Ramen Hitoyoshi / Hitoyoshi Ramen & Grill Tasting Session
1 Maritime Square
#01-99 Harbourfront Centre
33 Sengkang West Avenue
#02-K6 The Seletar Mall
180 Kitchener Road
#03-21 City Square Mall
40 Pasir Panjang Road
#02-38 Mapletree Business City
https://www.facebook.com/RamenHitoyoshiSG/
This was a partial invited media review. I did not pay for the meal during the free hosted tasting session, but I did pay the standard price during prior and subsequent visits.
Attended with representatives from Food In Sing, Emily.EatingThyme, MsJaniceEats, Fonda Tjang, Esther Teo, Yong Kai, Kevin The Hiak, Sq Top, and SG Cafe Hopping.
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| Original Tonkotsu Ramen With All Toppings & Side Dishes, Extra Aburi Chashu (SGD $17.90) |
Delicious Tonkotsu Ramen With Quality Chashu
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 6
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 6
Value for Money: 8
Spent about SGD $18 per person.
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Opening in June 2017, Ramen Hitoyoshi is a partnership between 2 Singaporean chefs, Ray and Tan, both of whom previously worked for the famed Japanese ramen stall, Keisuke Tonkotsu King. As such, the ambience, service, and food here at Ramen Hitoyoshi closely resembles that of Keisuke Tonkotsu King, giving diners another alternative ramen stall.
Ambience at Ramen Hitoyoshi is casual functional. Warm lights cast a soft glow over the plain wooden furnishings and booth seats, which are neatly but closely packed to maximise space. The semi-open kitchen allows you to catch a glimpse of the chefs preparing your meal. During peak periods, the place can get noisy and bustling.
Service at Ramen Hitoyoshi is partial self-service. Staff will take and serve orders tableside, but payment is made over the counter. They don't display much product knowledge, because the menu here is simple and straightforward. Simply fill in an order chit to indicate your preferences. I note they clean up tables efficiently when diners leave.
Food at Ramen Hitoyoshi is distinctly Japanese cuisine, with a focus on tonkotsu ramen noodles. This is the only option of soup base here, although you can customise the types of garnish. What sets them apart from other places is their pork chashu; beautifully executed and delicious. Portions are sized for individuals. Prices are comparable to elsewhere, budget about SGD $18 per person.
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| Ramen Hitoyoshi Exterior |
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| Ramen Hitoyoshi Interior |
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| Ramen Hitoyoshi Menu |
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| Ramen Hitoyoshi Menu Options |
The Hot Green Tea (SGD $2) is a nice palate cleanser for the heavy flavours of their dishes. It's refillable, and staff helpfully check and top up your mug.
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| Hot Green Tea (SGD $2) |
The Beer Sapporo Premium (SGD $7.90) is an American style, bright straw golden lager, brewed by Sapporo Breweries Limited in Shibuya, Tokyo, in the Kanto region of Japan. It has mild aromas of grass, corn, hops, and malt, with a crisp, clean, and light body texture. Flavours of rice, metal, green apple, and wheat husk, with a moderate carbonation. Finish is quick, clean, with little bitterness but slight metallic undertones, yet still remains refreshing.
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| Beer Sapporo Premium (SGD $7.90) |
The Beer Asahi Super Dry (SGD $7.90) is a Japanese pale lager, brewed by Asahi Breweries in Tokyo, within the Kanto region of Japan. This bright, clear golden yellow brew has a tame aroma of hops, grass, corn, and apples, with a smooth, refreshing, medium body and medium carbonation. Taste is floral bitter sweet, with notes of wheat, rice, malted barley, and lemon citrus, with a super dry, crisp finish. Very drinkable.
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| Beer Asahi Super Dry (SGD $7.90) |
The Side Dishes - Marinated Bean Sprouts, Corn Kernels (SGD $Complimentary) are served alongside every order of ramen. You can choose to add as much or as little as you wish.
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| Side Dishes - Marinated Bean Sprouts, Corn Kernels (SGD $Complimentary) |
The Sui Gyoza (SGD $4.90) is served with 5 water steamed pork dumplings, in a spicy chili sauce. Each has a sticky thin flour dumpling wrapper, which holds a juicy tender bite of minced pork and chives. Has a bold salty savoury sweet flavour that makes you crave a drink. Overly salty, but tasty.
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| Sui Gyoza (SGD $4.90) |
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| Sui Gyoza |
The Unagi Kabayaki (SGD $12.90) features soft unagi / fresh water eel, marinated with tare (light soy sauce, sugar, mirin rice wine). This gives the unagi / fresh water eel a bold, sweet savoury salty flavour, though the texture isn't as soft as I'd like. Also lacks a smoky aroma.
