創 Sō Ramen Breadtalk IHQ Review

My brother took us out for lunch together with my nephew last Saturday. We headed to Tai Seng as the area would be less crowded on a weekend. We checked out a number of food places as we walked from Tai Seng Centre to Breadtalk IHQ. My brother spotted 創 Sō Ramen where he had bought takeaways before. As it was a rainy day, a nice hot piping bowl of ramen would warm the soul.

 

Restaurant Decor

I like the decor at this branch of Sō Ramen. One of the staff saw me taking photos and informed me that the structure was taken from an actual old building (though he wasn’t sure from which country) and reconstructed.

I liked the rustic feel these structure gave to the restaurant. The staff informed me the next door restaurant also had a reconstructed old building structure.

 

Menus and Our Orders

The wait staff told us to scan a QR code for the menu. She also introduced their current promotion – Kuruma Ebi Ramen which came with a choice of drink.

There were 3 types of noodles offered, but they were all paired with different soups and customers were not able to choose the noodles they want.

Hosomen – straight thin noodles paired with Tonkotsu base soup.

Chijiremen – thin wavy noodles paired with Soyu base soup.

Futomen – thick curly noodles paired with Miso base soup. Sō Ramen Miso base soup ramen options were not offered at post time.

We looked through the menu and decided on the below:

• Kuruma Ebi Ramen and a glass of Sprite
• Grand Tonkotsu Ramen
• Toroniku Uobushi Tonkotsu Ramen x 2
• Butariki Ishinabe
• Gyoza

 

Kuruma Ebi Ramen (S$17.90)

The wait staff told us the Kuruma Ebi Ramen came with 2 de-shelled prawns weighing a total of 100grams. We couldn’t figure out how big the prawns were until the ramen was served and boy were they big!

Kuruma Ebi Ramen soup base was made with pork bones and prawn shells that were boiled for hours. We all tried the soup and it had a really good strong prawn taste. The soup was paired with Chijiremen (thin wavy noodles).

Mum said the large prawns were slightly overcooked making the flesh a little tough, typical when using large prawns. There was half an egg, some chopped up spinach and spring onions as toppings. My Mum said the spinach was “jin ho jiak” (very good to eat / 很好吃) and she enjoyed the egg as well.

 

Grand Tonkotsu Ramen (S$13.90)

The Grand Tonkotsu Ramen came with Hosomen (straight thin noodles) and topped with pork cooked in 3 different style – Toroniku (braised pork cheek), Cha Shu (braised pork belly in cha shu sauce) and Buta Kakuni (braised pork belly in special sauce). There was also black onion sauce added to the broth.

All 3 styles of pork were delicious. I especially like the Toroniku as the flavours soaked right into the soft and tender pork. The Buta Kakuni was good too as it melted in the mouth but there was way too much fats. I enjoyed the bamboo shoots and had extra portion as my nephew didn’t like them. The Tonkotsu soup was gorgeous and I finished till the last drop. I didn’t find the black onion sauce doing much to enhance the flavours and thought a black garlic oil would be better.

 

Toroniku Uobushi Tonkotsu Ramen (S$13.90 x 2)

Both my brother and my nephew chose the Toroniku Uobushi Tonkotsu Ramen which was also served with Hosomen (straight thin noodles), topped with egg, seaweed and sliced seared pork cheek.

The broth was made with pork bones and premium bonito giving it a very rich umami flavour. I had a taste of my nephew’s soup and the bonito flavour stood out quite prominently but wasn’t fishy. My Tonkotsu only soup felt like a lighter broth compared to this Uobushi Tonkotsu broth.

There wasn’t much comments from my brother and nephew as they got busy eating their ramen and enjoying the soup and toppings.

 

Butariki Ishinabe (S$12.90)

My nephew wanted some rice as well so my brother order the Butariki Ishinabe to share. It was served in a heated stone-pot rice bowl, so do be careful not to burn your fingers.

The stone-pot rice was topped with both pan-fried and barbecued pork, spring onions, seaweed, raw eggyolk and drizzled with sauce. My brother set to work mixing up the rice.

Try not to eat all up too quickly especially if you like some burnt parts. Let some rice sit on the hot stone-pot a little longer and you’d get crispy bits. My nephew eagerly scooped up the crispy rice to enjoy the crunch.

This rice dish came served with a miso soup filled with lots of seaweed and fried beancurd. However, don’t expect the miso soup to stand out especially after tasting the delicious ramen soup base.

 

Yaki Gyoza (S$4.00)

The full portion of Yaki Gyoza had 6 pieces, served with dipping sauce. The gyozas were on the smaller side but rather tasty. My nephew must liked them a lot as he had 3 pieces.

 

Prices

My brother paid a total of S$90.04 for 4 Ramens, 1 Rice dish, 1 side dish plus a drink that came with Kuruma Ebi Ramen. Quite a reasonable price for the meal that everyone enjoyed. I thought the price for the gyoza was reasonable as usually I see places selling 5 pieces for S$6.

 

Final Verdict

My nephew and I wished that there were options to select the type of noodles and also the firmness. Both of us preferred firm noodles while my brother liked soft noodles. We felt the noodles got even softer as we ate since the hot soup was still “cooking” the noodles.

Soup bases were delicious for the 3 different types we tried. Not sure why the Miso soup base was not available. We enjoyed the hot stone-pot rice and gyoza too.

I would consider trying the Cha Shu Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen on a next visit since Sō Ramen specifically had a picture of it at their entrance. It’s probably one of their specials.

Overall, it was a good meal at 創 Sō Ramen. I suggest you eat at one of their restaurants instead of getting takeaways or delivery. The ramen tasted better pipping hot straight from their kitchen than a microwaved heat up soup.

 

Check Ling’s other Singapore Food Reviews.