Recently, we ate at two ramen shops, Afuri Ramen at Funan mall and Tempura Oji at Outram. They are both not bad.

Afuri Ramen
Funan #B1-29, 107 North Bridge Rd, Singapore 179105
t: +65 6970 1386
11.30am – 10pm
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Named after Mt. Afuri, on the east edge of the Tanzawa mountains in Kanagawa prefecture, Afuri is a global chain with outlets in USA, Japan, and Hong Kong. Their unique selling point (USP) is their yuzu shio ramen ($15.90). It’s a bowl of chicken broth splashed with a dash of yuzu. It comes with only a slice of grilled pork belly and some vegetables.

The ramen is refreshing to the last drop. I finished the entire broth. It’s lighter than other ramens and really reinvigorating. Somehow the broth makes the pork belly sweet, which contrasts beautifully with the tangy broth. We enjoyed it tremendously.

We also ordered another ramen, tonkotsu shio ramen ($13.90), which is closer to the traditional ramen. It is just okay. The soup is a tad gamey and the pork, somehow, tastes differently–not as nice–as the one in the yuzu ramen.

Afuri is also known for their buta gyoza (6 pieces, $6.90) but we went for their broiled gyoza (4 pieces, $5.90). They are nice and light.

The yuzu ramen is really memorable and makes it to my top 5 ramen in Singapore. I will return for the yuzu ramen.

Tempura Oji
51 Kreta Ayer Rd, Singapore 089008
t: +65 9639 5676
10.30am – 2pm, 5.30pm-10pm, closed Sun
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Tempura Oji attracts many young people in their early and mid-twenties. The reason? It’s a speakeasy. You have to go through a fake fridge to enter the recess. Cute.

I made a gif of their secret hideout:

Here, they serve tempura, udon, ramen, and ricebowls. The prices are quite expensive.

The niku udon ($20) and the shio tonkotsu ramen ($17) are both standard and nice. The former is done Inaniwa-styled: udon noodles in a bowl of dashi broth and short rib shabu shabu. The later, shio tonkotsu, is done Hakata-style in a medium bodied pork bone broth with char shu. The two dishes both pass muster.

The tori karaage ($13) is also good. I suspect they deep-fried it twice to keep it crispy for a longer time. It is expensive but they gave a sizeable portion. Tastewise, it is aromatic with mirin.

There is a “tempura” in their restaurant name but the worst dish is the tempura moriawase ($25). The batter is thick and floury.

One thing I liked about the food here was they came very hot. The one thing I hated about the restaurant was the pricing. We spent almost $90 for two persons. That’s really expensive for ramen.

You may be interested in…
–Kanada-ya, PLQ: Voted London’s #1 Ramen by The Telegraph, Known for its Truffle Ramen
–Seizan Uni Ramen @ Picnic Food Park, Wisma Atria: They Use Spring Water from Mt Fuji to Make This Ramen!
–Ra Ra Men Men Men, Want Your Bad Ramence: Kajiken, Ramen Keisuke Kani King, and Sō Ramen
–Tsuta Ramen, Pacific Plaza Orchard: First and Only Michelin-Starred Truffle Ramen Opens in Singapore 

We paid for our own meals anonymously. Written by Dr. A. Nathanael Ho.