Ippudo @ Mandarin Gallery

This place has some reputation for the queues that form outside. In fact, I witnessed it the previous Saturday when a bunch of us went to eat at another establishment in the same building. So, I was quite surprised that I did not need to queue to get in today. Perhaps I was early (6 pm for dinner on a Sunday), since the place did fill up by the time I left, although there was still no queue snaking out of the restaurant.

Since the restaurant is a ramen restaurant, I started by ordering the ramen. Having never been to Kyushu before, I did not know what to expect from Hakata-style ramen that Ippudo specializes in. I ordered the Karaka Tamago, which is the ramen with original Ippudo pork broth, special spicy miso and ground pork with a flavoured egg. What attracted me to it were the words spicy miso. Those who know me well will know that I am sort of a spice monster. Was pleasantly surprised when they asked me the doneness of the ramen while taking the order. Since I like my pasta el denté, I asked for the ramen hard.



The bowl of hot ramen appeared in no time, and I proceeded to tuck in. What struck me was that there was nothing spicy about the miso. I guess the words spicy were for Japanese standards or for the West? So I was a little disappointed. However, the broth was nice and rich, almost creamy. The ramen was nicely cooked, with good bite. The egg was soft in the centre, and well flavoured too. So, other than the disappointing lack of spice, I would still rate the bowl of ramen highly.

Since I had also heard about their pork buns, I decided also to order a pork bun and a shrimp bun. I was told by some friends before that their pork buns were like the "Kong Bak Pau (扣肉包)" that the Chinese have. I have to say that I am not a real fan of those Chinese style buns, but was told that they were very good, so I decided to try.



Well, the buns come with the special Ippudo sauce, which is mayonnaise-based. I have to say that I am not a big fan of such sauces, so the generous serves of the sauce was not to my liking. The pork bun was the better of the two, since the meat was balanced by the sauce, and the lightness of the bun finished the package. Well balanced. The shrimp bun had a shrimp or prawn fritter with the sauce and bun. Okay, the single prawn was reasonable in size, but the fact that it was fried and accompanied by the rich sauce made it too rich for my liking. I do not think that I will order the buns again. Suffice that I have tried, and know what they taste like.

Will I return? Most definitely. I want to try the other ramen dishes. There was also a seasonal cold ramen that caught my eye, so hopefully I will be back before that disappears off the menu. I will skip the Karaka-men, since there was no real spice in it, and move to their pure Ippudo broths.

Rating: 7/10 (the ramen alone would be 8/10)
Website: http://www.ippudo.com.sg/
Address: #04-02 Mandarin Gallery, 333A Orchard Road
Phone: 6733 2426
Hours: 1130 hrs - 2300 hrs
Price: $$