Ippudo Tao @ UE Square

I mentioned that I have been wanting to try Ippudo Tao at UE Square, so I trekked down today. Arrived early in the evening, before any crowd could even build. The air-conditioned interior is quite small, although it is supplemented by quite a lot of outdoor seating. So, bear in mind if you want to sit inside, do arrive early.

Since it was the first time to Ippudo Tao, I decided to try a bit of everything. Ordered the Fried Young Corn, Tao Kuro Tamago (ramen) and a Tao Matsuri Menshi (rice bowl). I asked for the rice after the ramen, so that I could concentrate on the flavours presented.



First up, the fried young corn, which is deep fried and sprinkled with salt and a herb and spice mix. The corn was still crunchy, and the seasoning gave it a nice edge.



I realized during my last visit to Ippudo that the thickness of the ramen served varies with the broth you choose. The Tao Kuro version comes with a thick ramen, similar to the local mee-pok (or linguine). I guess it is similar to the ramen in Keisuke's Watarikani ramen. The broth is topped with the trendy black garlic oil and a dollop of miso. It comes with two slices of belly pork, cabbage, black fungus, minced pork and the ajituke tamago. I was surprised that the broth tasted quite different from the original broth in their Shiromaru ramen. The inclusion of both the black garlic oil and miso added another dimension to the broth. The flavour of the shitake was less apparent, but replaced by the depth of miso and garlic oil. The thicker noodle also gave it more bite. Quite satisfying. Would have gone kaedama if I had not ordered the rice bowl.



The rice bowl comes with come belly pork, shredded egg, seaweed, mentaiko and mayonnaise. Good thing the rice bowl is not too big, since it would be difficult to finish after the ramen and it is also quite rich. That said, it was a great mix of flavours, from the pork, mayonnaise to the mentaiko. And a good mix of textures, which included the seaweed, shredded egg and mentaiko.

I will definitely be back to this place. Will try their kushiyaki the next time, since I did not have any space left in my stomach this visit.

Rating: 7.5/10
Website: http://www.ippudo.com.sg/
Address: #01-55/56 UE Square, 207 River Valley Road
Phone: 6887 5315
Hours: 1100 hrs - 1500 hrs and 1700 hrs - 0000 hrs (Monday to Thursday)
1100 hrs - 1500 hrs and 1700 hrs - 0200 hrs (Friday and Saturday)
1100 hrs - 2300 hrs (Sunday)
Price: $$

Original Review for Ippudo at Mandarin Gallery
Subsequent Review for Ippudo at Mandarin Gallery