The Malaysian Insider :: Food

Posted: 05 Aug 2011 05:59 PM PDT

The Shio ramen had all the right flavours... yum.

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 6 — It can get a little confusing deciding which ramen you want to have at the newly-opened Hokkaido Ramen Santouka in the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur.

There is the Shio or salt flavour, Miso, Kara Miso (with chilli) and Shoyu ramen. I was recommended Shio, which turned out to be good.

We were at a preview of the offerings at this ramen shop, a day before it opened at the new Tokyo Street. It's an enclave of Japanese restaurants, cafes, crockery shop, bonsai shop, Japanese tea shop and even a Daiso, the RM5 shop.

The soup for my ramen is a milky white, and as in all the other soups, it has been made with pork bones, and simmered for 20 hours, with vegetables, kelp, dried fish and other ingredients added. For the Shio flavour, the topping is finely sliced leek, a pickled plum, wood ear fungus, bamboo shoot and the much prized one, a piece or two of Japanese cha shu or barbecued pork. I wish there is more, as the pork (from the back rib) has both lean and fat in a yummy ratio.

The slivered bamboo shoots were crunchy and sweet, the pickled plum had a kick. The soup is just warm, never hot, and it says in the menu it's suitable for everyone, including children and the elderly. I like it that the noodles are almost al dente, and in my second time there after a sneak preview the week before, the soup was perfect with its salt balance.

The gyoza was just perfect... crispy on the outside and full of flavour.

You can have the ramen in small, regular and large sizes, and on this occasion I shared a large bowl with a friend, and the portion was just nice. We had a plate of gyoza, and these were superb, the almost paper-thin skin fried till crispy outside, and spilling out a delicate minced chicken filling.

At the preview last week, we also had its signature dish, the Tokusen Toroniku. This is roasted premium pork cheek, which was tender, moist and so scrumptious. It's not a cut of meat you would find easily in our markets, and this probably accounted for why it wasn't available the next time I was there.

The delicious Tokusen Toroniku or roasted premium pork cheek.

The Komi Tamago with its still runny egg yolk was perfect.

We also tasted Komi Tamago or boiled flavoured egg. This was so smooth and had a half runny yolk which tasted great. There was the Caesar Salad, which had croutons, parmesan cheese and a half-boiled egg in it.

On the menu too is Tori Karaage, a well-fried, crispy chicken served with a slice of lemon and mayonnaise. This would appeal to the younger set. There are also set meals of ramen and fried rice combined, or ramen with grilled salmon and sushi, among others, from RM29 to RM35.

The ramen is priced at RM22.50 for small, RM25 for regular and RM29 for a large bowl.

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka has a certain pedigree, starting in Asahikawa in Hokkaido in 1988 with only nine seats and one item on its menu — the Shio Ramen. It grew so popular that it's now a franchise, with ramen shops all over Japan, the US, Canada, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Hokkaido Ramen Santouka (Tel: 03-2143 8878) is located on the 6th floor of the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, in the midst of Tokyo Street, which has a huge red and glitzy signboard showing the way.

The luscious Kyoho grape ice-cream from Kindori.

We looked for dessert after Hokkaido Ramen Santouka and found Kindori Japanese Ice-cream across the aisle. You choose the blast frozen fruit you want in your ice-cream and it's blended for you. There are Kyoho grapes, strawberries, raspberries, kiwi fruit, among others. Mine was grape and the purplish ice-cream (RM8.90) was thick, creamy, lightly sweet, with the subtle flavour of grapes. I loved it. You can have more than one flavour in a cup.

We sat down at the En Ginza Café where I had a cappuccino, with a Hello Kitty traced in chocolate powder on the milk foam.

Hello Kitty on your cappucino... how whimsical.

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Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Jumaat, 5 Ogos 2011

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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