A taste of Hong Kong part 3

After we ticked off dim sum from our list, we were on a quest for the infamous Hong Kong wonton noodles. We were looking for a local cafe that serves wonton noodles whose patrons are locals. That's also what I told the concierge who promptly pointed out Hing Fat on the map, a mere 7 minutes walk from our hotel. Provided you don't get lost of course.

Assorted roast meat

The menu shows that there's more than just noodles and roast meat, such as seafood and other Cantonese dishes. It took me a while to find where the utensils are!

We were greeted by the assorted roasted meat hanging on the open kitchen glass window. Mouth-watering huh? Well, for some definitely. I can't help but remembering this random guy's comment one day when I was waiting for a friend back in Sydney. I was standing in the corner of Goulburn and Sussex street, opposite BBQ King, when all of a sudden this guy who was standing there walked up to me and said "gosh, look at that (pointing to BBQ King assorted meat)... doesn't it look like house of the dead? Carcasses hanging like that". His comment, however random it was, made me realized that cultures are so different and if you don't grow up with these kinds of food, it must look kinda weird... Anyway, I liked his different point of view and appreciate his directness in approaching a stranger and said that. Hahaha, ok maybe it was a little overshare, but still it was kinda funny.

Hot and sour pork noodle

Shrimp wonton noodle

Back to Hing Fat, soon we were seated inside and given menu to peruse. Cg decided on the wonton noodles and while I was tempted, I don't really like soup on my noodle - unless they are ramen. So I decided to have the diced pork in hot and sour sauce noodle where the soup is separated. The egg noodle was super thin but flavorful. I quite like the hot and sour sauce as the topping. I think what would make the dish better is if wontons were included.

Suckling pig and crispy roasted pork

Since we're already at a roasted meat restaurant, we also ordered a combination plate of suckling pig and crispy roasted pork. I confirm that they are as delicious as the look on the picture above. Crispy, juicy, and tender. Oh and value for money too. We spent less than AU$20 for everything including drinks.

Hing Fat

10 Ashley Road

Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon

Hong Kong, China

Sydney's best udon thus far.... Mappen!

On-tama bukkake udon (small)

Allright, hands up if you haven't been to or heard of Mappen? Yes, I suppose many of you haven't but if this place has created quite a buzz in the Sydney food blogosphere around September. I have been there numerous of times and in its early stage as much as 3 times in one week, with 2 of them in a row. Hahahaha, I should go to Mappen anonymous huh? Well, I haven't had time to write about this earlier since I was dealing with my broken foot, school works and exams.

Anyway, I was there last week and I ordered my favorite thing: on-tama bukkake udon: udon with par-boiled egg and concentrated sauce. Then as I walked along the line to the cashier, my faith is not strong enough to resist those tempura temptations... Not that I want to anyway! I ended up getting mixed vegetable kakiage tempura and the shrimp as they stopped serving chikuwa for a while now. Mappen management if you are reading this, please bring back the chikuwa tempura!

Vegetable kakiage and shrimp tempura

What I love about Mappen is, not only the interesting concept: noodle and tempura bar, but also the cheap (relatively) price and it's quality. It's a rare feat for any shop to serve cheap and good quality food, but Mappen definitely achieved that. For udon, the most important thing is its texture, what is it's chewiness factor? Mappen's udon is definitely good, the only better ones I've had was sanuki udon from Koya san in Japan. The onsen tamago (par boiled egg)? I've been there many times and it's always on the right consistency.

My only foe here is the tempura bar... it is way too tempting! I can never resist. Beware though, don't eat too much, you'll hate yourself for the amount of food you forced yourself to eat. Or hey, maybe you don't have that problem hehehhe... I like the way they always keep just enough tempura on display so that it never stays there for too long, keeping it fresh so to speak.

Menya Mappen

Shop 11, 537-551 George St

Sydney, NSW 2000

+61 2 9283 5525

Day 4: 2nd round of Lavender ice cream and soba lunch in Furano city

Lavender soft ice cream Round 2!

At first it was definitely the rain that made us decide that we just had to go back to Tomita farm. However, I confess as you all probably have guessed that it was the Lavender ice cream that really tipped the scale. So it was day 4 in Japan, day 2 in Bibaushi and another visit to Tomita farm. Getting up early, we caught the train to Naka Furano and walked the 20 minutes walk to Tomita farm. The weather was as sunny as it was raining the previous day. By the time we reached Tomita farm, we needed to sit down under the shade and get something cold, yes we got lavender ice cream. Seriously though, it was the heat.

