When I heard that Keisuke was planning to open another outlet at the refurbished 100AM mall at the Amara Hotel (100 Tras Street #03-15, 6604-6861), I marked my calendar. (Yes, Apple fanbois line up for product launches, whereas I get pumped up about ramen shop openings instead...go figure!) Actually, the mall wasn't even really open yet; the escalators were off, making me worry about whether these guys were going to meet their opening date. But the friendly staff on the ground floor were waving people to the elevators so that one knew where to go.
The place was decorated a bit like Keisuke's Tonkotsu King down the street, but was several times bigger. And the menu, as the name suggests, was not focused on pork, but chicken instead. Fortunately, Keisuke-san (who was here in person today, by the way) did a much better job of a chicken-based broth than the Nantsuttei folks tried to do with Hachifukumaru. The thick broth was savory and edgy enough to be unique, and was probably my favorite part of the bowl.
Alas, the strange thing about this meal was the giant chicken thigh with the bone still attached. Fortunately, the meat was tender enough to fall off the bone without requiring the use of one's hands, but I kinda wish there were a sans-chicken option so that I could just focus on the noodles and broth. I'll come back here to try the peculiar green version eventually though. It was apparently wasabi-based, which sounds rather off-putting. But if Keisuke-san can do as good of a job with ingredients as he has in the past, hopefully it will be more palatable than I'm imagining it to be.
3 comments:
Oh I had it today too, and I have to say the broth is incredible, as was that extremely tender chicken. Was a pleasure meeting Keisuke-san himself, and I'm glad he's keeping at least 2-3 Japanese chefs at that branch alone.
According to Keisuke's team, the wasabi thing is not unusual, as it's common to take chicken sashimi with wasabi. But still, that creamy green in a ramen bowl will still raise eyebrows here, I'm sure.
You are fast!! :D
I was just there today and decided that I had to try the wasabi version of it. It's really not that bad! It's pretty much just a tiny squirt of wasabi over the chicken and it complements, rather than overwhelms, the tasty broth. I'm heading back to try the black spicy soon since I love it at Tonkotsu King.
Post a Comment