we tried the below food :
shabu ramen ($13.80)
kyushu ramen ($13.30)
Tonkusen Loin ($17.80)
Scoope cake ($6.00)
Warabi Mochi ($4.90)

I found the ramen was just nice. Not very good compare to the japanese restaurant at the supermarker at basement.
As for the Black Pig loin, the quality is so so only. the texture is dry. I prefer the loin at the japanese restaurant at the shaw house.
The scoope cake...it's really normal.

The only special food is the mochi...it was very very soft and it melts in the mouth! better then the one i tried in tokyo.

It's fun! We read about the self ordering service so decided to give it a try! When we got there, there was a rather long queue. As the self ordering service is only available for tables by the carousel so we waited for a table there.

The ordering service is only available for drinks, sushi and sashimi at the moment. It's quite fun doing that but the danger is that you can end up ordering more than you need - which we did!

In addition to sushi, we also order the pork shabu shabu and the tonkatsu. Both were nice. My husband loves tonkatsu and said it's the best he had..

Service was prompt and it was fun seeing the food being delivered to you via a carousel...

haha yes yes black porky pig or kurobuta is the main star as i continued my ramen binge across town!! As we all know... Tampopo has relocated to a bigger restaurant a level up and now offers a nicer and spanking new dining experience for all!! The old shop is now being occupied by Yu Sai Shoku which also offers black pig ramen and black pig tonkatsu as well?!?! friend or foe?? Anyway back to Tampopo.. with e bigger crowd comes louder noises so great for those looking for a vibrant and noisy ambience (tink waraku) but not for those looking for an authentic ramen joint (tink menya)..

let's oink oink back to the black porky pig! between us we had e shabu black pig ramen ($13.80) and shabu shoyu black pig ramen ($13.80).. e orginal shabu black pig is e best-seller in e hse ... it's milky white in color and is very flavourful!! yum!! e shoyu version is darker n browner in color and as it is shoyu (ie soya sauce)..it's more salty so great for those who lurvee shoyu like me!! if u prefer a lighter version go for e orginal while if u prefer a more salty version e shoyu is delicious! e soup is fantastic and is definitely a must-try!

e shabu shabu black pork as e name suggests is being shabu-ed shabu-ed (haha is there such a word??)..which means e thinly sliced pork r gently cooked in hot water... so instead of e usual char siew.. u have thinly sliced pork.. e pork is indeed tender n delish but e slices r so thin n e pieces so few that it's not so shiok.. i do like e noodles though.. straight with juz nice thickness n quite Q!!! u can add an egg for juz $1.20 and e egg is yummmmmy!! (or even char siew if u want..) e egg is an whole egg n when u get it opened e centre is runny (tink 3/4 boiled egg) !! it's lovely and damn cheap compared to other ramen joints that charge $2 for their mini stew egg... Tampopo definitely has e best egg among e ramen joints!

we also had a top grade loin cutlet ($21.80) to share.. e portion is decent-sized with a dash of mustard by e side.. however i was surprised tat there isn't e usual side salad to go with..we ordered ala-carte instead of a set but for e px i would at least expect some veggies... so is e top grade loin really yum yum? i would say it's pretty good! it's tender n flavorful and is definitely a better grade than avg...but i wouldn't really say top though.. it din make me go ahhhhhhh (i know i sldn't compare to e ones i had in Japan but still..) but it did made me go "not bad!" so do order this!

overall e vibrant atmosphere and hugh variety menu make a great place for gatherings and family dining although e tables r a bit teeny weeny.. e ramen and pork cutlet r yummy n e pricing is reasonable so do come n shabu shabu e black porky pig!!

My friend and I waited just 10 minutes for a seat at 9 on a rainy Saturday night.

For the main dish, we ordered their Black Pig Shabu Ramen ($13.80). For those who cannot take spicy stuff, you can request for the chilli flakes to be served separately or not at all. However, it's definitely more fragrant with the chilli flakes. The portion of ramen was generous, less so for the pork. The soup lived up to the hype; I'd definitely have this again!

While we were still deciding on what else to order, one of the staff informed us that their coffee cakes was going to be sold out soon, and he asked if we would like to reserve a slice or two.

Being our first visit, obligingly, we took a look at their cakes and decided on the Coffee Chiffon Cake and Chewy Chocolate Cake ($5.80 each).

There was some confusion with the waitress as she thought we wanted the cakes served immmediately. We sorted it out before the cakes reached our table. I think the same waitress also had trouble when we wanted to order other items. She resorted to getting a coworker to deal with us but we eventually just explained in Mandarin.

Despite the slight communication breakdown, service on the whole was not bad at all: regular refills of tea without having to ask (although that dwindled a bit when it was near closing time) and plenty of polite staff around.

Next up was Wafu Beef ($17.80) which came sliced into little cubes coupled with bean sprouts and a dark-coloured sauce. Tasty, but so salty that we had to order a bowl of rice ($2) to go along with it.

We also had their Ayu Shio Yaki ($12.80 without egg; $15.80 with egg). Ayu Shio Yaki is a fresh river fish. A tiny river fish; in fact, the size of an Ayam Brand sardine, not quite what we were expecting. Even my friend who is usually tactful enough to wait for the waiter to leave before making any negative remarks couldn't help exclaiming, "哇，好小只！" To be fair, the fish was well done, with the flesh being moist and tender, but watch out for the extra salt on the fins and tail.