Lavender calpis jelly with poplar trees in the background

I then decided to try the Lavender calpis jelly and Ginko chan got the cream puff, also in lavender flavor. No surprise there eh? The fields were just so beautiful. I couldn't stop snapping pictures. I wish I had a whole week just to spend wondering around this area.

I wish I could have brought my late German Shepherd here, I miss him so much!

Norokko Go Train - Sightseeing train on operation in the spring and summer

Kodamaya front entrance, very summery

The sun was really shinning that day, as if to make up for its lack thereof the previous day. It exhausted us. So we made our way to Furano to get lunch and wait for the bus that will take us to the cheese and the wine factory. The tourist information recommended us this soba place about 7 minutes walk to the north of the station. We were lucky we got table right away because after that, people had to wait for quite a while. There were so many kind of soba to choose from too. I was tempted to get the Anago soba at first, but then saw the kinoko (mushroom) soba which I never see on any soba place menus. That settled it then. Ginko chan opted for the set and we waited for our food to come. We were super hungry.

Ginko chan's set, tempura soba, ikura soba and nama soba - fresh fresh fresh!

Look how fresh the egg is!

Mushroom soba with chicken

Yaki Mochi (grileld rice cakes) - my absolute favorite Japanese snack!

The soba, was really fresh. We ordered the cold kinds perfect remedy for such hot days. Honestly, I'm not really of a soba person, but I was happy here. Service was awesome, food quality was great and the price was friendly to my wallet too! Seriously, I heart Japan. There are so many affordable great quality food there.

Kodamaya

Click here for website

Click here for map

Gumshara Ramen

Garlic Ramen with soft boiled egg topping, $10.50 plus $1.50

It's been a while since I had a good ramen and I certainly hadn't found one in Sydney yet. I miss Tanpopo ramen in Singapore and their black pig tonkatsu. Anyway, I decided to consult Grab Your Fork for ramen and decided on Gumshara ramen in Eating World Harbour Plaza. The food court was just opening, so I could peruse menu leisurely. I debated whether I should try the pork spare rib ramen which they claim only to serve 20 per day or their tonkotsu ramen. I decided to get the garlic tonkotsu ramen with soft boiled egg topping. After all, its not complete without the egg. I was a little chagrined that it was an add on topping rather than being inclusive. When they serve it to me, they told me that if the broth was too thick or salty, I should let them know so that they can fix it.

The shop, quite slow at 11.45 a.m.

The garlic and tonkotsu smell were really good. The ramen were cooked just nice, not too hard but not to soft. The sliced pork were superb and the menma was crunchy. The broth was quite thick but I didn't mind it, however I did ask them to put more soy sauce. Then again, for those who knows me know that I have a savory tongue, not sweet toothed. Other Sydney food bloggers have mentioned that the soup is collagen rich, I suppose that should make me feel less guilty and think of how great collagen is for me! (strong and elastic skin!)

I loved the big piece of seaweed on my ramen too. So far, this has been the best ramen I have tried in Sydney. Especially with a name like 'Gumshara' which was one of my favorite word in Japan. I can't remember exactly what it meant, I will consult with a friend and get back on this. I think next time I will try the pork rib ramen and their gyoza.

Oh, before I forgot you should check out this video on how the Japanese government has decided to monitor their citizens' waistlines. I just came across it. I was thinking wow, I wouldn't mind eating traditional Japanese food everyday to lose weight. Then it dawned on me, ramen isn't exactly what the Japanese government had in mind for this program!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1hqHo6lyUU&feature=player_embedded#!

Gumshara

Shop 209, Eating World Harbour Plaza

25-29 Dixon st. (Entrance from Goulbourn st or China town area)

Haymarket, Chinatown.

Open Tue-Sun 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

Closed on Mondays.

Spotted: another ramen-ya in Jakarta

A common scene at Sanpachi Ramen, Melawai branch

I've heard about Sanpachi ramen a while back, but it wasn't till last week that I finally got a chance to try it out. The first time, my parental unit had called me one Saturday morning not long after I had just taken my late breakfast to see if I was interested in having an early lunch. Talk about timing eh? After weighing the pros and cons: pros being finally tasting Sanpachi Ramen and the cons being that I had just eaten... the pros won out and I quickly head out there. Unfortunately I forgotten my camera... So I went with the other half of my parental unit remembering to bring my camera this time, so that I can share my findings with you all.

