The first time I chanced upon Takagi Ramen on Grabfood, I was excited as it was during CB period and I was craving for Ramen. It was with such excitement coursing through my veins that I proceeded to order a Karakamen set (with Fried Gyoza).

However, upon receiving the Ramen, my excitement quickly dissipated to be swiftly replaced with disappointment.

The noodles were stiff and had a weird aftertaste and the soup had so much of the chilli Oil added that I could only taste the oil and none of the soup which made eating the ramen an unpleasant experience. The ramen egg that came along with it was so bland that I think the Hanjuku Eggs of 7-11 would taste like heaven. All in all, my family members and I came to a conclusion that the best item of this Ramen Set was the fried gyoza.

Fast forward to yesterday, when my friends and I were looking to have dinner after our exercise session, we happen to come across this outlet at Jurong West and immediately, alarm bells start ringing in my head. Although I was very hesitant to have this, seeing how my friends did not try it before and we were very very hungry, I decided to give this another chance.

I ordered the Black Tonkotsu Set (with fried gyoza and nope no egg for fearing of what’s to come). When the noodles arrived, the aromatic smell of the Black Garlic Oil rumbled my stomach juices and I was thinking “wow will eating here make a difference, is it redemption time ?”. However that thought was quickly put to bed upon the first sip of the soup. For all the aromatics of the black garlic oil, the soup was very very lacklustre and it was only until I added almost all of the chilli powder did it have some form of character to it. All in all, my friends and I agreed unanimously that the star of the ramen set was the fried gyoza & the chilli powder.

All in all, I think the $$ we paid for the ramen (avg of $16) is not worth it. Perhaps, to compare this Ramen to other more “famous” Ramen brands in Singapore is very unfair as it would be akin to comparing a Toyota to a Nissan GT-R. A more suitable comparison to this would be Ajisen Ramen but I vividly recall that the broth of Ajisen Ramen was more flavourful....

In short, even though this place opens 24 Hours, if ever I have a late night ramen craving, I would rather take my chances on my instant noodles/ramen at home.