tsukune noodles

The cold noodles I chose were served lukewarm, barely chilled in fact. Yet they retained its bounce with every bite.

egg

The char siew slices were a tad too fatty for comfort. Egg was well cooked nonetheless.

Hakata Ikkousha

ikkousha

Hakata Ajitama Ramen, Regular ($13)

The broth was less outstanding than Taishoken's, toned down in complexity and more homecooked infact. The companion deemed it comfort food with all its warmth and springy noodles. I would have preferred something stronger in taste. Charsiew slices appeared thicker than those featured yet way leaner than Taishoken's.

Tetsu

tetsu

Very Rich! Special Paiten Tsukemen ($12.50)

The pal had it with hot noodle and claimed the broth "very complex". If it's any good, he deemed it "very good" and polished it off clean.

Gantetsu

corn ramen



Miso Ramen with Butter and Corn ($13.50)

I guess corn put in soup tends to sweeten it quite a bit, not too huge a fan of this sweet base broth though.

That leaves me with Menya Iroha to attempt before I call it quits. Tetsu still reigns for me though Taishoken is not trailing too far behind. The crowd seems to have thinned out by quite a bit - a sign of it losing its hype? Illuma is undergoing massive renovations which is doubly confusing for me, did they not open just recently?


Ramen Champion

Comments

  1. when it opened, this place was crowded and there was long queue. 1 month later. it was about 50% filled during lunch hours. Now, there is virtually no crowd!

    ReplyDelete
  2. @ FoodieFC: totally! guess the hype died down..wonder what will happen when the "winning" stall opens shop...

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