We tried Singapore’s highest-rated ramen

That said, it seems like most folk unanimously agree on what the best ramen in Singapore is. This supposed chosen one of Singaporean ramen is Ramen-ya in East Village , and it’s truly something special.

Yeah.” I was first introduced to this humble ramen bar by my colleague Aaron, who discussed Ramen-ya’s fantastic 4.8/5 stars in 534 reviews (at the time of writing). Ramen-ya’s probably the most authentic Japanese ramen bar in Singapore. Stepping into Ramen-ya felt like being transported to a humble streetside ramen bar in Japan, with classic 80s and 90s Japanese pop music playing in the background as a single chef tosses ramen in a basket to the beat.

Even so, those familiar with ramen bars likely shudder at the thought of how cramped they are, and that aspect is replicated, too. Ramen-ya can only seat 8 patrons at a time along one long table, with benches outside for guests to wait their turn.

What I tried at Ramen-ya Because Ramen-ya’s a one-man show, expect wait times of about 10 minutes, which I can forgive, as I spent time soaking in the ramen bar’s atmosphere. Most ramen bars have a speciality ramen unique to them, and for Ramen-ya, it’s their Special Shio Ramen (S$14.80) .

Shio ramen is a variant of ramen where the broth is seasoned mainly with salt, or ‘ shio ‘ in Japanese. I’ll talk more about them later, but I just took a moment to bask in the bowl’s beauty when it was first placed in front of me. Ramen lovers who are used to slurping an endless amount of broth may find a change of pace here, as Ramen-ya’s Speciality Shio Ramen has just enough broth to barely submerge its elements but not so much to slurp.

I was expecting at least some balance in savour with how highly rated Ramen-ya was, but my expectations were blown away the moment I took a sip. It was just the right amount of salty, yet so clean and rich at the same time.

I was served Sapporo-style ramen noodles, which, in my opinion, are the best type of noodles for ramen. That isn’t an issue with Ramen-ya specifically; it’s one with seaweed sheets in general.

You Fu Ban Mian Ramen: Soulful fusion of Japanese ramen with Chinese broth Ok, we’ve finally reached the part where I get to talk about the chashu . With how good the rest of the dish was, I wouldn’t have cared if Ramen-ya phoned in the hanjuku egg. Per to Like I, in my previous ramen review , the greatest compliment you can give to a chef is handing back an empty bowl, in my opinion at least.

Everything about the ramen bar, from the ambience to the decoration and the food, makes you feel the genuine love for Japanese culture that the owner has. Ramen-ya absolutely deserves the title of best-rated ramen in Singapore.