It’s been a week of new openings, and the latest news to hit town is at Menya Kokoro. Launching tomorrow, 1 February, at the popular mazesoba eatery are two new bowls of ramen—Lava Ramen, and Iekei Ramen. This weekend, they’re even running a one-for-one promotion on Iekei Ramen at their 100AM store in Tanjong Pagar!
If you’ve never heard of Iekei Ramen, it was invented in 1974 by none other than a former truck driver, Yoshimura Minoru, near Yokohama. He hit upon the idea of combining Hakata-style tonkotsu with Tokyo-style shoyu ramen, and started his own shop, Yoshimura-ya, after apprenticing at a ramen chain store.
Today, Yoshimura-ya has reached some sort of legendary status, selling more than 1,000 bowls of their signature Iekei Ramen daily, and inspiring spin-offs all over Japan. In fact, Iekei Ramen has been named one of the delicacies of Kanagawa prefecture!
At Menya Kokoro, you can expect their Iekei Ramen ($15.80++/$17.80++) to be served with the same sort of flat, yellow noodles in a thick, flavourful broth. Then, it’s garnished with spinach, rather than scallions, chashu, seaweed, and seasoned egg.
A signature complement to all Iekei Ramen is steaming hot white rice, and you’ll be served a bowl of that here too. First, enjoy the ramen, then enjoy the rich broth with rice. Finally, tip in some dou ban jiang, or spicy bean sauce, for a change of flavour.
Next up is the all-new Lava Ramen ($16.30++/$18.30++): a tonkotsu-based ramen zhnged up with a house-special, spicy miso paste. It’s piled with sukiyaki beef or pork slices, and finished with an onsen egg that you cut into for maximum lava effect.
This bowl gets you house-made, thin noodles topped with beansprouts, chives, and seaweed. The spice-o-meter is dialled up with chilli powder, Japanese sansho peppers, chilli oil, and black garlic oil.
It’s not clear if these bowls of ramen will be permanent additions to the Menya Kokoro menu,
For more Japanese eats in 100AM, we’ve got a guide to 10 Japanese food places at itadakimasu by PARCO. Otherwise, check out Rolina Traditional Hainanese Curry Puffs in Tanjong Pagar!
Address: 100 Tras Street, #02-10, 100AM, Singapore 079027
Opening hours: Mon-Thurs 11am to 3pm, 5pm to 9pm, Fri 11am to 3pm, 5pm to 9:30pm, Sat 11am to 9:30pm, Sun 11am to 9pm
Tel: 6443 1727
Website
Menya Kokoro is not a halal-certified eatery
Feature image adapted from