Akasaka Ramen, Tokyo Japan

I am reporting this live from Tokyo, Japan. It has been more than 10 years since I was here. First thing I did once I dumped my luggage at the hotel was to look for ramen. Japanese ramen is my favorite. Coming to Japan and not having ramen is a sin and those that do not will burn in hell while getting choked with ramen.
Happened to walk past this place called Akasaka Ramen which looked really inviting. Small eatery with the usual vending machine where you buy a ticket for the ramen that you want. Simply pass the ticket to the waitress waiting and in a couple of minutes, food is served. Systematic and beats the hassle of trying to communicate to her.

This Shoyu Ramen is superb. Soya based soup, thick and full of flavor. I love the fact that the soup is all based from pork stock. Fresh, noodles just right, good serving. Only thing was the egg which was just a very normal hard boiled egg. Yummy!

Now this is the cream of the place. Pork Ramen. Whitish, thick pork soup with tender pork slices. The soup itself is a meal. It is so fulfilling, I was screaming with joy when I had my first mouthful of it. Sweetness of a soup perfectly done. Not salty but just so full of flavor that you can literally feel the pig running around in your mouth. LOL. The pork slices were sensational. It melts in your mouth. I mean it. It is done with perfection, soft, tender, juicy, you name it. Absolutely heaven.


This is one place I will come back before I return to KL. Price is reasonable. Shoyu ramen for 750 yen and the pork ramen for only 680 yen. Free iced water plus eat all you can bean sprouts (appetizer) which are marinated with sesame oil and sprinkled with chilli powder. Great little place with the usually polite Japanese service.


Points - 4 Thumbs Up!

Japanese Ramen, Matsuba, OBD Towers Taman Desa, Kuala Lumpur

This is a regular Sunday dinner joint for the family. Reason: The kids love it and we adults have not other choice and am too lazy to travel further for dinner. It is a pleasant Japanese restaurant located in a condominium called OBD which by the way is mainly occupied by Japanese expatriates.
Anyway, it is pretty much value for money and it's a pleasant, brightly lit typical Japanese restaurant in Kuala Lumpur.
Most people here will just order their Japanese ramen as they have a pretty huge variety of ramen here. The usual char su ramen and other hybrid ones which sound more Chinese than Japanese.
On a Sunday, I usually will order their dinner sets which are pretty reasonable. (RM26) It comes with a bowl of ramen (small), rice plus dish (depends on what you want. You can get teriyaki chicken, gyu niku etc), salad, fruits and pickles.
I quickly jump into assessing their food here. The ramen is typically served shoyu style here which is soya sauce base soup. I reckon that is the easiest to make and prepare. It is not exactly rocket science. Hence, the soup will always taste like a big bowl of Ajinomoto (MSG) has been thrown into it. Some people just love MSG in their food but I don't. You cannot avoid it when you dine outside but hell, why do some restaurants put so damn much of this damn chemical in their food.
The ramen here is cooked pretty well. The size of the ramen is the right size. (If you recall in my earlier ramen post, some places serve ramen that is just too thin.)

The char su(pork slices) they serve are just too lean. I reckon that you need a little fat in this to make them juicier and tender. When it's too lean, the taste just isn't there.


Points : 1 (0.5 extra is given cos my darling nieces love it.)

For RM 26, the set's pretty reasonable. Gets you full but taste wise, they better buck up!

The other dish on my set was this fried pork with bitter gourd. Damn! This is surely not Japanese. It tastes just like the Chinese dishes you get at the mixed rice stalls.


Points - 0.5

Other noodle dish we had was their Yaki Soba. Well, it's just like Chinese fried noodles ala Nippon style. Nothing exciting, it was not bad either but just not Japanese. 


Points - 0.5


Matsuba is not a bad place. It's serene, service is friendly and food's not too bad. Only thing is that I would call this place more of a fusion Chinese and Japanese restaurant. Pretty good for a quick no fuss dinner.

Taro Ramen 太郎拉麵- Low Yat Plaza, Kuala Lumpur

Noodles. I can have noodles all week and will not grow tired of it. Noodles are just so interesting. You can have them dry, with soup, fried, cold, hot. The Chinese fellow that invented noodles should be given a Noble Peace Prize instead of some of the idiots that get it these days.

The Japanese too have done themselves proud with their own ramen. Most places serve Japanese ramen in a shoyu based soup but this place it's a bit different. It's called Taro Ramen or Taro Men in short. The first time I had taro men was in Tokyo about ten years ago. I was amazed at the different type of soup compared to the normal ramen you get on the streets in Tokyo. Thick, miso based soup cooked with pork bones. 

When I came across Taro Ramen in Low Yat, I had to try it. It's a small cosy restaurant with just 3 employees which also happen to be Burmese. Quick browse through the menu and everything seems like the normal Japanese restaurant in KL. Nothing surprising in their line up. Quickly ordered their recommended Char Su Taro Men. 

Serving was good with nice cuts of char su. Tender and juicy. This pig was cooked right but the soup and noodles were just an OK OK-lah! (photos taken with my old iphone 3)

Service is pretty efficient in this place. The Burmese girl acts more Japanese than the Chinese girls in other Japanese places. Gambate!
I was rather surprised with the serving. They are generous with their char su here. I had about six pieces of it in my bowl. (most ramen stores in KL really "stinge" on this. The most you will get in a bowl is probably 3 very thin slices!)
First thing, taste the soup. Not bad. You know that they tried hard to replicate the ones in Tokyo but it was just a little too light compared to the ones in Tokyo. Taro Men's soup should be thicker, strong pork flavors to it. This is just ok, maybe it was done for the local Malaysians that are not used to the thick type of ramen soup. One thing to note before I forget it that the soup was hot. Very important to have hot soup for noodles.
The ramen was a bit too thin for my liking. It should be at least another 0.5 mm thicker then it would have been perfect. Cooked slightly soft which caused this poor fella a lot of points by now.


Overall, I would say that for a quick fix of ramen cravings then go for it. For RM15 bucks a pot, it's not that expensive. Service is good and polite. (Point to note!) Clean and cosy. Food wise - they need to improve on the soup.


Points - 1.5