Otoko Ramen

After the trip to Japan, we were constantly craving for ramen, and while ramen is widely available in Singapore, it is not easy to find one with their soup broth as nice as the one we had in Osaka

Having a meal at Otoko Ramen was really a chance adventure as we were going to head to Ikea when it started to rain cats and dogs. Instead of having lunch at Ikea, we decided to settle in the mall next to the Alexandra Hotel, and ramen immediately stood out to us on a cold, rainy day

The restaurant is a longish layout with rows of tables on both sides of the space, and the entire restaurant can house up to 20 customers at any one time

One of their specialities is the spicy mazesoba, as I saw many customers ordering it. I went for their special edition Toriton Ramen while my nephew went for the normal char siu ramen with tonkotsu broth

I ordered the yuzu sparkling drink mixed with lime, which was extremely refreshing on its own. The balance of the sourness and sweetness was perfect and was good to quench your thirst after the heavy ramen meal. The hard-boiled egg was also free-flow for customers to peel and add to their noodles. The eggs had a soft centre but were not flowy. We also ordered the crab croquette, which came with mayonnaise dip. The croquette was fried upon order, so it was hot, fresh and crispy

The char siu ramen with tonkotsu broth was pretty light with a lingering pork flavour. It was, in fact, lighter than the other ramen in Singapore. The char siu slices were also very thinly sliced with some fatty parts. I could not really taste the flavour of the char siu, and it was overall a normal bowl of ramen. On the other hand, the limited edition ramen was a lot thicker for the broth and much deeper for the pork flavour. It could almost be overpowering for someone who did not like pork that much, but it was perfect for my nephew so I changed it with him. The sliced leeks helped to cut out the oiliness of the noodles slightly, but it was too overpowering for me

Overall, the ramen was nothing too special for me, although my nephew did love their special edition noodles. It can be a decent meal when you crave ramen, but it would never be on par with the ones from Japan

Address: 321 Alexandra Road, #01-16, Alexandra Central Mall, 159971

Opening hours: 11 am to 3 pm and 5 pm to 10 pm ( No break for Sat and Sun)