Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King

I love noodles and ramen which is an ever presence in Chinese, Korean or Japanese cuisine and is all too familiar. I have tasted ramen all over the places and then I found one at a new hotel, a small outlet but there was always a long queue there during lunch or dinner time.

Sometimes, this can get gimmicky because maybe the service is slow or the place is too small so a queue makes people think the food is great. Despite my curiosity, I simply hate to queue unless I am caught in a situation where I simply got stuck and had nothing to do which is rare. I walked past the restaurant everyday on the way to work and that is the only time you do not see a crowd.

A friend initiated and invited me for lunch and he was there before me. They will only let you in when everyone is there. The first batch in the queue has gotten in and my friend and I were then first in the queue.

They serve only ramen in three different flavours - original plain soup, black pepper and chili. 

A queue would form daily before opening time and sometimes before the stated closing time, they have sold out. Yes, they accept cash only. In God we trust, all others pay cash!

Located at the Orchid Hotel at Tanjong Pagar, this is "Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King". 

This ramen will keep the flag flying. I tried not to be sold as no ramen could excite me anymore.

My friend's order came first. He ordered the plain soup. It is not a very big bowl but you could see they were generous with the  ingredients. 

The tables and chairs are small but comfortable enough. While in the queue before getting in, you can help yourself to the roasted barley drinks. We sat at the counter and on the table top you can find a container of cooked bean sprouts, maiyonaise, sauce, chopsticks, tooth picks, a bowl of sesame if you wanted to grind them and add them to your soup. 

Stacked black bowls adorn the counter top. Where is my  ramen?

My order was black pepper. They give you a large piece of seaweed. You can chew on it or dip it into the soup.  This is kurobuta pork. They are just like Wagyu beef. Can you see the slice of pork here?

Let me bring it up to show you. Lean meat with some fats but the meat was tender, soft and juicy. It was the best pork I have ever tasted from a bowl of ramen. I thought there was at least two huge chunks of it. I was too deep in thoughts on how they made them so lustful that I had forgotten to count. It could easily fill you up.

The soup stock was rich, a little oily and it will make you crave for more. 

Bite into the ramen and you will know instantly it is of a good quality. These are not instant noodles nor were they soggy. It has texture and character.

They won me over with the way they prepared the eggs so meticulously. These are not typical hard boiled eggs. It was cooked just perfectly right where the coagulated egg white was not bouncy to the chew but just a wee bit soft and the egg yolk was not dried nor hardened but just a little wet. The only place I knew that serve their eggs this way is "Teo Heng Teochew" rice and porridge at Amoy Street and Hong Lim Complex. The owner or chef may be a Japanese Teochew?

You can wallop the whole container of bean sprout if you like.

Or have any quantity of these delicious eggs if you can still handle it. Here you can see the magnificent 7. All yours if you can stomach them.

When we came out by 12pm, there were at least 15 people waiting outside. I guess the eatery can seat maybe around 16 people at any one time. Within the next 10 minutes, the line was up to 30 people. I saw a taxi stopped just nearby and a lady came out and told my friend that she could be here all the way by taxi to eat ramen and true enough, she has friends already in the queue. Please note that here, they do not allow you to "chope" seats with tissue packets.

At a standard price of $15.80 per bowl of ramen, this is value for money considering the quality of the food. You can go to any other joints that serve the same and it is almost for the same price. Let me tell you that after years of ramen consumption all over, I have never had one so good. It was a simply wonderful and fabulous experience. Everything about this ramen is top notch. This is the King of ramen. I crown them "King of Ramen". 

If you are coming by to join the queue, I just want you to remember me that you heard all these from the guru. You do not need to buy me lunch  (why not?) but 5 minutes before it is your turn to enter, give me a tinker. I am just a stone's throw away.

I will be back for more for sure. Just can't eat this every week for the oil and some fats. It is a "Must-Try!" for you!