Noodle House Ken

Colleague and I stumbled across this hole in the wall joint when we somehow found ourselves at Cuppage Plaza for dinner. Well, I recall someone telling me about how incredible the egg in their ramen is, even though the ramen is supposedly "average". My friend's a ramen nazi, so his "average" doesn't mean what it normally means.

Even with the ramen-explosion our country is witnessing, I can't get enough of it! So, we decided to give it a try, and were surprised to see it packed full. Bit disappointed when we were informed that they had run out of their famed eggs! Waited for about 10 mins for our seats and were given the bar seats. Nothing to write home about ambience - the place is cramped and somewhat dinghy, but it almost feels authentic that way! I ordered the chashu ramen, while my colleague went for the miso ramen.

Waited for about 10 mins for our ramen, by which time I was so hungry that I could probably chew my own arm off. The noodles were incredibly hot, which I actually like. The soup base for both our ramens was about right, not the tastiest or richest but pretty satisfying.

What struck me dumb was just how generous they were with the ingredients - my chashu ramen came with 5 very generously sliced chashu pieces (I'm used to chashu ramens that come with 1 or 2 measly cut slices). They weren't melt in your mouth or very savoury, compared to those you get at the more famous joints here, but they were decent. Noodles were just about right on the springy/chewy department.

The unusual thing about the ramen was just how much vegetables there were! Our ramen came with loads of vegetables - spring onions, spinach, beansprouts etc (sweet corn in my colleague's miso ramen). I've always had the impression that vegetables don't play a prominent role in Japanese cuisine, judging from how sparingly they feature in their dishes, including ramen. I understand that our ramen may not be exactly authentic given the amount of veggies - probably something to do with how the Japanese concept of aesthetics - but I was still awfully happy!

Overall, the ramen here isn't gonna impress the countless ramen nazis around, but in terms of value, it's hard to beat! Now if I can just get to try their eggs!

Given that Singapore's weather has been in the monsoon mood this season, there is no excuse now to skip this little ramen joint when you are around the area. Tucked at the back of Orchard Plaza, make sure you combed the area more thoroughly before you give up. If in doubt, the friendly Indian tailors sitting on their high stools in front of their shops will be happy to point right direction to you.

I have been here for two times now and I consider this place one of the good ramen joints in Singapore. It is definitely not the best, but if you are craving for ramen in town area, please do not part your cash at places like Ajisen. Walk a little further and I promise you will not be disappointed.

I always order the Char Siew Ramen and will add extra corn for some vege and crunchiness. Price: $13-$15

Noodles are Q but I have tasted better out there. Soup is just salty enough for me. I was served generous servings of char siew, didn't find fault with them. The egg yolk is soft the way I like it.

If you have read the other reviews, most people found fault with the service. I must agree that I met with sub-standard service for my second visit as there was a weekend dinner crowd. The staff were tense, and they took our orders and serve the food without a smile. Still, for the ramen and nice dim ambience, I shall overlook that.

Don't expect to stay long in the shop to chit chat though. As the place is pretty small you will definitely be pressured to settle the bill and leave fast. Cuppage Plaza which is just next to NHK is probably a better choice for after-dinner drinks.

bf and i headed happily to Noodle House Ken for dinner. When we got there at 7.05pm, there were already some pple waiting to get in. Those who haven't been to NHK need to know that this is a small joint with very limited seats.

We waited for about 5 minutes before being ushered to sit at the counter. It's actually quite tight and uncomfy, but since we were there for the supposed good food, we decided we shdn't mind. It was our second time here, so we were more or less prepared.

We ordered two bowls of egg ramen and 1 plate of gyoza. As we waited, there was a continuous stream of people asking for seats. Housed at Orchard Plaza, which is really quite ulu, we were quite convinced the ramen must be pretty darn shiok.

Bf and I waited till 7.45pm. I was getting pretty impatient and puzzled at why the food was taking so long. I knew sth was def amiss when the table of two next to us got their gyoza before we did, even though we had arrived MUCH MUCH earlier. And so, the bf asked what happened to our order. It seems THEY LEFT IT OUT. Mind you, we were seated right at the counter, so everytime the waitresses came by to pick up the food, they could hv realised we had waited pretty damn long. Smart. Really great service. FYI All the waitresses could muster was a lousy half-hearted apology.

The food finally came a few minutes later. And honestly, it was nothing spectacular. I'll give it to them that the char siew was pretty tender, but the rest of it was just average. The egg wasnt lava egg as I thought it wld have been. The gyoza too seemed very popular, but I've tasted much much better - NHK's gyoza filling wasn't too well marinated. My recommendation: Don't waste your calories on the gyoza.

On the whole, it was a very bad experience. I have read that most pple swear by NHK and it seems the cold noodles is a must-have. Maybe I'll try that next time. That is, IF, I return.

