Noodle House Ken

Below average ramen taste with a very bad service in a rundown place... Claiming "authentic" does not guarantee that it's nice... I've had 5-6 friends which I've personally dared to eat at this place and they all agreed it, pardon me, SUCKS...

Trying to be a bit generous here, must say that the NOODLE itself was not bad. Springy and cooked to Japanese "al-dente"... But other than that, it was a big disappointment... Soup and ingredients just don't blend together to harmony, noodle doesn't "catch" the flavor of the soup, add the bad service and bad ambience, you've got to be very nice to give even 50% rating...

Tucked in a quiet corner away from the main street, Noodle House Ken is not quite an easy spot to locate. And also, we had to wait around for a while because they only open at 6pm. They own two shopfronts but the kitchen bar had very little seats and unless it's a really cold day, I doubt I want to sit in there. The lady served us ice water immediately after we were seated and there are not a lot of choices on the menu so I guess they focus on quality > quantity.

I had the Miso Butter Ramen which had a big chunk of good quality creamy butter. YUM. The noodles were springy and the broth was tasty! As much as I am a fan of salty food, nothing beats well cooked broth with no MSG added! Makan's Boy Char Siew Ramen had big and thick slicings of tasty Char Siew and hearty portions always make us happy! Stewed egg in ramen is also very important and I am pleased to say theirs are of silky soft egg white and lava smooth egg yolk! =D

Overall this place has got good service and great tasting ramen but waiting time can be improved. Definitely one of the few ramen places that is of quality without burning a hole in your pocket.

Read the original post here.

The first time I visited this ramen shop was way past midnight after a tiresome day in school and my friend brought us here for supper. It's rare to find a authentic ramen shop that is opened till this late at night.

My friend ordered Miso Ramen for all of us, gyozas and some Asahi. The soup was very thick and fragrant, not too salty nor oily. The ramen was thick and springy. The only misgiving was the slice of char siew which was a little on the tough side. As for the gyozas, they tasted average on its own but after dipping it in the mixture of sauces which my friend prepared, they tasted really nice!

Certainly comfort food especially in the late night when you are hungry and tired and simply have had enough of a terrible day. However, if you are heading here at night, do be careful especially if you are female and going about alone. When I entered the lift of Orchard Plaza to get to the car park with my friends, the lift was packed with drunk males from the many KTVs in Orchard Plaza.

To get there is a little tricky unless you are familiar with the place. As mentioned above, you could park in the carpark of Orchard Plaza (which uses the old-fashioned machines at the gantry so dont expect the EPS machine to detect your cash card). If you are walking over from Somerset MRT, after you reach OG cross the road and turn left along all the tailor shops. Walk straight and you will see Noodles House Ken on your right in a small corridor.

For pictures visit toseetofeeltoeat

For photos, please visit Rubbish Eat Rubbish Grow.

I wrote a review for Noodle House Ken in July 2010, and having revisited it recently and re-reading my review, I realize how accurate I was in my last review and how things don't change at the restaurant. I ordered something adventurous,Kimuchi Ramen, basically spicy kimchi ramen. The pork was still tough but less fat and healthier than other ramen places. The noodles were springy. And this ramen, like all ramens in the restaurant, needed to grow on me. At first, I thought it was too spicy but the more I ate, the more appetizing it got, especially with the salty kimchi. I finshed the entire bowl and was so stuffed I wanted to puke.

Service has improved slightly, aunties less grumpy. 

Still a dingy, dim nook. Very sleazy looking but beginning to appreciate such an atmosphere.

For the complete post with uploaded pictures; please view:

http://thefoodnomads.wordpress.com/2011/04/16/noodle-house-ken-orchard-plaza/



Noodle House Ken is a small ramen eatery tucked away in a quiet little corner along Orchard Road. With limited seating capacity, it is not uncommon to find a queue of ramen craving food-lovers forming outside the restaurant. Spread by word of mouth, this little secret is known for its sizeable portions and fragrant ramen broth.

Taking up J’s recommendation,  my other friend and I both ordered the Ajitama Ramen. Ajitama is Japanese for flavoured egg and this Ramen comes with a generous serving of springy and well done ramen noodles in a flavourful broth topped with seaweed, an Ajitama, several slices of Japanese Char Siew and a sprinkle of vegetables to garnish.

J ordered the Cold Noodle in Sasami Sause for himself. This was in my opinion a pretty unusual and unique ramen dish as the broth was replaced instead with a milky yellow sesame sauce and garnished with homemade wasabi sauce for flavouring. The cold strands of ramen when coated with the tasty sauce were just delicious. Topped with spinach and shreds of Maitai Tamagoyaki (Japanese Egg), this was also a much less sinful and healthier dish.

With very affordable prices and large portions, Noodle House Ken is a must try for any ramen lover. Though this may not be the best ramen place in Singapore, I would recommend it for its value for money and very decent ramen quality. Not a big fan of ramen personally, I enjoyed this place and will be back soon. And hush-hush, keep this little secret to yourself, I wouldn’t want to be queuing for long on my next visit!

Like actual ramen-ya (らあめん家）in Japan, seating is limited. The decor is dull and dark, though I believe the management can claim they are being authentically Japanese. I could open up a restaurant in Paris looking like a wantan mee hawker stall and call it "authentically Singaporean". They do have a rack of borrowable Japanese manga - in Japanese. But how'd you expect to read in the dimness?

The food was definitely fine. I ordered the cha-siu ramen with added butter, and loved the broth. Trying out the buttered broth is good enough a reason to duke it out here. Unfortunately the ramen noodles themselves were, to me, as good as the mee in wantan mee. It was completely average. Oh yeah I do concur with one of the reviewers here: the gyoza was completely indescribable. They are *that* forgettable.

For an entourage of six, we paid SGD113 excluding beverages. Not bad for the quality of food - again, I stress, I loved the soup.

I was ambivalent about the service. Whilst I do think the staff were genuinely nice/okay people, I don't think they were trained to be *good* servers. All I got when I reached the restaurant was "No place... have to wait". Not rude, but not professional either. Geez, I'm not expecting a jubilant welcome hug, but there are very obviously better ways to tell incoming patrons that they have to queue.

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.