Tonkatsu/Tonkotsu Ramen at Watami (Raffles City)

The last time I dined at Watami I enjoyed the special Kaisen Tori Kamameshi which I suggest you must try it. This time I am writing about different special dish. It's the special tonkatsu ramen.

Tonkatsu Ramen

Served in a quite big bowl and special pork broth, the ramen becomes one of all time favourites. If you go to other restaurant to find tonkatsu ramen like this one, you'll usually get ramen with fried tonkatsu. Watami serves differently. It serve ramen two slices of tonkatsu, boiled in the same special pork-bone (tonkotsu) broth producing very smooth contour and super tender, completed with boiled egg.

Tonkatsu Ramen

I find that the ramen served in Watami has slightly different contour. It's a little bit thicker than ramen usually served in other restaurants, but it's not too thick to make your stomach bloated eating it. As you can see in the picture left.

Completing the dining experience is Pasionfruit Mango Tea. As usual, it is served in a tall glass container (about 20cm), it will satisfy your thirst.

Pasionfruit Mango Tea

Yayoiken (Liang Court)

Yayoiken Japanese Restaurant, that's the complete name of the restaurant. Indeed, it is truly a Japanese restaurant, complete with the Japanese custom to bow 90 degree when greeting guests. Located at Liang Court's basement right in front of the downward travelator, you can't miss it.

If you're planning to have dinner here, I'd advise you to come around 6.30pm or you'll have to wait for long queue before they can get you a table.

There are a few signature dishes that this restaurant offers, all looks great on the picture, looks yummy and tasty.

Shima Hokke Set

One of the signature dishes from this restaurant is Shima Hokke Set.

Shima Hokke Fish

Shima Hokke fish is a grilled Japanese Hokke fish with silver lining on the skin. Served with the fish body sliced open and the skin facing downwards, it shows the golden color of the fully grilled fish. Sized around 25cm long and 15cm wide, it's really worth every cents you spent on this dish. What I particularly loved about this fish is the tenderness and softness. It's so soft that you'll feel it's melted in your mouth. However, do be careful with the little tiny but long fish bone when eating the fin. This is a must try if you consider to have lunch or dinner here.

Another dish that we order was the Tonkatsu set. It looks promising and yummy on the menu. Unfortunately my wife wasn't really satisfied with it. The tonkatsu contains about 20-25% of fat. So for you who love to have lots of pork fat, this will satisfy you. The rest of the set are rice, tofu, salad and the soup.

Tonkatsu

As I have mentioned, this is a truly authentic Japanese restaurant, hence be prepared to experience a truly Japanese culture here, like 90 degree bow when they greet guests. Another interesting one is that they do not provide spoon and fork. They only provide chop stick. So how to eat the soup? Well apparently they don't eat soup, they DRINK it. So yes, you bring the soup bowl up to you mouth and drink directly. Really an amazing experience.

With the authenticity and wide variety of food, they are priced quite reasonable. The sets are priced around S$12.90 each. I think it is considered cheap compared to other Japanese restaurant available.

Tonkatsu Ramen (Tampopo)

After tasting Black Pig Shabu Ramen last month, yesterday I tried another dish from Tampopo, the Tonkatsu Ramen. The pork cutlet (tonkatsu) is deep fried as you can see in the picture and I find the tonkatsu is crunchy and yummy. It is tender and cooked just right for the tonkatsu lover. So if you are a tonkatsu lover, this is definitely a must have.

Tonkatsu Ramen

The soup for tonkatsu ramen is a little bit spicier than the previous ramen I tried. This can be seen on the colour of the soup which is slightly reddish.