Ramen (Black Garlic Broth) Amoy Street Food Centre has pretty much seen a number of new F&B establishments that have moved into the food centre recently — the past couple of months have seen the opening of Indo Bakmie at the ground floor of the food centre, while the second level has seen the addition of a Hainanese chicken rice specialty stall named 鸡不可失, as well as the return of Doris's Devilishly Delicious Curry into the local F&B scene. The latest addition to the food centre on the second level would be TempuRamen — one can find this stall being situated in the same row as 鸡不可失 and Spicy Wife Nasi Lemak; itself occupying the other end of stretch of stalls where Spicy Wife Nasi Lemak is located. Despite being a fairly new brand name, the folks behind TempuRamen are not exactly new to the local F&B scene; in fact, the stall is run by the same folks that was behind the now-defunct Farangse that used to serve up French-Issan fare at Greenwood Avenue — some might also recall their earlier set-up named Ô Boeuf à 6 Pattes that was once located within the now-demolished Park West Condo (now re-developed as Parc Clemantis). With their previous concepts being one that typically feature a French influence, TempuRamen does seem to detract from their previous concepts apart from the fact that this is their first venture that is located in a hawker centre. The stall should be pretty noticeable to spot considering the red background of its signage bearing a rather playful design in both the font type and the logo. Here, TempuRamen focuses on the items of which its namesake is inspired from — Japanese Tempura, and Ramen; there is seemingly an intention of serving up Tempura Tendon as well, though the item is being crossed out on the menu board during our visit there in their second week of operations.
Whilst not being stated in the menu, patrons opting for the Ramen would also be served with two (2) pieces of tempura on the side. It is noted that the Ramen does come served in three (3) different types of broth for the patrons to choose from — the House Special (described as a “Spicy Prawn” broth by the chef-owner; this is also a $1 top-up on top of the original price of the Ramen by default), Tonkotsu or Black Garlic. Not being fans of prawn stock for our noodles in general, we found ourselves going for the Black Garlic broth option instead. TempuRamen does not describe on the elements that come with their Ramen here, that being said, this would be a rather basic bowl that came with marinated egg, Naruto Maki (i.e. Japanese fish cake) beansprouts, seaweed, spring onions and noodles. One may point out the lack of any meat such as Cha Shu that comes with the Ramen here, though the de-facto tempura pieces that comes with the Ramen which includes a chicken fillet and cream croquette does seem sufficient to supplement the bowl of Ramen adequately. Digging into the bowl of ramen, we liked how the Black Garlic Broth here wasn’t exactly overwhelming; it is actually fairly easy to drink considering how it hits the sweet spot of being just savoury and garlicky enough without overwhelming the tastebuds, while the noodles are adequately cooked with a springy bite that we quite liked. The beansprouts provided an element to crunch on, while the Naruto Maki does help in making the Ramen feel a little more wholesome considering the lack of meat elements within the bowl itself. The element that truly impressed us within the bowl of ramen was actually the marinated egg; not only does it come with a molten and creamy egg yolk that was especially on-point in terms of texture, but we also did feel like the egg was marinated in a marinade that is slightly different from the usual that we have had from other establishments.
There is definitely a tangy note with a tinge of noticeable spiciness from the marinated egg that hits the tastebuds which certainly antes up the flavour profile of the Ramen — very delicious and gives their Ramen a whole lot of character. Meanwhile, we preferred the cream croquette over the chicken fillet when it came to the Tempura pieces — the cream croquette comes with a batter of panko crumbs on the exterior; provides a light and crisp crunch without being particularly greasy, while the inside was filled with a smooth and light potato mousse that comes with specks of chopped up carrots for a slight variance of texture. It retrospect, the chicken fillet felt as though it was prepared way beforehand; the temperature of the chicken fillet tempura being pretty much at room temperature and definitely lower than that of the temperature that the cream croquette came with, while the chicken fillet was also a bit on the tougher side with the golden brown batter being a little greasy as well. These folks have pretty much impressed us during our visit to Ô Boeuf à 6 Pattes several years ago, and we must say that TempuRamen did impress us in its own ways; their Ramen does showcase their attention to detail from how the flavours of the broth is to be balanced, to how they have attempted a different approach for their marinated egg. Sure enough, there is also some kinks that they have to sort out — this includes that of the execution of the chicken fillet tempura piece; something which we are confident that they would be able to perfect as they smoothen out their operations. With a price of $6.50 for their Ramen (or $7.50 if one opts for the rendition served with House Special broth), TempuRamen does serve up a really affordable bowl of Japanese Ramen with a good quality for its price — surprisingly reasonably-priced at Amoy Street Food Centre that is known for interesting options that are at times marked up at a premium; a stall that office workers in the Central Business District should try out!