What I found was not disappointing at all. I was very pleased indeed and now Sanpachi Ramen is head to head with Sing Sing Ramen as my favorite ramen-ya in town. Located on the second floor of Kamome Japanese supermarket in Melawai area, Sanpachi has an authentic ramen stall feel to it. The staff's attire were quite casual, with many counter seats surrounding the open kitchen. Ramen lovers will be able to see the hustle and bustle live from their seats. Many Japanese visited the store as well as locals and expats alike. Good food quality, fast service and value for money are no doubts reasons why Sanpachi is always packed.

Anyway, we ordered one Shoyu Ramen with sliced pork, Sanpachi Salad, Dim Sum Age, and side orders of menma (bamboo shoots) and sweet corn. The Japanese way of ordering would usually be of the small dishes first then the ramen, but I was too hungry to do that. However, once the food started to arrive all at the same time, I kinda wished I did. That way I wouldn't have such a hard time choosing what to eat first and I was worrying that my ramen would get too soaked.

Sanpachi Salad with two dressings behind: Mayo and Wafu

Anyway, I started with the salad which came with two type of dressings: Mayonnaise and Wafu. I opted for Wafu and used the mayo for the dim sum age later on. The salad were fresh and had a good variety of ingredients. I originally wanted to try the Pitan Salad, but they were out of the century egg. Though I was disappointed at first I was throughly satisfied with the Sanpachi salada. The crunchy lettuce pieces and the lightness of the whole thing made me felt healthy as that meant I balanced my diet that particular afternoon with some veggies...

Dim Sum Age with Mustard on the side (Rp 25,000)

Next I ate all the rest at the same time, multi-eating at its glory for sure. I was glad that I got the dim sum age in the end instead of the pork gyoza (by the way, you can get the chicken gyoza if you don't eat pork). I tried the gyoza last time I was there and it was good, but it didn't make me dream of it... The dim sum however, had more substance, texture and taste. You could order it 'mushi' (means steam) or 'age' (means fried). I chose 'age' which was why I had to have the salad to balance out the fattiness of this! I noticed some mushroom pieces in the dim sum which add to it's substance and taste. Dip it on the mayo, yum....

Shoyu Ramen (Rp 40,000) split into two (add Rp 5,000)

The Shoyu Ramen was a little disappointing though. The noodle was good, like Sing Sing, here at Sanpachi they offered 2 types of noodles: regular and curly. I of course chose the curly. They also offered cooking options for the noodle: well done and medium. I chose medium as I like my noodles chewy. The noodles didn't disappoint, they were chewy, bouncy and yummy. It was the broth that was too thin in my opinion and since the heart and soul of a ramen bowl is in it's broth... This one didn't really win that many points for me. The last time I was there I had the Miso ramen and the miso broth was so rich, I was in ramen heaven. So, if you do go I'd recommend to try the Miso, but as everyone has different taste buds you might like the Shoyu ramen.

Close up on the bowl, notice that the pork was halved...

The two side dishes that I ordered were excellent. For the sweet corn, lest the cook accidentally mixed it with the normal corn, it's pretty hard to mess up. As for the menma, it was just nice. The bamboo shoots were just done nicely in terms of texture and taste. Another dish that I chalked to my effort in being healthy... ;)

Sweet Corn Side Dish

Menma (Bamboo Shoot) Side Dish

Last but not least, green tea ice cream for dessert. Sanpachi ramen doesn't have an extensive variety for dessert, but that is expected from a ramen-ya. After all, wouldn't we rather they concentrate on the ramen than on dessert? They serve kakigori also, but I didn't try it this time. The green tea ice cream did not disappoint. One service was three scoops! Such generous portion is quite rare these days in this metropolitan city, but here it was. If you are suspicious whether the reason they serve such generous portion was because the taste wasn't great, wrong. It was perfect! To me anyway, not too sweet and the green tea strength was just right instead of being too bitter. They also serve complimentary jelly, but sadly they forgot this time.

Green Tea Ice Cream (Rp 14,000)

All in all, we spent about Rp 140,000 for everything. Water is complimentary but ocha isn't. The ice cream was Rp 14,000 for 3 scoops of one serving. They also have outlets at the malls like Pacific Place, etc. Although, I think the best is this one in Melawai and that is also what I have heard from others. I can't wait for my next ramen-ya discovery though I must admit I don't have anymore lead... If you know of any, give me a shout!

