Slurp Worthy Ramen @ New Yew Sang Restoran

It’s hard to hate a huge bowl of steaming hot, salty, meaty broth with tender, slow-cooked slices of charsiew (BBQ pork) that sits like a crown, on top of a pile of bouncy ramen noodles.

But there’s a difference between ramen you eat for a quick fix, and ramen that’s so good, you want to eat it a bit at a time, to prolong the exquisite experience.

Ramen that’s chewy, dense and so delicious that the soup they swim in seems almost superfluous. Now that sort of bowl of ramen is rare and hard to find. Even in Japan, it wasn’t every shop that knocked us off our feet. But indeed, not all ramen are created equal, and some are definitely more well made than others.

And what about ramen that has a fair price tag on it? Most of the ramen joints these days makes we want to balk at the ridiculous price tag. I mean come on – noodles, some puny slivers of meat.. surely should not cost more than RM30 per bowl. That’s just wrong.

Well, we are happy to report that we have found a cheap, affordable ramen place to go to, that while not the most exquisite ramen we have ever eaten, is actually pretty decent tasting, with a more than attractive price tag attached to it. At just RM6.50 per bowl, the noodles that are cooked nicely al dente have a great bounce, and come in a pork stock broth that’s incredibly sweet. Definitely a Malaysian Chinese style ramen, your bowl of ramen, comes with a small side saucer of chili-padi in soya sauce. The portions are huge, and honestly value for money. Okay, we have to admit, the ramen is not always cooked al dente but at such low prices, one shouldn’t complain.

This Katsu Curry Ramen was served in a thick, gooey sweet curry sauce (similar to the texture and flavour of Japanese curry katsu), with diced potatoes, carrots and chives. The breaded pork cutlet was meaty and delicious – very little fat on it, and was fried rather well.

And then there was the Chicken Teriyaki Ramen. That soup, of which I had expected so little because it wasn’t ‘real’ ramen, chastened me. Sweet at first, it grew deep and its flavors kept going.. a slow boiled pork stock which was hard to resist. I am sure that there was MSG in it, so I tried not to finish it all.. but it was pretty good, so I needed to exercise restraint. Again, super bouncy ramen noodles, wood ear fungus, corn, half a hard-boiled egg and that sweet layer of teriyaki coated roasted chicken completed the experience nicely.

Finally, the Char Siew Ramen arrived and it was worth the wait. A massive, steamy bowl arrived with four, fat, thick sliced of lean but well marinated Charsiew on top of the ramen noodles, in a murky pork stock broth, served with wood ear fungus, corn, half a hard-boiled egg . The noodles were cooked perfectly. Unfortunately, the egg was probably the only item not up to par in all the dishes. We prefer a perfect Ajitsuke Tamago (hardboiled ramen egg which we personally like to call ‘onsen’ egg) of course, and with a soft undercooked yolk. Oh well, for RM6.50 per bowl, I wasn’t really complaining!

So now you know. That RM30 of yours can go a long, long way, at this particular ramen shop. Reason enough to visit, don’t you think?:)