As I am a ramen lover, I am always on the lookout for good ramen in Johor Bahru but I have to admit that choices are limited so far. So, I am excited that AEON Tebrau City Mall recently launched a Ramen Street.
I counted 4 ramen shops with one more in the pipe line at AEON Tebrau City's Ramen Street.
After browsing the shops and their menus, I settled on Menzo Ramen for my first visit to Ramen Street. I will try the rest of the ramen shops, one by one, in the future.
Menzo Ramen is a tonkutsu ramen specialist offering various options of Japanese style pork noodles. I zeroed in on the "Special Shiro Chashu" which comes with two slices of pork belly chashu.
When the bowl of ramen arrived, I wasn't so excited.
Instead of the much anticipated fatty chashu, I saw only dried seaweed, preserved bamboo shoot, slightly overdone ajitama egg, and minced pork. Those who know me will know that I am not a fan of dried seaweed and preserved bamboo shoots.
A waft of dried seaweed aroma was carried to my nose with the rising steam. I felt like I had just wasted my RM38 ๐ Still, I have to work my way through this ramen, no matter what ๐
I started with a spoonful of the tonkutsu broth.
It was good.
The pork broth had a full round smooth body. There were deep robust layers of savouriness in the rich, almost creamy broth.
Buried under the noodles and opaque broth were two thick slices of pork belly chashu.
The thick slice of pork belly had skin and roughly equal parts of lean meat and fat. The meat and fat were very tender and juicy. The tender chashu tasted mainly of porky sweetness with a mild savouriness. It was so delicious and I was glad that I had two thick slices in my bowl ๐
The straight noodles were thick and heavy, the type that I like. The noodles had a tender crunchy chewiness to the bite. I like it.
The ajitama egg was very slightly overdone but still soft. It's very mild savoury flavour added a subtle layer to the robust savouriness of the broth.
I wasn't thrilled to see preserved bamboo shoots but was glad that neither these nor the dried seaweed altered the taste of the tonkutsu broth. As the broth had a deep robust savouriness and porky flavour, the bamboo shoots and dried seaweed just provided a subtle overlay of flavour. They enhanced instead of changing the taste profile of the broth.
The pork broth was heavy but I enjoyed it to the last drop.
I didn't felt much, if any, MSG thirst after drinking all the broth.
There's aromatic fried garlic and coarse chili powder in the condiment tray, but I didn't use these as the broth was flavourful enough for me.
๐ Glad to find a ramen that I like in JB. The smooth round bodied broth has robust savoury flavour. The tender juicy chashu is rich with porky sweetness. The thick heavy noodles have a tender crunchy chewiness. Menzo Ramen is conveniently located at level 3 of AEON Tebrau City, JB's largest shopping mall.
This ramen costs RM38.50 after GST and service tax.
Restaurant name: Menzo Ramen
Address: Level 3, AEON Tebrau City Mall, 1 Jalan Desa Tebrau, Taman Desa Tebrau, 81100 Johor Bahru
GPS: 1°32'56.8"N 103°47'46.3"E | 1.549110, 103.796183
Tel: 07-364 8544
Hours: 10:00am to 10:00pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 26 May 2017
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Tokyo Kibuten right at the end of this Ramen street is more authentic.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's next on my eat list.
DeleteI love their black sesame ramen, super nice.
ReplyDelete