Shin-Sapporo Ramen
460 Alexandra Road
#02-23 ARC
2 Tampines Central 5
#B1-10 Century Square
6 Changi Business Park Avenue 1
#01-31 UE Bizhub East
http://shin-sappororamen.com/
Good Quality But Expensive Ramen
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 6
Ambience & Setting: 6
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 7
Value for Money: 5
Spent about SGD $30 per person.
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Shin-Sapporo Ramen offers a unique ramen experience, in that they specialise in ramen from the Sapporo region of Japan. With fresh ingredients, and a painstaking process to prepare their excellent soup / broth, each bowl is a work of art. Pity then, that Shin-Sapporo Ramen is slightly let down by above average pricing (expensive) and a less than satisfiying ratio of ingredients in each bowl.
Ambience at Shin-Sapporo Ramen is basic at best. With a dark wooden colour scheme, the shop looks dull and unattractive from outside, but the open concept makes the place somewhat brighter. Furniture is functional but not too comfortable, cramped into a small floor space which can get noisy during peak periods.
Service at Shin-Sapporo Ramen is decent. I like that staff offer greetings upon entry, as well as bid you goodbye when you leave. Guests also don't need to wait too long before being seated, and dirty tables are cleared quickly and efficiently. But you might have to wait about 10 minutes or so for your order to be prepared. Also, don't expect much conversation with staff during peak periods, as they tend to rush about.
Food at Shin-Sapporo Ramen revolves around Japanese cuisine, in particular, the Sapporo style ramen. Their focus is really on the quality of the soup / broth, as well as the consistency of the noodles in each bowl, so ordering a bowl of ramen is they way to go. The other items on the menu however, are passable at best. Pricing is slightly higher than other ramen stalls, budget about SGD $30 or so per person for a meal here.
Update Oct-2014: There's been a major change in the concept at their Changi Business Park outlet since I last visited. They are now an express outlet, with a small, more focused menu, that costs less than 1/3 of the original price, but also with lower, but still acceptable, quality.
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In homage to its name and place of origin, they offer Beer Sapporo (SGD $8.50) here. But it's slightly more expensive than elsewhere. Update: The price has been reduced, and now costs SGD $4.50 per bottle.
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| Beer Sapporo |
Decided to order an additional side dish of Grilled Yakibuta (SGD $4.80), which comes with 3 pieces of grilled pork belly, as the actual bowl of ramen only has 2 slices! I must say the meat here is nicely grilled, with a good ratio of fat to meat, I only wish it was slightly thicker and more substantial!
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| Grilled Yakibuta |
The Chicken Karaage And Salad With Wafu Dressing (SGD $4) is rather underwhelming. While I like the taste of the fried chicken, it's oily, and rather dry. The wafu salad dressing was very nice, with a hint of sesame flavour, and lended itself well with the crunch of the fresh cabbage.
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| Chicken Karaage And Salad With Wafu Dressing |
The Gyoza And Salad With Wafu Dressing (SGD $4) was a let down. I didn't like the pan fried gyoza, which ended up with a texture that was semi crisp from frying, and semi soft from steaming, really weird and slimy. Avoid this.
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| Gyoza And Salad With Wafu Dressing |
The Wakayama Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen (SGD $14.80) is very good in terms of ingredient quality, but ultimately, is also slightly expensive and unmemorable. What I like best is the well balanced seafood and pork broth / soup that is both savoury and slightly sweet, without being too salty. It's paired with a Hakata Tonkotsu style noodle, which is firm, straight, thin, and doesn't get soggy.
However, the dish is let down by the garnishings. The seaweed is small, and quickly goes limp in the soup / broth, while the grilled pork belly is sliced too thinly, and is rather unsatisfiying. My egg was also slightly overdone. For a similar price, you could get a much larger portion / bowl at other ramen stalls.
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| Wakayama Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen 01 |
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| Wakayama Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen 02 |
The Shoyu Ramen (SGD $8.50) features a standard ramen noodle, with decent texture. The garnishings are well worth the price, with 2 slices of pork cha-shu, several young bamboo shoots, spring onions, bean sprouts, seaweed, and a half ajitama seasoned egg. The Shoyu soup / broth isn't too salty from the soy sauce base, but light and very drinkable.
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| Shoyu Ramen 01 |
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| Shoyu Ramen 02 |
The Shio Ramen (SGD $8.50) features the same garnishings of ramen noodle, 2 slices of pork cha-shu, several young bamboo shoots, spring onions, bean sprouts, seaweed, and a half ajitama seasoned egg. The Shio soup / broth with its salt base is still light and very drinkable, but borders on bland.
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| Shio Ramen 01 |
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| Shio Ramen 02 |
Similar to the other 'quick' ramen here, the Miso Ramen (SGD $8.50) features the same garnishings of ramen noodle, 2 slices of pork cha-shu, several young bamboo shoots, spring onions, bean sprouts, seaweed, and a half ajitama seasoned egg. The Miso soup / broth is savoury with a touch of salt, very tasty, and I like that it's rather fine, not leaving too much miso residue in the mouth. Probably the best soup / broth here.
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| Miso Ramen 01 |
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| Miso Ramen 02 |
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CONVERSATION