I got off work pretty on time today and decided to end my day with Menya Takeichi's Special Shio Ramen because I was in the mood for RAMEN. Menya Takeichi is a popular Chicken Paitan (White soup) ramen chain from Tokyo. It is well known for its super rich chicken paitan and I was looking forward to being impressed by it.
I reached close to 9pm and the restaurant was not packed at all. The wait staff took my order of Special Shio Ramen with all the toppings and the bowl materialised in a short moment.
This is a rather pretty bowl! I mean not just the bowl, but the colour of the egg, the toppings and the garnish. The soup looked quite light, but once I pushed my chopsticks in, I realised that things that would normally sink kind of floated, buoyed by the rich, sticky, creamy soup. Ohoh! So excitinggggg. The noodles were straight, slim, smooth and held the soup well.
First taste of the soup - thick, smooth and ended on a savoury note. I was pleasantly surprised because I had expected it to end on a high sodium note. There was a whitish dollop in the middle of my ramen and I had thought it was radish. But it turned out to be onions. They helped to alleviate the heaviness of the broth and I walked around with onion breath all the way home.
There were quite a few chicken slices which were pretty tender and soft chicken balls. I enjoyed the noodles. They were soft and smooth but had a bit of bite that lasted 3/4 of the bowl which was good, considering that the soup was so hot, i burnt my tongue on it. That reminded me of the beef ramen I gulped down at Matador Kita Senju which got me nursing my burnt tongue for the whole day.
Back to Menya Takeichi, I enjoyed the bowl! The soup was thick with a savoury finish and the onions gave it a slight punch. The egg was ok with a slight taste of salt (if my burnt tongue was right..)
Flasks of clear soup was provided on the table for those who prefer a thinner broth. I added some soup to lighten my broth, but that was a bad move. The soup was not hot and the broth lost its taste. In conclusion, do not add soup to lighten Menya Takeichi's broth, just enjoy it on its own and if you take the onions, keep your mouth closed on the way home.
Menya Takeichi, Eat@7
3 Temasek Boulevard
#03-313 Suntec City Mall
(S) 038983
Hours: 11.30am to 3pm, 5.30pm to 10.30pm
