Ramen gallore @Tanpopo

My friend P was craving some ramen that day and she had one place in mind: Tanpopo at Liang Court. I happened to stumble this restaurant by accident almost a year ago during which Liang Court was still in renovation. I found it when I found Meidi-ya, the Japanese supermarket which is heaven for good food. Back then, Tanpopo was on the same level as the supermarket, now it has moved up one floor, right next to the Novotel Hotel's lobby.

It's bigger and drew more crowd these days. Back then it was mostly patronized by Japanese living in Singapore but these days the crowd is mixed. They are famous for their killer tonkatsu and well anything black pig. I have to admit though that despite their quality tonkatsu, I find the price more expensive than other tonkatsu places.

My green tea: funny how even though they have both ice cubes and green tea,

they don't serve iced green tea.....

Back to P, we decided to go on Wednesday. It took me a while to order as I didn't have any particular craving . Whenever I came here, I always ordered the katsu so this time I decided that I should try something new there and ordered the cold ramen set while P ordered the Tonkatsu Ramen and we decided to have the Tonkatsu salad to share.

It took a while for the orders to come that day, we had to remind them as the place was super busy. We also had to wait about 20-30 minutes before we got a table. P's tonkatsu ramen came first, a bowl full of yummy treats for your taste buds. The ramen broth was thick, rich and spicy (as in many spices but not chili). The ramen noodle chewy with just the right consistency. The tonkatsu? Steaming golden crisp of heavenly smell! The pork was so tender, you can eat it as is or dip it into your ramen soup or use the katsu sauce. For me, I love soaking it in the broth. Gosh, my mouth waters just thinking about it!

Tonkatsu Ramen: cute and creative way to keep the tonkatsu crispy!

The cold ramen came soon after. I ordered it because it said that the sauce was mixed using yuzu, Japanese citrus, which I really love. Once when I was in Tokyo wondering around Tsukiji fish market area, I found a store selling pickles and they had daikon (horse radish) with yuzu pickles which of course I bought. Amazing!!! I've yet to seen it again. I suppose a visit to Tokyo is in order sometime soon. Back to the cold ramen, it came with ama ebi (Sweet prawns), kani (crab meat) and some eggs. The taste was fresh and cool, very appropriate for the humid Singapore weather. The sauce was citruz-y, me like!

Cold Ramen Set

Close up of the ramen, topped with fish roe

Close up of the ama ebi, kani and tamago

The salad was delicious. If I have that kind of salad everyday, I wouldn't mind being a vegetarian. Oh shoot, the tonkatsu is never gonna be vegetarian. Oh well, the salad was a mixture of greens with some asparagus dressed in sesame sauce with little tonkatsu balls. I like to think that it was a healthy side dish, but of course the deep fried tonkatsu cancelled all those healthiness away. But just let me pretend, ok?

Tonkatsu Salad @ SGD 10.80

When we pay, we got a little surprise. It was Ladies night, so we got 10% discount. Yay!

Tanpopo

Japanese Family Dining Restaurant

177 River Valley Road

Liang Court Shopping Centre #01-23/24

Singapore 179030

www.cfc.com.sg