Saturday, January 11, 2014

The Ramen Burger Bar at Gillman Barracks

Ramen Burger

When I first heard about this Travelling C.O.W food truck, I didn't really think I would bother with it. Why not? Because I wanted to try Keizo Shimamoto's version in the US first in order to establish a proper baseline for comparison. But then the Wall Street Journal did a story on how these guys set up weekend operations at some art gallery called the U Factory (39 Malan Road), and somehow the idea must have stuck because I ended up coming here for lunch.

The good thing was that it was better than I thought it would be, with those "buns" being easier to handle than I had imagined. The bulgogi inside was juicy and seasoned just right too. Still, I'm not going back for that again, as I waited about 40 minutes for my food...and this was after arriving at 2:45 PM, no less. Perhaps more surprisingly, when I paid for my S$8.90 (US$7) burger with a ten, the guy actually asked me if I had smaller change! (Whaaaaaaatt??)

I ended up telling him to keep the change (though he suddenly seemed to have a lot of small notes after I tried to buy a beer later!). Either way, being in an art gallery clearly didn't put them in a good position to be serving food quickly. And ultimately, that's what I thought of this place, as it was really just a small makeshift exhibit, if you will, rather than somewhere that was really going to churn out food in proper quantities. Man, I wish the Naked Finn were open during the daytime...I'd be there in a heartbeat if so.

3 comments:

red fir said...

The Naked Finn is now open for lunch Mon-Fri, but prawn noodles only. No more supper. :))

Singapore said...

try the laksa ramen instead at the u factory. its much better

bma said...

Yeah, they were sold out of it by the time I got there.