One must always seize opportunities and since I was in the vicinity of Mandarin Gallery to run some errands, my (achy and swollen) legs automatically propelled me towards Ippudo for dinner #1, never mind that (i) it was merely 4.30 pm in the afternoon and that (ii) I had an appointment for dinner #2 at 8 pm. Happily there was ZERO queue and the restaurant was almost empty - great! Settled down quickly and ordered the signature item of Shiromaru Motoaji: "the original tonkotsu" soup noodles with slices of simmered pork loin chashu, cabbage, kikurage, spring onion, served with Hakata-style ramen.
The broth was flavourful - milky and robust without being too salty - and the thin Hakata-style noodles were thankfully not overcooked, remaining al-dente and slightly hard / crunchy. There was only one slice of chashu but what was lacking in quantity was made up for in terms of quality for this fairly melted in the mouth and had just the right mix of fat and lean meat. Yummy!
However, the flavoured egg (tamago) was extremely disappointing - it was not flavourful, had an overcooked yolk that wasn't even the slightest bit runny, and sin of sins, was actually COLD.
Overall a good bowl of ramen but I wouldn't bother making a special trip for this or if there's a long queue. Still prefer the thicker bouncier Hokkaido-style noodles served at Miharu, and the broth at Santouka and Menya Shinchan pack more oomph too.
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