When you’ve worked for more than a year in Tai Seng, lunch options quickly run out and nothing seems more appealing for lunch than a nap.
But today, the office decided to order in. We were sick of fast food options so we decided to get ourselves some ramen.
Enter Takagi Ramen.
They’ve recently started offering islandwide delivery for their ramen, which is great news because Tai Seng is a ghost town and the queues at Takagi Ramen outlets are always long.
I managed to find 6 other like-minded colleagues who thought ramen makes for great comfort food on a rainy day.
Send Nood(le)s
Unlike food delivery services, what you find on the menu at Takagi Ramen outlets, is what you’ll find on their delivery menu as well.
And the thing about Takagi Ramen is that it’s really affordable, with their base ramen all below $10. You can check out their full delivery menu here.
We ordered a Miso Ramen, a Mazemen, a Takagi Ramen, 2 Karaka Ramen, and 2 Black Tonkotsu Ramen. The total came up to $63.60 with a delivery fee of $20.
The delivery fee wasn’t explicitly stated on their delivery site, so it was a bit of a shock. They do have free delivery for orders above $100 though.
Good luck trying to scrounge up enough orders to hit $100 with such affordable prices.
Ramen Reviews
Our ramen arrived in neat little tubs that resembled upsized ice cream tubs. Also, Takagi Ramen switched to this current all-paper, 100% biodegradable packaging since last year so, kudos to them.
They may seem small but they’re really not. Here’s a hand for comparison.
If you’re wondering why some orders have a ramen egg, it’s an add-on for $1.50 per egg.
Here’s a closer look at the different ramen.
What you’re looking at is the signature Takagi Ramen ($7.90), which is their most basic and standard ramen.
The tonkotsu broth here is surprisingly light, and not too rich, making it easier to finish. We’ve had broth that’s too rich and by the time we finish the noodles, more than half the soup remains. The noodles were clumped together even when it was placed into the broth.
We had to microwave the tub so the noodles would split. Thankfully, the taste remained the same.
This was by far the crowd favourite out of all the orders.
Verdict: 4/5
Up next is the Miso Ramen ($8.50).
The Miso Ramen didn’t fare as well as the Takagi Ramen. It’s pretty normal, with a light broth. If you prefer lighter broths for your ramen, then you might like this.
But the miso flavour wasn’t very prominent and we would prefer it to be a little stronger.
Verdict: 2.5/5
For the spice lovers, there’s the Karaka Ramen ($8.50).
The Karaka Ramen is great because the spice doesn’t overpower the tonkotsu broth, so you can still the underlying broth.
And it’s not too spicy either, so it’s great for those of you who like to add shichimi (chilli powder) to your ramen.
Verdict: 3/5
Next is the only dry ramen order we had – the Mazemen ($7.90).
The dry ramen is served with sweet corn, roasted nori strips, scallions, and sweet ginger-braised pulled pork.
While it sounds good, the flavours did not really translate properly, and the rest of ramen came across as a little bland. The only real flavour came from the ginger-braised pulled pork, and even that was relatively mild.
If you’re looking for something extremely light on the palate, get this.
Verdict: 2.5/5
Now, for my order, the Black Tonkotsu Ramen ($8.90).
The Black Tonkotsu Ramen comes with slow-roasted black garlic-infused tonkotsu broth and comes with menma (bamboo shoots) and black fungus strips for added crunch.
I like ramen with black garlic oil and it’s my usual order at my go-to ramen restaurants. So I decided to give this one a try.
Right off the bat, the noodles were surprisingly springy even after I microwaved it. The black garlic-infused broth wasn’t too salty, which is good for me I guess, though I personally prefer stronger flavour.
I felt that there wasn’t enough black garlic oil, so an option to ask for more black garlic oil would be good.
The lean chashu was a little tough, which is to be expected since it’s been left out of the broth for quite a while.
It wasn’t as shiok as other Black Tonkotsu ramen I’ve had, but it still does the job. Plus it’s affordable, so that’s a plus point.
Verdict: 3/5
Overall Verdict
Takagi Ramen markets themselves as “Ramen For The Average Singaporean”, and they stay true to that motto.
Their ramen, while it’s nothing to shout about, does its job and is incredibly affordable. Plus, now that they deliver islandwide, getting your hands on a comforting bowl of ramen is much easier than before.
But if you’re going for quality, you might fare better if you visit any of their outlets. After all, ramen was never meant to be a takeaway dish.
Also 8 Hawker Food Haunts That Are Tried, Tasted, And Recommended By True Blue S’poreans
(Header Image Source: DiscoverSG)
