Sapporo Ramen Miharu

Maybe you have not heard of Miharu but it has earned its reputation purely through word-of-mouth. Firstly, not many people know of this haunt as it is not widely advised. Secondly, it is at a rather hidden corner of Gallery Hotel, a distance away from the bus-stops and MRT station.

As I enter the little shop, I immediately had a sense of familiarly, with the setup reminding me of what I watched in those Japanese dramas and movies. It had this traditional and ‘rustic’ feel, where Japanese workers would hang out after a day of hard work. You can choose to see ‘kneeled’ (there’s a hole in the floor to rest your leg) or along the counter row.

The bowl contained chewy Sapporo ramen, said to be made with water from the well. These Japanese noodles come frozen from Japan and have to be thawed for a number of days to achieve the bite.

And the soup was SALTY, full of miso and pork-flavoured fragrance. It almost felt like the all the goodness of the pork has been absored by the soup from the long hours of cooking. The broth was so tasty, my friend and I finished every drop of the soup.

What’s more important to me was that unlike most commercial eateries out there, Miharu has a very homely and calming ambiance about it, which makes you feel comforted.

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This was built up for me by the person who recommended it, and the weight of expectation probably colours this review a little.  That said, I didn't think the ramen here was all that great.  The charsiew and the egg were both disappointing, and that's already two important elements of the dish written off.  Broth is OK, and noodles are nice and eggy (although when I was there I don't think they blanched the noodles to get rid of the alkaline taste).  Probably would not return.

I guess I couldn't say it was very overrated, because I don't think this place was very rated to begin with. As in, it has its fans, but isn't really on the tip of peoples' tongues anymore when you think of a ramen joint. I recall that there was a bit of buzz when it first opened, but it's been somewhat eclipsed, buzz-wise, by the avalanche of new ramen joints. It's almost like ramen is our national dish, okay, maybe only for yuppies.

Anyway, I've been here quite sometime back, but strangely didn't recall much about it. So, I went back to this place again, after a few drinks at eM by the River round the corner. Service is still pretty brisk, and ambience is pretty typical for a ramen shop.

So I went for the most popular item, the Tokusen Tonkotsu Ramen (special pork bone ramen), while bf sat this one out coz he had just eaten at ramen santouka with his friends before this. First up, the soul of the ramen - the broth. This was not to my liking. It was just far too salty. I know they sort of take this into account by telling you on the menu to ask for noodle water to dilute the stock if it's too salty, and I think the reason for this is that they believe that the stock is just nice the way they prepare it. Still, I prefer if the stock came made with the right amount of salt, and not have to require me to dilute it. While it had that nice nutty and rich flavour, the over-salting killed it for me. Next, the noodles were ok, nothing much to talk about. The egg is pretty decent, texture and taste wise. Nothing exceptional, but decent. The cha shu was a big flop, however. It was overcooked and hence tough and badly porky, and nowhere near flavoursome enough.

My other comment reminds me of this old joke I heard about two old ladies who were complaining to each other about the food they were having at some resort. One says to the other "Boy, the food at this place is really terrible", and the other responds "Yeah, I know; and such small portions". The cha shu I got was a really measly piece, which would be fine if it was good. Ramen joints tend to give you very little cha shu, which is quite typical - but these tend to be good. Those places which are quite generous also tend to not do great cha shu - I could be wrong, but this has so far been the norm. So, no quality, and no quantity!

I guess that's all there is to talk about!

In a chilly Hokkaido winter, the steaming bowl of ramen thaws the partially frost-bitten face, warming the heart, soul and palate but in a place so stiflingly hot and humid as Singapore, can a bowl of hot soup noodles really be considered comfort food?

You can call the interior designer bo chap but I liked the humble furnishings of Sapporo Ramen Miharu(SRM), especially since I was scantily clad in my ex-JC's PE attire after some sports. As the place is small, service was pretty efficient.

The Pork Gyoza tasted good. A nice crispy dumpling skin over flavourful pork. However, for some reason the gyoza skins weren't sealed properly and the gyozas broke very easily.

The Leek Pancake was also nice. Apart from dried shrimp, leek and flour. I really couldn't see any other ingredients used for the pancake and I was truly amazed at how "less is more". I liked it.

Miso Tonkotsu Ramen came in a thick rich broth which struck me as marvelous on the first slurp. However, it's saltiness steadily skyrocketed slurp after slurp and it became apparent that perhaps too much artificial flavouring was used. I didn't really enjoy the noodles since it didn't boast a springy texture, rather more of a overcooked maggi mee. The egg was also overcooked and the yolk had a dull brown colour, what happened to the lava yolk?! Compared to other ramen places, the slice of pork was very generous and on the lean side but personally, I prefer those melt in your mouth fatty ones.

Feedback of the Tokusen Tonshio was that it was salty as well, saltier than the Miso Tonkotsu.

Nothing spectacular, SRM would be the place to go if you are just going for a quick ramen fix.

Bon Appetit!

