Kanshoku Ramen Bar (Orchard Gateway)

Kanshoku Ramen

Address: 277 Orchard Road, OrchardGateway #01-06, Singapore 238858
Second Address: 9 North Buona Vista Drive, The Metropolis #01-18, Singapore 138588
Contact: 6384 4770
Website: https://www.kanshokuramen.com/ 

Founded by 2 friends, Melvin and Brendon, Kanshoku Ramen has been in the business since 2014 and carved a niche in the ramen business amidst fierce competition in recent years. Their niche? Truffles. Truffles are not often used in japanese cuisine and someone, the dynamic duo found a way to serve ramen with truffles which fit the local palate and managed to ride the hype train. Its an awesome business idea and it took off well.

Located in Orchard gateway, the ramen bar concept is an open area restaurant within the mall. Its thankfully air conditioned and turnaround of tables is usually fast despite the crowds.

You start by stating your orders on the order chit provided and choosing all the necessary items for your food. In hindsight now, efficiency on this can be sped up with an electronic solution. Having said that, i still enjoyed using the chit and having a friendly server share on how to use it as opposed to figuring out an app myself.

Black Truffle Ramen ($16.90)

Heeding the suggestion of the friendly staff, we tried both ramens to get a feel for which would be our favorite. Up first was the black truffle ramen and you can certainly see the black flakes all around. The smell is also very prevalent which is a big plus in my books. The bowl came with 3 pieces of melt in your mouth char siew with a delectable charred flavor and an onsen egg to round up the package. Noodles were springy and al dente. The best part about the dish is the strong truffle flavor which stays with you throughout the entire journey. Unlike truffle fries or other truffle infused or truffle oil infused food, the taste and smell doesn't disappear halfway throughout the meal. One thing to note is that this is a cold dish, so that may turn some people off.

Truffle Broth Ramen ($17.90 + $2)

The truffle broth option is a hot dish and came looking much more like the usual ramen we're used to. You'll need to top up $2 for the egg which has a nice shoyu taste through and a suitably watery yolk. The broth is the star which had a nice truffle aroma, however, this does start to diminish as you continue with the dish such that around the halfway mark, the aroma disappears and you'll just get a shoyu tonkatsu broth similar to most places. Noodles and char siew were still made very well and the char siew had added flavor thanks to the broth.

Overall, the experience was a positive one with ok portion size and some great tastes throughout. Bill came up to $43.31 inclusive of all surcharges.

I would like to see the standard eggs being a mainstay in the ramen as opposed to a top up but its not a deal breaker.

Verdict: Come for the black truffle cold ramen. Its the most popular dish for a reason.