Gantetsu Ramen

It’s been almost 1 year and 1 month since this Ramen Champion started July last year. After 1 year of fierce competition, Ikkousha emerged as the ultimate winner. It sold about 100,531 bowls of ramen in 2011. This is approximately 275 bowls each day!  Bario is the runner-up, selling about 65,529 bowls of ramen. Ikkousha is also my favorite ramen. It came as no surprise to me that Ikkousha is the winner as I always see customers frequently queuing up for it. Sad to say, Tetsu (aka dipping noodles) is out due to the lowest sales among them.

Having tried the winner’s ramen many times, I decided to have the Sapporo Ramen – Gantetsu Ramen. Sapporo is the birth place of Miso ramen. Most of the Miso ramen in Singapore tend to be quite salty and oily. I hope this Miso king Cha Shu Ramen does not disappoint me.

When I went to the counter to collect my ramen, my first impression is: “WOW!” It has at least 8 pieces of Cha-Shu. Furthermore, it comes along with 3 pieces of gyoza. The ramen and the gyoza set costs $15 (excluding GST). I thought to myself this should be the most value-for-money ramen. Let’s hope the taste is good as well.

To me, normally, I would test the ramen by drinking the broth first. Fortunately, the broth does not disappoint me. Though it is miso-based, I can actually taste the sweetness and porky taste of the broth (instead of salty). I believe the sweetness has something to do with the sweet corn and the bamboo shoots that enhance this sweetness. As for the noodles, it is slightly curvy and has the springy texture. But there is nothing to shout about the noodles here.

Surprisingly, the lava eggs are the best I ever tried. Though the eggs are cold, the yolks are runny and firm. I use my chopsticks to ‘poke’ on the egg and it does not break easily. When I placed the lava egg in my mouth, I can feel the runny egg yolk slowly dissolved down my throat.

I admitted I was overwhelmed by 8 pieces of cha-shu. Most of the ramen stores tend to serve with 3-4 pieces of cha-shu. Thus, this explains my excitement. Each piece of cha-shu is not that big. But it is slightly thick and firm. It does not tear off easily when I lift it up with the chopsticks.

The Gyoza is kind of disappointment for me. It is rather normal like what most others are selling outside. Nevertheless, the ramen itself is sufficient to satisfy everything.

To conclude, besides value-for-money, this ramen sure WILL NOT let you down. The broth has the essence and sweetness of the sweet corn, bamboo shoots and pork bones. It is definitely not the typical salty miso broth you tried. Besides Ikkousha ramen, this is my next favorite ramen in the list.

Location
Ramenchampion
Bugis+ (formally known as Iluma)
201 Victoria Street, #04-08/09

Opening hours
Daily: 1130hrs – 2230hrs