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For all ramen lovers, in particular Chief Ramen Lover, StarG. 
Ippudo Hakata ramen to open Singapore branch
Mon Apr 20 2009
Audrey Phoon
The Business Times
Ippudo, which has established ramen as the soul food of Japan, is opening an outlet in Mandarin Gallery.
Shigemi Kawahara is better known in Japan as the King of Ramen: the restaurateur and chef is the only person to have won, three times in a row, a nation-wide competition testing the skills of ramen experts.
Singapore, April 18, 2009
Ippudo [to open in October]
Mandarin Gallery
333 Orchard Road
Nearest MRT station: Somerset
www.ippudo.com
IT’S difficult to be a judge of good Hakata ramen – a thin, straight variety of ramen cooked in a milky-coloured pork-bone broth – without having visited the district in Japan’s Fukuoka city.
But come October, a new entrant to the local market may offer as authentic a bowl as you’re going to get anywhere.
Ippudo is a Hakata ramen restaurant started by Shigemi Kawahara, who is also chief executive officer of the eatery’s parent company, Chikara No Moto. (Chikara No Moto owns 34 Ippudo outlets in Japan along with a number of other ramen-related businesses throughout the country.)
But he’s better known in Japan as the King of Ramen: the restaurateur and chef is the only person to have won, three times in a row, a nation-wide competition testing the skills of ramen experts – no mean feat considering the number of ramen chefs in Japan and the different variations of the noodle available.
His Singapore outlet will be located on the fourth floor of Mandarin Gallery when the shopping centre reopens after extensive renovation. It will be one of just two or three restaurants in the mall, all of which promise to offer fine food in a chic ambience.
The upcoming restaurant is Mr Kawahara’s second overseas venture – in March last year, he opened his first in Manhattan’s East Village, a modern 80-seat brasserie, to critical acclaim.
New York magazine called “the frenetically complex hodgepodge of the akamaru ramen” – Ippudo’s signature dish with red miso, black garlic oil, and ivory slices of Berkshire pork – “a revelation”.
What makes the brand’s noodles different is its combination of noodles and broth. The ramen, for one, is made from several types of flour imported from around the world and kneaded to a glossy, springy consistency.
The broth – there are two main types, aka (red and spicy from a secret sauce) and shiro (white) – is rich and creamy but not overly porky, a result achieved by at least 15 hours of boiling thoroughly-cleaned pork bones.
During this period, soup is extracted at three different times, then mixed together to produce the final recipe.
While Ippudo has not revealed many details about what it has planned for Singapore, what it will say is that the menu here will offer more than 20 different items as well as seasonal ramen menus.
The restaurant also typically creates one special version of ramen for each location it operates in, so that looks like something it will do for Singapore as well.
Expanding overseas, says Mr Kawahara, will help to “continuously spread the new ramen culture beyond Japan”. But he is quick to add that “we are highly selective in our expansion plans”.
Singapore – and Mandarin Gallery in particular – he explains, is a “good fit because of its prime location and target customer base”.
While it remains to be seen if his Hakata ramen will satisfy diners here, the Ramen King is confident that his product will win over loyal local subjects.
“Ippudo has successfully redefined and established ramen as the soul food of Japan and we are confident that it will also attract a strong following here in Singapore,” he says.
http://www.soshiok.com/articles/12484
Mon Apr 20 2009
Audrey Phoon
The Business Times
Ippudo, which has established ramen as the soul food of Japan, is opening an outlet in Mandarin Gallery.
Shigemi Kawahara is better known in Japan as the King of Ramen: the restaurateur and chef is the only person to have won, three times in a row, a nation-wide competition testing the skills of ramen experts.
Singapore, April 18, 2009
Ippudo [to open in October]
Mandarin Gallery
333 Orchard Road
Nearest MRT station: Somerset
www.ippudo.com
IT’S difficult to be a judge of good Hakata ramen – a thin, straight variety of ramen cooked in a milky-coloured pork-bone broth – without having visited the district in Japan’s Fukuoka city.
But come October, a new entrant to the local market may offer as authentic a bowl as you’re going to get anywhere.
Ippudo is a Hakata ramen restaurant started by Shigemi Kawahara, who is also chief executive officer of the eatery’s parent company, Chikara No Moto. (Chikara No Moto owns 34 Ippudo outlets in Japan along with a number of other ramen-related businesses throughout the country.)
But he’s better known in Japan as the King of Ramen: the restaurateur and chef is the only person to have won, three times in a row, a nation-wide competition testing the skills of ramen experts – no mean feat considering the number of ramen chefs in Japan and the different variations of the noodle available.
His Singapore outlet will be located on the fourth floor of Mandarin Gallery when the shopping centre reopens after extensive renovation. It will be one of just two or three restaurants in the mall, all of which promise to offer fine food in a chic ambience.
The upcoming restaurant is Mr Kawahara’s second overseas venture – in March last year, he opened his first in Manhattan’s East Village, a modern 80-seat brasserie, to critical acclaim.
New York magazine called “the frenetically complex hodgepodge of the akamaru ramen” – Ippudo’s signature dish with red miso, black garlic oil, and ivory slices of Berkshire pork – “a revelation”.
What makes the brand’s noodles different is its combination of noodles and broth. The ramen, for one, is made from several types of flour imported from around the world and kneaded to a glossy, springy consistency.
The broth – there are two main types, aka (red and spicy from a secret sauce) and shiro (white) – is rich and creamy but not overly porky, a result achieved by at least 15 hours of boiling thoroughly-cleaned pork bones.
During this period, soup is extracted at three different times, then mixed together to produce the final recipe.
While Ippudo has not revealed many details about what it has planned for Singapore, what it will say is that the menu here will offer more than 20 different items as well as seasonal ramen menus.
The restaurant also typically creates one special version of ramen for each location it operates in, so that looks like something it will do for Singapore as well.
Expanding overseas, says Mr Kawahara, will help to “continuously spread the new ramen culture beyond Japan”. But he is quick to add that “we are highly selective in our expansion plans”.
Singapore – and Mandarin Gallery in particular – he explains, is a “good fit because of its prime location and target customer base”.
While it remains to be seen if his Hakata ramen will satisfy diners here, the Ramen King is confident that his product will win over loyal local subjects.
“Ippudo has successfully redefined and established ramen as the soul food of Japan and we are confident that it will also attract a strong following here in Singapore,” he says.
http://www.soshiok.com/articles/12484
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