Finally, we were ready for the cakes. I figured since they eventually opened a deli, their cakes should be pretty good, right? Wrong. Sad to say, they were rather disappointing. They tasted every bit like what they looked like: normal sponge cakes with cream on the outer layer (none in between) like those you can get from any neighbourhood bakery.

I guess we just got unlucky this time and ordered more misses than hits. :-/

You remember when you were a kid, you told your mother “Ma, ma, i dreamt of a pig which was black in colour!”, and your mother chided you for telling ties, since pig is always pinkish in colour, and you shouldn’t spot the colour wrong since pigs in fairy tales and cartoons are always pink. Well, it won’t be a problem next time when you visit Tampopo and tell your mother that the pig there is really black!

Tampopo’s famous for their black pig, or Kurobuta, which is known to rear in Kagoshima prefecture. Kurobuta is to the pig, like what wagyu is to the beef. They are supposed to be stress-free, making the meat more tender and superior to the other form of pork.

Tampopo recently shifted to its new premise on the ground floor on Liang court, a far cry from the old one at the basement within Mei-di-ya supermarket. The new restaurant boost seating capacity of more than 80 (my rough estimates). The use of wooden bamboo forms a good contrast to the contemporary decorations, and the conveyor belt completes the interior.

I had made a reservation for 4 people after doing some research online as people mentioned that they always got a long queue, especially so during meal times. True to the comments, there was a surging line outside Tampopo when we got there at 7.30pm.

The conveyor belt within Tampop isn’t what you see in Japanese chains like Sakae sushi, the one here is special because it can automatically deliver food from the kitchen to your table. And you can’t “pick up” the food on the conveyer belt since the plates are programmed by magnetic fields, which are designated to deliver to the particular tables.

But from what i understands, the conveyor belt is still a experiment in progress, and not all of the dishes can be delivered using the belt, only particular items like sushi and some other smaller dishes can go through the belt for now.

Gyoza ($5.80)
We started off with Gyoza, the Japanese version of our Chinese dumplings or “jiaozi“. The notable difference between the Japanese style Gyoza and the Chinese style “jiaozi” are the rich garlic flavors in the Japanese rendition, and Gyoza is served with soy-based dipping sauce. I’m not too sure whether its just me, but I found that the Japanese version had a thicker skin compared to the chinese style.

The gyoza here was slightly “charred” on the outside, but below the skin, the mixture of minced pork and garlic was very balanced. A good appetizer to share around and start your meal.

Normal grade loin cutlet ($21.80)
I had the normal grade loin cutlet with rice set only because their top grade loin was sold out! I was actually quite frustrated because i had came with the sole purpose of trying their signature top grade loin, and how could a restaurant sold out so quickly by 7.30pm on a Saturday dinner!

Nevertheless, i must say that their normal grade was already very good. Pork cutlet in the hands of less skillful chef would be ruin by over-fried and too oily and dry, but the one here was done just right, the breaded crust was light and had a melt-in-your-mouth effect, and under the crispy exterior was juicy, tender meat.

I’ll say Tampopo’s pork loin is on par with the one that i had at Tetsu, although the one here was smaller and leaner. Tetsu definitely had a more generous cut of the pork loin. But the one that i had here was only the normal grade and i hate to think what will Tampopo’s top grade pork loin be like.

Omelette rice ($10)
The omelette rice was done very nicely, with Japanese pearl rice wrapped within the soft and thick layer of omelette to good effect. As you all know, Japanese pearl rice is very different from the Thai rice very commonly used in Singapore. The pearl rice has a soft and moist texture, which is very light on the palate. Although there’s nothing spectacular with the omelette rice, it’s a simple dish which you couldn’t find fault with.

Pork loin Yanagawa ($16)
We also had the pork loin Yanagawa a la carte, add $4.80 to get a set with rice, miso soup and fruits. I think i’ll prefer my pork loin cutlet to this. The pork loin Yanagawa was literally wet with the egg mixtures, i thought pork cutlet would be nicer dry and crispy than wet and soggy.

Unagi Yanakawa ($12.80)
The reason why my friend chose the Unagi Yanakawa was because she wanted unagi, and within budget. This was the cheapest option for Unagi in the menu. I didn’t mind unagi, but i’m not really a fan of Yanakawa-style.

Unagi and tempura box ($18.80)
The set came with unagi, prawn tempura, tamago, fruits, and miso soup. Nonetheless, I must say it’s rather value given there’s unagi and tempura. Serving size is certainly not comparable to the one we had at Kyomomoyama, but this one was part of a set, and cheaper too.

The tempura was lightly battered and the prawn was decent in size. However my friend found it to be too oily for her liking, and i nearly fainted when she mentioned that Waraku got better ones. Not that i disliked Waraku, but i just don’t think Waraku is that good, price is reasonable, but food-wise average.

Total bill was $102.65 for 4 people. I do not think that prices at Tampopo are expensive, in fact they are actually quite reasonable, in the range of high tens, to twenty for per person. If you visit Tampopo, their Kurobuta pork loin is certainly one dish you must try.

I wanted dessert but the rest were too full, within Tampopo there was limited choice for desserts, but if you would just head to the basement to Tampopo Deli, a standalone shop for their chiffon cakes and other desserts. Tampopo is actually famous for their ramen, while their sister restaurant Tomton at Central focus on kurobuta pork. I’ll definitely go Tampopo Deli for their chiffon cakes, and Tomton for the top-grade pork loin next time!

You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!