It's lunch time and I'm in the Orchard-Somerset area.
Specifically, I'm in the 313 Somerset shopping mall where there's a pretty good presence of dining options ranging from the uber casual to the casual. At the basement there're all the little popups that offer you a variety of snacks and takeaway meals. You've got Marche upstairs, a food court on the top floor and Popeye's Chicken somewhere.
But today I'm in the mood for a bowl of ramen- and when I'm in 313 with the mood for ramen holding me, and it being lunch time, there's only one place to go.
Chabuton Ramen- at Basement One.
Because they've got a great lunch set on the menu where for $13/-, you get one bowl of ramen, one side dish, one dessert and one drink.
Specifically, I'm in the 313 Somerset shopping mall where there's a pretty good presence of dining options ranging from the uber casual to the casual. At the basement there're all the little popups that offer you a variety of snacks and takeaway meals. You've got Marche upstairs, a food court on the top floor and Popeye's Chicken somewhere.
But today I'm in the mood for a bowl of ramen- and when I'm in 313 with the mood for ramen holding me, and it being lunch time, there's only one place to go.
Chabuton Ramen- at Basement One.
Because they've got a great lunch set on the menu where for $13/-, you get one bowl of ramen, one side dish, one dessert and one drink.
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| chabuton tonkotsu ramen |
You could have the gyozas for your side dish- they're pretty popular- but I like the tatsuta age, which is chicken pieces delicately deep fried and served with shredded lettuce plus a dollop of mayonnaise. The beverage of choice is either hot or cold green tea and for dessert, you get an offering of either mochi or konnyaku jellies. I like my tea hot, and I like the konnyaku jellies. :)
I choose the tonkotsu ramen today.
Actually, I choose the tonkotsu ramen most of the time. :)
Because between the shio, the shoyu, the spicy and the tonkotsu, the broth concocted from pork bones simmered in the pot for hours is what speaks most to me. Here at Chabuton, they do it such where I can taste the salt, yet the soup is not overwhelmingly salty, I can taste the pork, yet there is none of the heavy aftertaste sometimes found in pork-based soups. And there's a slight creamy, milky texture which I particularly fancy.
The broth alone would be comforting enough for me- that's how rounded it is on my palate- but I'm hungry, and so I work the chopsticks over my ramen.
They're soft, cooked the way I requested, with just the right amount of oil and salt. On top of the noodles lies the thin slice of char siew, balancing delicately with crunchy chopped bamboo shoots on the side and a scattering of fresh, green chopped leeks all over.
I'm enjoying my lunch very much today. I'm enjoying the Moment that I'm receiving in this atmosphere, this ambience. You see, for some, ramen might be just one of the meals to get through the day.
For me, though, to have a bowl of ramen here is to grant myself a Time where I allow myself to sit and embrace the Moment as she wraps me with her warmth, her presence, her calmness and her stillness through the connections of natural elements in her food, thorugh the beauty of structure, and through the symmetry of form.
I choose the tonkotsu ramen today.
Actually, I choose the tonkotsu ramen most of the time. :)
Because between the shio, the shoyu, the spicy and the tonkotsu, the broth concocted from pork bones simmered in the pot for hours is what speaks most to me. Here at Chabuton, they do it such where I can taste the salt, yet the soup is not overwhelmingly salty, I can taste the pork, yet there is none of the heavy aftertaste sometimes found in pork-based soups. And there's a slight creamy, milky texture which I particularly fancy.
The broth alone would be comforting enough for me- that's how rounded it is on my palate- but I'm hungry, and so I work the chopsticks over my ramen.
They're soft, cooked the way I requested, with just the right amount of oil and salt. On top of the noodles lies the thin slice of char siew, balancing delicately with crunchy chopped bamboo shoots on the side and a scattering of fresh, green chopped leeks all over.
I'm enjoying my lunch very much today. I'm enjoying the Moment that I'm receiving in this atmosphere, this ambience. You see, for some, ramen might be just one of the meals to get through the day.
For me, though, to have a bowl of ramen here is to grant myself a Time where I allow myself to sit and embrace the Moment as she wraps me with her warmth, her presence, her calmness and her stillness through the connections of natural elements in her food, thorugh the beauty of structure, and through the symmetry of form.
 |
| the toothpicks |
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| and the chopsticks |