Ramen Ten

I remember having Ramen Ten quite a few years back.
It was situated at Century Square in Tampines back then and it seemed very popular because it was pretty much one of (if not the only) place you could get Halal Japanese cuisine.

I remember there was even a commercial shown on Suria where some Suria actress (whose name I can’t recall) tells you about Singapore’s first Halal Japanese Sushi Restaurant and exclaims at the end – “Oiishi!!”.
Unfortunately I couldn’t find the ad but (believe it or not) Ramen Ten has their own “Corporate Video” which you can watch HERE.

So I went to Ramen Ten almost 10 years after my first visit and I didn’t know what to expect.

Super Spicy Ramen ($9.90)

I decided to have something that seemed like something I would enjoy.
Super Spicy Ramen consists of yummy ramen noodles, delicious minced chicken in a super spicy broth.
Only the spicy part was true by the way.

When they say Super Spicy boy do they mean Super Spicy.
You can definitely feel the heat from the chilli oil that comes with the minced chicken and the broth.
So all you lovers of spicy food can rejoice.

But here’s where it all went wrong for me.
If there is one thing I cannot stand food with that ‘hanyir’ or ‘hanching’ taste/smell.
(I developed my own word for it – ‘hamching’)

This is the ‘fishy’ taste/smell you get if you don’t wash meat or fish properly.
And this was the case with this dish.

From the very first taste of the minced chicken, I literally had a look of disbelief on my face.
I simply could not fathom that this supposedly fine establishment had served me a dish that was hamching!
Okay so maybe I’m very sensitive to this kind of thing (I take after my mum in that sense) but even my darling wife agreed with me something was definitely wrong taste-wise.

Well it may taste perfectly fine to a lot of people no doubt.
But to me, if with that much chilli and spice and you can still taste the hamching – something is so wrong.

I stopped eating my dish after less than 10 bites.
I tried oh trust me I tried.

Tom Yum Beef Ramen ($11.90)

My wife decided to have the Tom Yum Beef Ramen which seemed like it might be nice.
(Well it was deifinitely better than the Super Spicy Ramen I can tell you that much)

The tom yum flavour in the broth was very nice. Not too strong yet very typical tom yum.
Not too spicy though so don’t expect the spicy type of tom yum.

The one thing my wife and I both agreed on was that the beef itself was excellent. It absorbed the tom yum flavour very well and was very tasty.

Best part? The texture of the beef.
It was cooked just nice so that it was melt-in-your-mouth tender! Needless to say, all the beef was completely wiped out from the dish!

Perhaps it’s worth mentioning however that there is not much beef given to start with (as you can see form the picture above). Which is kind of weird because it’s actually one of the more expensively priced Ramen on the menu @ $11.90.

A few more pieces of tender beef in the bowl would have definitely made it worth the price.

So we’ve covered the meat (both hamching and yummy) and the broth…
there’s only one thing left to cover…

Something my darling wife definitely wants me to mention the Ramen noodles.

She says that it was more like Maggi Mee than ramen.
I agree with her that the noodles were not fantastic but I wouldn’t go as far as to say they were like Maggi noodles at all.

Sure they may look a bit thick but I think the biggest problem is that they fail to compliment the broth.
You may think me silly but I found it a real chore to have to chew those tasteless noodles.
I’d rather just eat the beef and drink the broth. Just not my kind of noodles I guess.