Ever since I watched the Japanese movie Tampopo more than 10 years ago, the movie always
comes to mind whenever I eat a good bowl of ramen.

The 1985 Juzo Itami movie is about a woman’s search for the perfect ramen recipe for her noodle shop.

So it is very appropriate that one of my favourite ramen here is found in a restaurant called Tampopo, which owner Takaaki Takagi, 56, named after the film.

The restaurant opened about four years ago in the basement of Liang Court, inside Meidi-Ya supermarket. On April 25, it moved to a much more visible location on the ground floor that, a couple of years ago, was occupied by Swensen’s. It was used to sell cheap goods after that.

The new Tampopo is much bigger with 5,200 sq ft of floor space, compared to 4,000 sq ft before.

Not only that, the eatery now boasts something that has not been seen here before – a conveyor belt that delivers food right to your table.

It looks like the belts you see in sushi eateries, except that instead of just having plates of food going round and round, your order weaves its way to your table courtesy of a computer chip on the bottom of the plate.

Right now, only a section of the restaurant is serviced by the belt and only sushi, sashimi and drinks are served this way. But Mr Takagi is working to use it for hot food as well.

And you should not leave the restaurant without trying its hot food, especially its ramen. It offers two types of noodles, Kyushu and Hokkaido, with a variety of soups and toppings.

Mr Takagi recently changed the supplier for his Hokkaido noodles to one that uses high-grade Japanese flour, and they are excellent.

Thicker and more yellow in colour compared to the Kyushu noodles, they are firm and slightly chewy without being hard.

Try them in the miso delux ramen ($14.80), which boasts a new recipe for a delicious soup and comes with lots of toppings that include char siew, egg, bamboo shoot, spring onion and corn.

The char siew or barbecue pork is delicious, with alternating layers of aromatic fat and tender meat. And the boiled egg comes with a lovely soft yolk.

The restaurant also serves a unique version of black pig shabu ramen ($13.80) using Kyushu noodles. This comes topped with thin slices of black pig belly and vegetables, plus a sprinkling of Korean chilli powder.

Black pig or kurobuta pork from the United States is also used for another of the restaurant’s popular dishes: tonkatsu or pork cutlet.

Go for the top grade loin, which at $21.80 is pretty good value. The meat is firm and succulent, and I love the ends which are lined with a thin layer of juicy fat.

When it comes to the sushi, however, what you get here is what I would call serviceable – decent but not outstanding. It is better than what you get at conveyor-belt sushi joints, though.

You can try the tokusen sushi ($43), a mixed platter of different fish and other seafood, for the variety.

The fish is generally fine, but the rice could do with more flavour. Worse, it crumbled when I picked up two pieces of the sushi during a recent dinner.

But Tampopo is no fine-dining restaurant. It caters to office workers on weekdays and family crowds on weekends, with prices to match.

And when it comes to simple fare such as ramen and tonkatsu, there is only one word for them: Oishi.

Must try: Miso Delux Ramen ($14.80)



The Hokkaido noodles are excellent, with a chewy texture. They also come with lots of toppings, including char siew, egg, bamboo shoot, spring onion and corn

Tampopo
177 River Valley Road
Liang Court Shopping Centre
01-23/24
Tel: 6338-3186
Open: 11.30am - 10.30pm daily
Food: 3.5/5
Service: 3/5
Ambience: 3/5
Price: Budget from $20 per person

This article was first published in The Sunday Times on June 22, 2008.