After walking for what felt like forever we reached Ramen nirvana; grabbed a seat inside (thank goodness we got there relatively early, the place does fill up rather quickly around 8).  The place must be doing something rite as they expanded their restaurant to a second little enclave at the base of the hotel and after tucking in to their Ramen I can understand why.  My better 1/2 ordered the Miso Tonkotsu Ramen while I proceeded to order the Tokusen Tonshio Ramen, both equally yummy and equally delicious in their own ramen way!  The ramen here is awesome, you definitely can taste the myriad of flavors swimming around in the stock while the noodles themselves were cooked just nice.  Okay I was taking the piss out of it being Japanese spaghetti; to say that about a dish as good as this would do it an injustice.  I have to say however that they could have given these two hungry travelers a little more pork with the ramen but hey, beggars can’t be choosers rite? The Gyouzu was only so-so the meat stuffing was a little on the skimpy side but it was cooked to perfection, very crisp and crunchy to the bite.  I do have to say though that the service staff there were left wanting at times, and the restaurant wasn’t that crowded when we were eating.  But all in all it was a good dining experience,

This is my first time visit to Miharu in spite of the numerous positive reviews on it. My previous bid to locate the place was an unsuccessful one.

We ordered their pan fried gyoza, tokusen miso ramen and shio ramen.

The miso ramen was too oily for my companion's liking. As for me, I loved my ramen with salted pork broth. The noodle was springy and chewy, the broth was rich and rich. I was glad that I ordered extra noodle (for $3.00). I managed to slurp up the soup after done with noodle. Satisfying indeed.

Having been to many ramen places, I must say Miharu offers the best ramen I had so far.

For a full write-up and yummy photos, please visit me @ Amasou-Umasou.

Decided to try this place after reading some of the reviews and was glad I did. The ramen was really good and brings back good recent memories of my trip to Japan last month. The hokkado ramen was springy (exactly how it should be) and the char siew was fantastic. Compared to Tampopo, the char siew is less fatty but yet still as yummy. O... I upsized the char siew for $4 and this was a fabulous deal cos its 4 pieces of char siew for $4.... definitely value for $$$. I should have upsized the noodles too.... damn!

Btw, the gyoza was good too..... very comparable to the ones I had in Japan.

Alot of Japanese come here, both residential and tourists (Its a Japanese Tourist hotspot, so pray you don't come with those tourist groups. You will have to wait at least 30mins)

They use good quality ramen, according to them, its airflown from Japan.
The stocks are very tasty too.

Liked their fish/pork based shoyu and chilli miso. I didn't fancy their special-blend one though. Was a bit bland to me.

Some of their stocks comes really salty. Which is rather authentic to me (Hokkaido's ramen were salty but was godly. GODLY.)

TIP: Some people think the portions suck, because they give one one big slice of char siew though with ample noodles for $12-15.
But heres the catch. Add $5.00 and you get 5 more equally big slabs.
Which is ALOT for Japanese eateries in Singapore. =))


Recommended!! But you might want to try out their stocks. Cause some are saltier and some have heavier taste. There should be one that you will like.


The waitress don't speak much english, so it can be quite irritating. I've seen native japanese work there before as well, to cater for large number of japanese (about 80% are japanese).




Their gyoza weren't very nice previously.
But they made good improvements. Kudos!

Once a while the ramen bug will bite. While one of my fave is tampopo at Liang Court, this time decided to go to Gallery Hotel as I have heard about the ramen for a long time.

The restaurant had two air con sittings and an alfresco. As one of the air con sitting had a air con malfunction, was led to the alfresco. Thankfully today was still quite a cool day even during lunch.

Order the tonsio ramen with extra noodels at $15 which have half an egg, a slice of pork loin, seaweed etc.

The soup was tasty n full of favor, but a touch too salty for me. The noodles is authentic and Q, much like those in Japan. However the pork loin was too hard and would be better if it is braised longer.

Overall I like ramen because of the soup and the texture of the noodles. In these aspects, Miharu was definitely one of the better ones in SG. However, with the service charge and GST, the bill came to almost $18 for a single bowl of ramen, so it is a little pricey.

I was brought here for lunch by my colleague last week because he was craving for the ramen here. He kept raving about how wonderful it is and that I should try it even though I am not a ramen person. Cos he said I will change my mind.

This restaurant is rather cramped. No ambience or whatsoever because everyone is squeezed in this tiny space, and you can hear the conversation at the table behind you if you keep quiet.

When I saw a row of Japanese men eating at the counter seats, I felt compelled to believe that this is an unpretentious restaurant that sells authentic ramen...maybe the decor doesn't have to look or feel expensive but it is REALLY good.

My colleague ordered for me the Kuomi Tsukemen which he claimed is his favourite, and a plate of gyozas to share. I decided to add an egg to my ramen cos the ramen looks very plain...

When the ramen came, I was shocked. Really just cold noodles, and a bowl of hot soup with seaweed and an egg. And btw, this costs around $15. The additional hard-boiled egg costs $1.50.

The noodles are really thick...like udon. But there's nothing special about the taste. You can do the same thing at home. Cook a pack of maggi mee, let it cool...then cook the soup and dip the hard noodles into the soup before you eat. And I bet it tastes better than this thick, hard noodles.

Then came the gyozas...Edible but skin too thick and too hard. When you bite into the gyoza, oil will drip out of it like nobody's business.
7 pieces for $6.

And the service was terrible. Every time I tried to get the waitress' attention, they were not even looking because both of them are standing at the counter reading newspaper. They are running the place like a coffeeshop but charging restaurant prices.

I felt like I was ripped off. Just a bowl of noodles in seaweed soup and a few gyozas for $20. Still got service charge!

Will not come here again.