Formally know as Sapporo Ramen Miharu has newly setup a new Izakaya concept at South Beach. Of course, they brought along their signature ramen to Kinya.
Previously located at Gallery Hotel, Sapporo Ramen Miharu was one of the first Japanese restaurants in Singapore to serve authentic ramen in a rather rustic setting, Then it moved to Millenia Walk, after Gallery Hotel was acquired. Now it is rebranded as Kinya Izakaya & Ramen at South Beach.
Shiokara 塩辛 is a fantastic savoury condiment to your favourite glass of shochu. Salted squid guts or ika shiokara (イカの塩辛) is made from mixing copious amount of salt and guts of squid.
Takoyaki or “octopus balls” is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus. This particular version used sliced octopus!
Tsukune or chicken meatballs are tender ground chicken skewers with bits of shiso leaves and scallions, drizzled with sweet soy sauce. Their version was a bit too dry. A side episode – we ordered three portions, but only one came. We were pretty sure they missed putting in the other two orders, but the waitress insisted that the chef was preparing them right now and needed more time. In the end, the other two portions only came at the end of the meal.
Miso Tonkotsu Ramen features 3 slices of charsiu, spring onion, egg, bamboo shoots, leek, beansprouts, corn, and seaweed, all soaked in a miso-based pork bone broth with fried garlic oil. The ramen broth here is robust, salty and oily, as it ought to be. Too many ramen joints here tone down the saltiness to suit local palates.
The ladies tried out their Noukou Gyokai Tsukemen (Dipping Noodle) and they didn’t like it. The noodle was those yellow type and was quite hard. The broth was too oily & salty.
Tempura Moriawase or mixed tempura came with two pieces of everything – prawns, sweet potato, lady’s fingers, eggplant and kani stick.The batter looked really really yellow, not the pale yellow usually in tempura.
I don’t think I’ll be back for their ramen even though they were quite good because I could not stand service people who are not honest or find excuses. First, they said they needed more time to prepare the tsukune even though the truth was that they totally forgot. And then when my sister complained that the noodles were too hard, they actually said that’s how the Japanese likes it. I have been to so many ramen places in Japan, you can always asked to make the noodles softer, especially if the diner is an old lady with dentures.
Kinya Izakaya & Ramen
26 Beach Rd, #B1-22 South Beach Ave, Singapore 189768
Tel : 6733 8464
Date Visited : Jan 2021
The ramen looks delicious
Is it pretty tasty? Or less of flavour?
The ramen was delicious and very authentic. The soup was packed full of flavours of the pork bones that were used to make the broth. It could be a bit overpowering for Singaporeans because the common ones have adjusted their recipe, but I can say this one has not. I have travelled a lot to Japan, and it is true that ramen is served al dente in Japan. But it would also be available softer if you ask the chef. The food here was good, but the service staff needed some more coaching.