Itadakimasu 🇯🇵

Newly opened place for rice bowls, there are so many around nowadays that you’ll be spoilt for choice! Though it cost a pretty penny, I was happy to pay the price for a generous slab of salmon that was fork-tender, with a perfectly wobbly onsen egg on the side. Quite similar to Waa Cow, though I would say that the portion here is bigger, while I preferred the doneness of the salmon at the former. Guess it depends on what you’re going for!

It now costs $13. Still quite affordable with decent quality for the price! Don’t expect the best sashimi, I did wish it could be a bit fresher, and the rice is a bit too sticky for my liking. But, decent. And the sashimi cubes were well-marinated.

Not that much more expensive than Yoshinoya, but you get incredible value in this bowl! Perfectly marinated slices of beef that are delightfully tender. The juice literally drips into the rice, coating it with flavor and every mouthful packs a punch. The portion of beef is super generous, and despite the bowl looking small, you are almost certain to be satiated when you reach the end of it.

Quite a generous portion of salmon and tuna cubes in this bowl. I felt that the fish lacked freshness expected of sashimi though. The rice was also quite sticky and did not have much taste. Guess I should’ve opted for soba since that’s what they’re famous for?

What a surprising dish to find at a ramen shop! But this is exactly what they mean when they say this Ramen joint run by 3 Singaporeans does not pretend to be Japanese despite their clear niche. Dishing out bowls of ramen that has been tweaked to the local tastebuds, they’ve come up with items that aren’t quite your typical jap but nonetheless retain their perfectionist standards. Their signature sous vide flame-grilled kokuni pork belly sandwiched between mantous is a twist on a traditional Chinese dish, and boy, the result is spectacular!

One of Buta Ramen’s owners is a huge beer-lover, and perhaps that’s how this dish came about! This premium ramen is made from a rich tonkotsu broth and what they call a “healthy dose of Sapporo beer”. Everything in moderation, I guess you can’t dispute that! Plus it lends such an amazing breath of malty flavor that adds a whole new dimension to the umami-laden broth. The icing on top of the cake, a long slab of flame-grilled, almost melt-in-your-mouth yakitori pork belly. *slurps*

I love ramen, but I do feel that it can be a bit too heavy/“gao” sometimes. For those who have that same emotional conflict as me, the Shoyu Chashu Ramen is a great option to go for, with its clear, light soy sauce pork broth that is a nice contrast to the rest of its soup bases which tend to be a bit creamier. You might detect hints of spices in it, thanks to the fragrant, floral notes of the sansho pepper oil in the broth. At Buta Ramen, you don’t get pathetic slivers of chashu that simply disappear into the bowl. The guys here are proud of their meats, and it shows in the two generously-portioned slabs of pork chashu which are sous vide for tenderness.

Known for being the only place that serves Japanese pork ribs with ramen, this signature item is a clear winner with its fall-off-the-bone texture and addictive sweet/savory marinade. I could not stop at just one, especially when it complemented the Sapporo beer on the side so well. Buta’s ramen broth is painstakingly made daily from scratch (no store-bought soup stock please!) and brewed for 8-10 hours before they dish it out into your bowls to be eaten. There are a tonne of other good things I could say about Buta, but I shall save that for another post. Located along an alley at China Square Central which is often bustling during lunch, it quietens down in the evenings which is a great respite from the revelry around that area. Thanks @burpple for the invite and Chris for your hospitality! #burpple #burppletastemaker

While the slabs of tender, grilled pork were meant to be the highlight of the bowl (and they were certainly delicious), what stole the show for me was the fragrant mound of rice beneath it, marinated in a piquant garlic sauce and mixed in with egg yolk. Help yourself to the free-flow salad bar, and I especially liked the lotus root salad! Come by in the month of Jan for 15% off with Burpple 😉

The tender beef slices are coated with a drizzle of sauce, just enough to bring out the flavor of the meat, and the wobbly Ibsen egg on top seals the deal with its runny goodness 🤤 this was a hosted tasting, thanks @burpple for the invite! #burpple

One of the newest items on the menu at @barashitei was the Unagi Salmon Mentai Maki ($14.80). Loved the flavour of the mentaiko sauce that was slathered over slices of aburi salmon, but we felt that the unagi was lost amidst all the activity that was going on within the maki. It's tough to live up to the old favorite, Spicy Salmon Maki ($14.80), which had an addictive spicy sauce and a textural contrast from the tempura ebi within it. This was a tasting hosted by @barashitei. Thanks @burpple for the invite! #burpple #burppletastemaker

It took some time for our food to be served, but this was certainly worth the wait! The charcoal-grilled chicken had a smokey flavour without being overly charred, and was surprisingly tender and juicy! The Teriyaki Steak Don ($14.90) on the other hand was rather tough and chewy. All dishes came paired with a beautifully wobbly onsen egg.