Sanpachi Ramen (Ramen 38)

Kamome Bldg, 2nd floor

Jl. Melawai Raya no. 189B

Jakarta Selatan

+62 21 728 0268

A ramen quest in Jakarta

Our small ramen bowls, with extra onion leaves

When I left Singapore, I thought to myself that I needed to find a good ramen restaurant in Jakarta. My discovery of Sing Sing, came the first weekend I was back, suggested by my father. As he is acquainted with many Japanese expats living in Jakarta, most often than not the Japanese restaurants he recommended have always been quite authentic. So I headed to Sing Sing with M, a fellow ramen enthusiast.

Iced Houji tea

Located in Grand Wijaya Center opposite of Cosmo Japanese Supermarket, the restaurant is quite secluded to the untrained eye. M who reached there first, assured me that it is indeed directly opposite of Cosmo and of course that was how I discovered it too. At 12pm, we were the only two people there saved for another Japanese customer who was finishing his early lunch. The restaurant was cozy as any ramen shop should be and they had an open kitchen concept where you can see the people cooking your ramen.

The kitchen: I wonder if that bowl on the counter was one of ours?

It took me a while to decide what to order as I had to read the menu carefully. At the end M and I ordered; shoyu ramen, kimchi ramen, ebi gyoza, jumbo gyoza, and tori karaage. Yup, lots of orders I know. M was hungry and I was curious to try different plates. To accommodate all these food, we ensured to order small bowls of ramen.

Clockwise from the top: curly, regular and jumbo noodles

A little interesting and positive quirk that I found was when you ordered your ramen, you are given a choice of noodles: regular, curly and jumbo. M opted for curly and I for regular. I was most curious by this time.

First came the gyozas, they were very interesting and authentic. You see, some of the Japanese restaurants outside of Japan serve the gyoza the wrong way. The correct way is to have the bottom up because a good gyoza is crispy golden brown on the bottom with soft skin and juicy innards. Here at Sing Sing, not only are the gyozas served the right way, that is bottom up, but they make it so that there are a lot of crispies! Check out that sheet of crispiness!

Ebi gyoza: Shrimp gyoza

The Ebi gyoza came out in a set of 5, while the Jumbo gyoza came in a set of 3. The ebi gyoza was made of minced shrimp and the Jumbo made of minced pork. The ebi gyoza was sweet and softer in taste. The Jumbo gyoza, in my opinion was by far the most delicious gyoza I have ever found in Jakarta. Perhaps it could compare to the way Taichan's gyoza was 12 or 15 years ago where the only branch was the one in MidPlaza building and it hasn't been franchised to open at the malls. Oh and way back then they still used pork meat, not anymore though sadly. Lest you go to the one in Block M. Anyway, back to the Jumbo gyoza, the innards were soft, juicy and tasty! It tasted delicious even without the soy sauce. Really, that good I tell you!

Side view of the gyoza: check out how thin and crispy it looks!

Jumbo gyoza: pork meat

Innards: jumbo gyoza

Then came our ramens; Kimchi (Korean pickles based soup) with regular noodle and Shoyu (soy sauce based soup) with curly ramen. My Kimchi ramen was very pleasing with just enough vinegary and spicy taste. I could taste the richness of the soup stock too. The pork meat was tender and nice. If you don't eat pork, they also serve beef and chicken. The noodle was also cooked well, nice density, elasticity and chewi-sity. Not as curly as M's noodle though.

Kimchi Ramen

The shoyu ramen was crisp in its saltiness, just right and not too salty. It tasted very authentic, as opposed to some of the ramens that are catered to Indonesian taste buds and therefore not original anymore. It was served with menma (bamboo shoots) and some nori (dried seaweed). The curly noodle tasted just as good as my regular noodle, just a bit more curly than mine. Seems like the differences were more in aesthetics than in taste. Perhaps if you were to order the jumbo noodles though it would taste differently than these two.

Shoyu Ramen

The chicken karaage came with the ramen and there's this old adage that said "Don't judge a book by its cover" but I was unable to not judge this karaage by it's skin. I wasn't expecting anything in specific but when I saw this, I thought of KFC rather than chicken karaage. It tasted ok, but I wasn't too impressed by it. A suggestion to the kitchen staff, try to make it more crispy if you can.