Well, I know many people rave about this place and I was dying to try the cold noodle which everyone is talking about but I left this place feeling full yet disappointed.

The Cold Noodle - supposed to come with sesame dressing however, I can't taste any sesame at all. I thought it was my tastebud playing trick so I asked my friend to try it out, he too can't taste the sesame. The noodle was done really Q, and I like the bamboo shoot and additional topping of sweet corn on it but that's about it.

The Char Siew Ramen(shoyu) was better than the cold noodle IMO, Q noodle and rich broth.

Service staffs were fast and friendly.

However I don't think I will be back, for the same price I will just be happy to go to Marutama for my 7-nut ramen + egg.

I usually stay away from red meat. But I thought of giving the signature char siu ramen a try at least once in my life.

The noodles had a good texture and were yummy and interesting to bite into. The char siu serving was generous and soft. I could tell that the rich-tasting soup was not quickly made like those found in other ramen shops, which literally serve 'instant noodles'.(suckers still eat those)

However.....

the waitress did not ask me whether I wanted additional toppings for the char siu ramen that I ordered for the first time. (minus 1 service point)

The waitress did not 'wait' patiently to take my order while I was deciding. I had to 'wait' for her to come back to give her my order. This kind of impatient waitering is a serious flaw in Singapore's service industry. 10% of my bill comes from service. Hello? Don't walk off while I am giving you my order.. (minus 3 service points)

Fiddling with the toothpick bottle of a Japanese customer reading something but not actively eating, which is equivalent to bothering him to leave. (Reading at eating establishments is a very Japanese culture thing) I was not supposed to notice all this and be bothered by it too! I could also detect that the waitress was not giving out a calming vibe that is the norm for Japanese-type service, but was quite tensed and busy being 'busy' you get what I mean? Service staff especially those working in Japanese shops are supposed to provide an atmosphere of soothing calmness. (minus 5 points)

There you have it. 1 service point overall for inadequate and culture-conflicting service. The thing I can't stand most is finding poor Singapore-type service in a Japanese eatery.

To whom it may concern, *zettai* satisfying food but find a waitress more suitable onegaiishimas!

(FYI New Japanese coffee cafe Kohi-Ten opening at Cuppage Terrace! Looks really funky!)

I haven't tried any better Ramen place yet, so at this point, this is the best one for me.

I have been here for almost 5-6 times with different friends, and all commented that the food is superb, especially the soup/broth.

I need not comment much about the Char Siew nor Stewed Egg Ramen as a lot has done so. I would like to comment on:

1) Free-flow ice water
2) nice cosy warm ambience
3) Mixing good chilli + etc etc

I like the Gyoza too. It's not world-best-gyoza per say, but it's delicious when taken with the chilli and the soup of the Ramen.

No MSG, boiled for more than 8-hours soup... at 12bucks and 15 if you're really hungry...

This is a hidden find in Orchard road, and a must if you're one Ramen Lover.

I've heard good things about this place from my friends. So my gf and I decided to pay this shop a visit. I am not a big fan of ramen, because of the many bad experiences I have had with poorly made ones. However, I decided to give this on a shot.

We arrived there at 11.30am and found out that they open at 12. If I am not mistaken, the restaurant is open from 12-2pm for lunch and around 5pm (not too sure about this) till 2am for dinner.

I was expecting quite a bit when I looked at the menu. Basically, it was only a page with different types of ramen, gyoza, some other appetizers, and drinks. This made it seem the shop for the ramen connoisseur since in most other restaurants I've been to, the smaller the menu, the better the specialty dish. So we ordered the kimchi ramen and the char siew ramen. The soup was nothing short of amazing. According to the menu, the soup was boiled for half a day and no msg was added. The flavor was tasteful, but not too rich. And best of all, no after taste cause of the absence of msg. The char siew was so tender, the piece sometimes broke into bits when I lifted it with my chopstick. Also, the meat was sweet and delicious. Best of all, there were 10 pieces of this scrumptious char siew! What a bargain for $12. The noodles were obviously home made and they were bouncy and tasty. There was also bamboo, which I thoroughly enjoyed, as the pieces were crispy yet juicy. I'm not a big fan of kimchi though so I won't comment on the kimchi ramen. However, my gf really enjoyed it. My bowl was emptied of everything, even the soup.

The ambience reminded me of a typical japanese side-street restaurant (yes, I have had the opportunity to visit this land of wondrous good food!). Service was also good as waitresses were very attentive.

Overall, $12 is a bargain for such good ramen, which fills you up entirely. I am looking forward to my next visit.

