Ippudo Singapore

Like other curious parties, we went there. To Mandarin Gallery Orchard, Ippudo Singapore. Located at fourth level, we anticipated a queue and true enough, there was a queue outside the restaurant... on a Wednesday night at around 820pm.



If you can see this so close and you're in the queue, it would've meant that you had queued for almost 15 minutes...


Once you enter the shop, there's an elongated table where there's another queue to wait for tables. If you're there on Mon-Thurs before from 5-8pm, there's Happy Hours for the beers @ starting price $6. Choice of Asahi, Sapporo and the likes. Too bad, we were there after 8pm. The insides of the restaurant is quite small, and everyone shares table (well, almost everyone...)

Yes, there's the open kitchen visible upon entrance, a chandelier in the middle of the shop and the wall of neatly lined up bowls, made up the visuals. Expect noise and conversation across table is through raised voices but you may still be able to whisper sweet nothings if you're seated side by side ;P





We ordered Akamaru Ramen with egg (Red bowl), Karakamen (Spicy Miso) with chashu and Kyushu Miso Tonkotsu (seasonal), salad and shrimp bun. Also ordered the green tea (@$4 per pot and good for just 4 cups and non-refillable). Tea is served by pot only.




non-refillable pot



salad


tossing in action!



kyushu miso tonkotsu


what also have... pork belly, chashu, half-egg, cabbage


Taste wise, the broth for Akamaru tasted the best as it is flavorful yet light. Kyushu ramen has a heavier taste that gets a little too much to handle on a hot night. If the weather was much cooler, then I think it would've been a different experience... After seeing and tasting the ramen, can I say that Hakata ramen is indeed similar to the ones Ajisen is serving up, albeit Ippudo is a thinner version?


shrimp bun.. kong bak bao's underwater distant cousin.. didn't eat this as I was quite full after eating the Kyushu ramen


But of course, there's always room for desserts!



yuzu sherbet


cherry blossom ice-cream.. doesn't it looked dreamy here?


On first bite, the cherry blossom ice-cream did taste like my cough syrup.. but subsequent bite (take a larger bite) changes the initial perception. The milky taste was quite enjoyable with a subtle hint of cherry...

Yuzu sherbet on the other hand, was quite fruity, tangy, and at the same time sweet. It has yuzu (skin?) bits in it for added authenticity.


Overall a pleasant experience. But I wish it wasn't so noisy though.


my dining companions, looking hungry as this was taken pre-dinner.. and after waiting for half hour!