Chicken Karaage

I was full by the time I was finished but when I saw the desert menu, I couldn't help but wanting to order some kakigori or Japanese shaved ice. So I ordered the milky one, I can't remember what the name was, sorry guys... And below is what it looked liked when it came out: red bean paste on top and inside, three pieces of mochi, some strawberry jam, loads of condensed milk and shaved ice. It tasted sweet and fresh. But I had my "Toto we're not in Kansas anymore" moment, I was definitely not in Kyoto anymore. The shaved ice were not as soft as the ones I had in Kyoto, but hey it's better than nothing I'd say and certainly cheaper than if I were to make a trip to Nippon.

Shaved ice dessert

Overall we had a nice meal there. The only complaint that I have is that there is no distinction for smoking and non smoking area. Sure, I get that there are many Japanese that smoke but surely there are people with small kids or non smokers who prefer to have their meals without having to inhale and smell the smoke. So note to management: please have separated dining area for smokers and non smokers and NO, they can't be in the same room without any physical barriers because smoke do travel through air...

Oh almost forgot to tell you that there was this lady who was either the restaurant manager or owner came by and asked all of her clients how the food was. She seemed genuinely interested to see what people think of the food instead of those people who asked just for the sake of being polite. I assured her that I thought the ramen was good. It didn't occur to me though to comment on her chicken karaage or the smoke... Next time then, when I go for my next ramen visit.

So there you go, an authentic ramen place right here in Jakarta. Great tasting ramen and reasonable price. For all of these food I think we spent about IDR 170,000 max. Let me know what you think of the ramen if you try it and if you have any other ramen recommendation.

Sing Sing Ramen
Grand Wijaya Center
Blok G.29, Wijaya II
Jakarta Selatan
+62-21 722-5070

Miharu Ramen @Gallery Hotel

Miharu Ramen from the side

The first time I heard about Miharu ramen was about a year ago from a friend of mine who works at the Singapore Tourism Board but it's not till recently that I finally tried it. I also passed by it more than a few times. I can see the sign on the side of the road and wonder if it is the Miharu ramen at the Gallery Hotel since I would have expected the side views to be neater as Gallery hotel is supposed to be a boutique hotel... (to my mind anyway)

Tokusen Miso Ramen

Nevertheless, after studying the menu I decided to try the Tokusen miso ramen which consisted of ramen, pork slice, half of soft parboiled egg, corn, bamboo shoots, sliced shallots and seaweed on a miso based soup. It made me really happy to see that the ramen came with the seaweed as to me it was so reminiscent of the ramen that I had in Japan. It's almost a symbol of authenticity. Almost, as I was yet to taste it. The soup was rich. I could taste the miso and the broth. The ramen noodle itself was firm and chewy. The bamboo shoots were crunchy but not too hard and the corn was sweet. The taste really kicked.

Boiled Gyoza

The boiled gyoza was also quite interesting as usually you don't really find boiled gyoza at Japanese shops. It came dressed in soy sauce with vinegar. I waited till it cooled down a bit before trying. It was good and I'd like to think somewhat healthier as it was boiled rather than fried. I also hoped it has less calories... Alright, alright, I'm asking for too much, but at least I tried... The skin is thicker than the usual fried gyoza but I do recommend the boiled gyoza if you never tried it before.

Miso Cha Siew

Since the ramen only come with one slice of pork, it made sense at the time to order the miso cha siew, which is 4 slices of pork drizzled in miso sauce on top of boiled bean sprouts. The pork was sweet and tender, and the miso sauce complimented it by giving it salty savory taste. And the bean sprouts,... it can never hurt to eat more vegetables.

All the sauces you need for ramen and gyoza...

and of also your chopsticks

What I like about Miharu is that the place is very Japanese ramen shop-ish: with a ramen flag outside, semi open kitchen with a ramen bar where people who come solo can just sit and watch the chef cooking their meal. It just felt quite authentic. The interesting part about it was that, there were another restaurant just across from it that turned out to also be Miharu ramen... so due to space issue they have two different places one across each other. I wonder if people get confused as I certainly did.

I am so glad that now I found another good ramen place and finally tried the elusive "ramen at the Gallery Hotel". Now I can say that I have tried it.

Miharu Ramen
1 Nanson Rd
Singapore, 238909, Singapore
+65 67338464‎

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