Haha yes yes to me e location is kinda ulu... Orchard Plaza = Fire (last time tea dance rem? haha..) so e thought of gg there for makan is a bit out.. but boy was i wrong when there's actually a ramen joint that opens til 2am!! 2AM baby!! (even ah meng next door closes at 3am).. yippie! good for night makans in orchard!!

I've read abt this place on forums and decided to check it out.. it's juz a typical jap ramen shop which boasts an 8 hrs double boil soup with no MSG! (so cantonese! Fire and Canto... geddit? wahaha.. *lame*)..

so what abt e food?? we had e char siew shoyu ramen with a stew egg($14) n the cold noodles ($12)..my bf totally lurrvee e cold noodles.. i tot it was good as well although i've had similar cold noodles elsewhere (as good) but i can't remember where so this will b e place for my cold noodles crave! i like e noodles...very al dente very Q so gives a good bite.. although it would b great if e accompanying shredded ingredients could b colder coz e colder noodle makes these taste a tad too warm..but e sauce is great n we greedily drank it all up!

e ramen is not too bad as well.. e shoyu soup (i alwaz order shoyu so can't comment on miso or shio) is quite tasty.. true enuff no MSG n it tasted quite yummy.. slurped it all up!but i'm quite disappointed with e char siew.. it's hugh portion no doubt but it's nowhere near "melt-in-ur mouth" type.. it's definitely not tender n is actually kinda tough! baikohken's n menya's char siew r really tender n melt in ur mouth type so this pales in comparison.. e stew egg ($2) is not too bad.. it's a whole egg! would b great if they could slice it in half 1st.. e yolk is kinda well-cooked so not exactly runny but taste great still..

can oni compare to baikohken since i order e exact ramen (char siew shoyu ramen with egg) at both places (can't compare to miharu or tampopo since e ramens i had r diff).. but gotta say e tasty soup n springy noodles r great but e char siew n egg could b better..

tried e gyozas ($5) and it's alrite... kinda small in size.. e outside is quite crispily fried but e ends r not so kinda flour-y n starchy.. coz it's small e fillings r not big so u do get more skin than meat.. quite tasty but i tink once u had tried menya's gyozas.. everywhere else pales in comparison!

anyway cinderella now has a place for midnight ramen!

I can’t believe it took me so long to eat a bowl of ramen from Ken! I went straight with the Hiyashi Chuka ($12) (cold noodles) coz I came here specially for this.

The friendly waitress asked if I wanted the noodles to be “normal” (meaning chewy) or “soft”. I guess they do 2 versions to acclimate to the local tastebuds. But of coz I stuck to the bona fide version: “I’ll let Chef decide.” :)

This is like a noodle-laden Chef’s salad! Atop the chewy noodles was a mantle of shredded cucumber, tamago strips, menma (bamboo shoots), chopped leeks and sliced kamaboko. I didn’t want char siew and I was just trying my luck when I requested for sweet corn as replacement. To my utter delight, the reply was a resounding: Yes! Ken-san agreed so willingly! :) And mind you! The sweet corn costs $1 as an ala carte topping on its own but I wasn’t charged for the extra! Thanks Ken-san!

I simply love the corn kernels bursting with sweetness with every bite, the succulence of the sweet menma and the crunchiness of the cucumber!

Eh I also asked for a spoon at the end and haha guess why? I wasn’t slurping soup ramen…call me gross but I couldn’t let any drop of the sesame dressing go to waste! The spoon I used it to clean out the plate totally keke. Deliciously nutty! Deliciously healthy!

For the alcoholics out there, there’s even Asahi available on draught, so it’s a good drinking hole to imbibe all the way to the wee hours. There’s also a comprehensive list of sake available. And this place though dingy but so funky. They were playing Power 98!

Ken-san prides his soup as being double boiled for 8 hours with no msg added. Sounds good! The only way to find out is for me to try their signature tamago ramen the next time, but I know I won’t be able to resist the Hiyashi Chuka again!

See lah! Writing this review make me lau nua salivate already lar! Now I want to eat it again! :(

It's one of my fave joints for Authentic Char Siew Ramen & my wife's fave cold noodles.

Well, according to the "poster" the soup is "Double boiled" (I think) for about 12 - 24 hrs with bones.

Anyway, I simply love the soup. The Char Siew is also so moist and yummy.

See the pict... Alex, I think the owner heard you. See the pict... the pict only shows half the original (Coz I ate the other half.

Anyway, the cold noodles were also so yummy too.

The noodles were not too soggy / too hard, just the way that I like it.

Soup & gravy is not too salty, unlike some other places...

For $12, it's really quite value for money.
+ another $2 for a bigger portion of noodles (Which even a guy my size cannot really finish)
*I'm about 1.8m & about 90++kg. (Go imagine)

Honestly, I have been there quite a number of times but have never been turned down by the waitress before.