Monday, April 9, 2012

Ramen Champion's Gantetsu and Gensuke - Changi T3

Update: I understand that Gensuke has now been replaced by a new shop that serves spicy szechuan-style soup base with deep fried chicken cutlet.

A little while ago we blogged about Ramen Champion over at Changi T3, and we mentioned that there were four different ramen chefs serving up four distinctly different styles of Ramen. During that trip we only were able to stomach offerings from Riki Ramen and Ikkousha - so today we're finishing off the other two stalls!


Starting off with Gensuke's Ajitama Ramen (SGD13.50), which unlike most other ramen places, serves up an unashamedly chicken-based broth. Much better tasting than Marutama, the broth has a very strong chicken taste without being very salty.


We also added on a side order of "chicken cha shu" (SGD4.00). Despite it's interesting name, it's really just sliced chicken thigh meat.


Gantetsu seems to be the most popular of the four stalls here (judging purely by the queues), so we're excited to order the King Cha Shu Men (SGD15.00). We dig in and find the noodle soup rather ... disappointing. It's not half-bad, just that the soup wasn't as flavorful as some of the other tonkotsu broths we've had. It's got a pretty strong pork taste, but that comes from the addition of liberal amounts of pork fat floating on the surface of the broth, rather than the taste of the broth itself. The cha shu was also relatively dry and tough.


If we were slightly disappointed by the ramen, the Gyoza (SGD5.00) ruins the entire night. Mushy and tasteless, with a thick, chewy skin, could probably challenge for Singapore's Worst Gyoza honours.


Like we mentioned in our earlier post, Changi T3 attracts quite a sizeable weeknight crowd, so you can expect a 10-15minute queue. Non-halal.

Our Ramen Rankings:
Superb!: Ippudo & Santouka
Delicious!: Nantsuttei, Tampopo & Keisuke Tonkotsu King
Solid: Shin-Sapporo, Keisuke, Gantetsu, Gensuke, Riki, Ikkousha & Bario
Below Average: Marutama, Menya Musashi & Menya Iroha

2 comments:

  1. how long is this ramen champion going to be?

    on going?

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    Replies
    1. Hi, as far as I know it's on-going. Unlike the other ramen champion stalls in Japan there doesn't seem to be any competition going on where the "winner stays and loser leaves" of any sort.

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