Shugetsu - Tsukemen Dipping Ramen

Rating: ❤❤❤

There are many different kinds of ramen in Japan and besides the better known Hakata ramen, there is also Tsukemen which is a dipping ramen served at Shugetsu. I came here around 1pm and there was a line of 6 ppl in front of the shop. The restaurant was pretty small with only around 10 seats at their counter bar. While we were waiting in line, we were handed an ordering sheet to fill in, which was collected before we sat down. 

Besides the Tsukemen dipping ramen, there were other kinds of ramen available as well such as the pork belly ramen and the spring onion ramen. We decided to order the Tsukemen and the Grilled Kurobuta Pork Belly Ramen to share. 

As we sat down at the counter bar, we can see everything prepared in front of us in their open kitchen. Only restaurants who are confident of their process and hygiene would dare to do so. 

While we were eating, we saw one of the staff take out a big piece of pork belly to prepare and cook. Oooh!

While we were waiting for our food, we were handed our own cold tea container. The tea was cool and smoky which was great for drinking with ramen.

Bamboo Shoot ($10) - I'm not a fan of bamboo shoots but my friend wanted to try. The bamboo shoots were alright in texture as they were firm and snappy but they were not spicy at all. 

Tsukemen ($85) - you can order the Tsukemen with either 100g, 200g or 300g of noodles and since they all cost the same, we decided to go all out and got the 300g noodles! The way you eat it is quite simple - just take several strands of noodle at a time and dip it into the sauce. 

We realized that 300g of noodles was actually quite a lot (for 2 girls)! The noodles were very thick and chewy which were yummy to eat. Even though we had ordered for the noodles to be hot, the noodles stuck together when it cooled and it was hard to pick out the noodles for dipping at times.  

The sauce for the Tsukemen was rather interesting. Bits of fatty pork belly floated on top while the sauce tasted a bit tangy which was refreshing as a dip. It also tasted like bamboo shoots of which I was not a fan of. An alright yet different kind of way to eat ramen.

Grilled Kurobuta Pork Belly Ramen ($98) - I usually prefer the soupy kind of ramen so I was looking forward to this. The grilled Kurobuta pork belly was actually pretty good as they were nicely grilled with a great proportion of fat to meat ratio. Unfortunately I didn't like the broth which tasted rather fishy. As a result, it was hard to enjoy the bowl of ramen and the noodles.

Verdict - overall, the food was nicely executed but just not to my liking. I was not a fan of the flavors of their broth and dipping sauce which makes a huge difference in the enjoyment of ramen. Call me old fashion but I still enjoy the Hakata-style ramen over this anyday!

As we left, I saw a poster for a limited edition of Shio Ramen. Hmm maybe next time!