Menya Musashi is a recently opened ramen joint in Singapore that is managed by the same group as that of Ajisen Ramen. According to its local website, it was originated in Japan in 1996. As far as its origin from Tokyo, Menya Musashi is a Hakata (Kyushu) style ramen with its tonkotsu based broth. There are three types of signature broths: white (regular tonkotsu), black (tonkotsu with black garlic oil), and red (tonkotsu with chili / spicy tonkotsu). Currently, there are five outlets of Menya Musashi in Singapore, in which each serves different types of protein toppings for the ramen.
On Thursday I took a trip to Orchard Road and opted to dine at Menya Musashi in ION Orchard. When I arrived at around 4pm, there was almost no one in the restaurant. At this point of time, I experienced the most hilarious encounter with a waitress I have ever had. I asked my waiter some questions, and she seemed confused and not being able to answer it. She couldn't understand me, and I couldn't understand her words either. Finally the other waiter noticed and came to assist. Perhaps I was just asking too many questions, which I observed other people did not, making my poor waiter able to take orders from other "non-questioning" customers pretty well done.
Finally, I ordered a bowl of Tsuke-men ($14.90) (translated to dipping noodles), which is said to be the popular dish for Menya Musashi, with a choice of black broth. Of course, the black broth might looks kind of scary or unappetizing for some of you (at least not for me: see rawon), but the black color is just a layer of disguise on top. If you took a stir of the broth, beneath the black layer, you can see tonkotsu broth emerging. As for the noodles, it can be upsized to up to 5 times of the regular size for free, only for tsuke-men. Photos below show the regular size.
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| Tsuke-men: chasu, ajitsuke tamago, crispy beancurd skin, bamboo shoots, and black broth |
To eat the tsuke-men, I took some of the noodles together with the onions and bamboo shoots, dipped them into the broth, and eat the noodles only. Beware to not drink the broth as it is EXTREMELY salty, thick, and undiluted. My first slurp of noodles was yummy. The consistency of the ramen is al dente, and the taste was perfect. The charsu was perfectly grilled with a hint of charcoal fragrant that reminded me of bakwa (pork jerky). The ajitsuke tamago was just nice, and the crispy beancurd skin was crisp but tad too oily. I would recommend you to upsize the noodle to at least 2x regular serving, because even a moderate eater like me finished all the noodles before the toppings. In short, the dish was great, but by the time I finished the bowl, I was overloaded with grease and everything was just too oily.
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| Close up picture of the tsuke-men |
To reduce the oiliness, I ordered the Black Sesame Pudding ($5.90, or $4.90 with any ramen order). Alas, the pudding was so thick and rich and did not help easing the greasiness at all. For you black sesame lover, please do try the pudding. In my opinion it tasted no more than black sesame spread condensed with cream, and then drenched in a fatty milk soup. Nevertheless, it is worth trying after all.
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| Black sesame pudding in a milk soup |
Overall, my experience with food in Menya Musashi was satisfactory. The taste was rich and delicious, but a little bit on the oily side. The interesting thing to note was the communication issue with the waiter - it might be frustrating for some of you, it might not for some others.
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