Noodle House Ken

My sister was in the Cuppage area on Saturday and I had a ramen craving. Thanks to the recommendations that I found on AromaCookery and The Travelling Hungryboy, I decided to check out the Noodle House Ken at Orchard Plaza.

We swung by about 7pm and the helpful waitress directed us to the restaurant’s air-conditioned shop unit. I would have preferred to sit at the counter but because my sister was still adjusting to the weather, we decided to take the air-conditioned seats.

There was a small selection of ramen and and some side dishes. My sister and I decided to play it safe and ordered the Tamago Ramen (Stewed Egg Ramen, $12), Cha Shiu Ramen (Sliced Pork Ramen, $12) and the Fried Gyoza (Fried Dumplings, $5).

In addition to the egg and sliced pork, the noodles were topped with small portions of crunchy seasoned bamboo shoots, scallions, spinach, and a piece of nori (seaweed). The noodles was nicely done and springy. The ramen broth was great, very hearty and flavourful (my sister found it a tad salty though). According to the menu, the soup base was boiled for 8 hours and no MSG was used. Even though I couldn’t finish the noodles, I drank up all the soup.

I was a little disappointed to find that the sliced pork was not quite as tender as I hoped. My sister’s stewed egg was a little overdone by Japanese standards; whites were past the “just cooked” stage and the yolk was not runny.

The gyoza was fine if you like your gyoza skins paper-thin and not too meaty. I prefer mine a little more substantial though, and at $1 each they were not quite the best value for money.

I might have caught the restaurant on an “off” day but the ramen soup base was good enough for me to give it a try again another day. Did I mention that I left my bowl dry?

Prices stated above are exclusive of the 10% service charge. Address and operating hours taken from AromaCookery.

Noodle House Ken
150 Orchard Road
#01-17/18 Orchard Plaza
Singapore
Tel: (65) 6235 5540

Operating hours:
Weekdays: 12 noon to 2 pm, 6 pm to 2 am
Sunday: 12 noon to 10 pm
Closed: 3rd Sunday every month

Noodle House Ken