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| Unagi Kabayaki (SGD $12.90) |
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| Unagi Kabayaki |
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| Unagi Kabayaki |
The Original Tonkotsu Ramen With All Toppings (SGD $14.90) is delicious and filling. Their signature tonkotsu / pork bone broth is simmered for over 8 hours, chilled overnight, then heated the next day, resulting in a thick, viscous, creamy rich texture, with bold savoury salty meaty flavour. You can choose the doneness of the long, thin, ramen noodles; soft, medium, or hard. The 'all toppings' option is served with a crisp sheet of seaweed, crunchy black fungus / cloud ear fungus, soft ajitama seasoned egg, chewy buta no shogayaki / grilled pork with ginger, tender pork belly chashu, and aburi / torched pork belly chashu. I completed it with the complimentary sides of crunchy marinated bean sprouts and juicy corn kernels. This dish is deeply meaty savoury salty earthy sweet vegetal in flavour, so tasty. Yummy, wanted more. Good!
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| Original Tonkotsu Ramen With All Toppings (SGD $14.90) |
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| Original Tonkotsu Ramen With All Toppings |
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| Original Tonkotsu Ramen With All Toppings |
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| Original Tonkotsu Ramen With All Toppings & Side Dishes |
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| Original Tonkotsu Ramen With All Toppings & Side Dishes |
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| Original Tonkotsu Ramen With All Toppings & Side Dishes |
The Special Chashu Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen With Ajitama Egg (SGD $16.90) is super decadent. Their signature tonkotsu / pork bone broth with its thick, viscous, creamy rich texture, and bold savoury salty meaty flavour, is served with my choice of long, thin, hard, ramen noodles. Garnished with crunchy black fungus / cloud ear fungus, tender pork belly chashu, and an additional soft ajitama seasoned egg. A drizzle of roasted black garlic completes, although this wasn't punchy enough for my liking, lacking the bold herbal earthy spice notes I'd like. The pork belly chashu here is intentionally thick with both fat and meat, making for a decadent meal. This dish is deeply meaty fatty savoury sweet in flavour. Only order this if you're keen on large amounts of pork fat and a weak garlic sauce.
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| Special Chashu Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen With Ajitama Egg (SGD $16.90) |
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| Special Chashu Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen With Ajitama Egg |
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| Special Chashu Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen With Ajitama Egg |
The Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen With Ajitama Egg (SGD $13.90) has an enticing spicy edge. Their signature tonkotsu / pork bone broth with its thick, viscous, creamy rich texture, is enhanced with a house made chili paste (which has minced pork), giving this a robust savoury salty meaty spicy flavour. Served with my choice of long, thin, hard, ramen noodles. Garnished with crunchy black fungus / cloud ear fungus, tender pork belly chashu, and a soft ajitama seasoned egg. Slight lingering burn as you slurp down the soup / broth, but it's enough to make you crave more.
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| Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen With Ajitama Egg (SGD $13.90) |
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| Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen With Ajitama Egg |
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| Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen With Ajitama Egg |
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A spin-off concept, Hitoyoshi Ramen & Grill is an extension of their brand. Opened in April 2019, Hitoyoshi Ramen & Grill is a partnership with kaiseki Chef Odo Takayuki, and specialises in binchotan charcoal grilled skewers, paired with a wide variety of sakes. We visited on a media invitation for a tasting session. My personal opinion though, is that the quality here could be improved, and hopefully does get better with time.
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| Hitoyoshi Ramen & Grill Exterior |
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| Hitoyoshi Ramen & Grill Interior |
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| Grilling Skewers Over Binchotan Charcoal |
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| Grilling Skewers Over Binchotan Charcoal |
The Original Tonkotsu Ramen With All Toppings & Side Dishes, Extra Aburi Chashu (SGD $17.90) is as good as ever. Or maybe, better than ever, because of the extra aburi / torched pork belly chashu, which is incredibly succulent. A real decadent bowl.
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| Original Tonkotsu Ramen With All Toppings & Side Dishes, Extra Aburi Chashu (SGD $17.90) |
Sampled the Assorted Grilled Pork Skewers (SGD $13.50 for platter of 5 skewers), which features 5 pork skewers chosen by Chef. These are decent enough in taste, and best paired with the dipping shio / salt on the side. However, there is usually a lengthy wait as these are grilled to order, averaging about 20 minutes or so.
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| Assorted Grilled Pork Skewers (SGD $13.50 for platter of 5 skewers) |
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| Assorted Grilled Pork Skewers |
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| Assorted Grilled Pork Skewers |
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CONVERSATION