Address: #03-02 Millenia Walk, 9 Raffles Boulevard, Signapore 039596
Tel: 63377166
Web Site: http://www.nantsu.com/sg/index.html
Google Map:
View Larger Map
One of the two new ramen joints found at the renovated Parco Millenia walk. Located at a some what odd location but apparently still good enough to attract the crowds. I was there on a weekend with my regular ramen girls at about 2pm. A queue was still there and we waited for about 20 mins before we got our table. Thankfully the waiters will take your orders while you are still waiting in the queue. The noodles were served promptly once we were seated.
Do take some time to browse through the menu, Nantsutei has put in effort to make its menu more interesting than others with pictures of their..boss?
I haven’t ramen (or rather, good ramen) for a while so I was pleasantly surprised by Nantsutei has to offer. Like the other new ramen franchises we see in Singapore, Nantsutei hails from Japan. I figure the Japanese must have discovered that Singaporeans kind of like ramen and are willing to pay good money for it.
I orders Nantsutei’s plain vanilla ramen which starts at $12. It is not that “plain” per se actually, seeing that it came with the standard toppings that we have all come to expect of. A slice of tender and flavourful pork charshu, healthy amount of negi (Japanese spring onion), a piece of dried seaweed and some bean sprouts. Pretty decent I must say. Unfortunately there is no egg, in fact there is no egg in any of the default selections on the menu. You have to explicitly add an egg or expect none. I suppose the reason that they do not include one because the egg is really not their strong point. It is basically a hard boiled egg with an almost solid yolk. Don’t expect it to be of Marutama quality.
Disappointments aside, if the egg is not the selling point, Nantsutei’s broth and noodles definitely are. Its broth is a deviation from the standard milky and rich tonkotsu that we all have come to adore. A layer of black and appetite inducing garlic + sesame oil floats on the surface. You’d expect this to make the already strong broth harder to stomach, but the ma-yu (Japanese for the oil used) actually does the exact opposite. The aroma gives the broth a soothing character and somehow cancels out the oiliness, making this bowl of ramen one of the few tonkotsu ramens that I can empty without the aid of multiple glasses of water (yes, Miharu, I am talking about you, again).
The noodles go well with the soup. Though they are not the kind of hand made and springy kind that you find in certain chinese ramen, but it serves the purpose well. Nothing outstanding that takes away the soup’s limelight.
Suffice to say that the combination of the above is enough to garner the support of the ramen lovers in Singapore. Affordable price for a good bowl of ramen, I see no reason why Nantsutei will not become the new favourite for all.
