First time to Tampopo at Ngee Ann City, and I think perhaps my last. Don’t think I’d voluntarily choose this restaurant again unless everyone else wants to go there.
Tampopo - not SimPoPo KTV Lounge
Tampopo prides itself in its airflow black pork from Japan. Pricey black pork I must add. An evidence:
Promotion
I’m sorry my watermark covered the price. It’s supposed to be $15.50+. So, grilled black pig spare rib (note: singular) for $15.50. I’m assuming here that’s ONE rib. Not the half rack you get at Kenny Rogers. $15.50 for ONE rib. No wonder it has to come with free Asahi beer. I can buy a slab of siobah (not Siobhan, thank you) with that money.
Well I digress. So since there’s black pig, we ordered black pig dumplings to share.
Black pig dumplings, 5 pieces, $5.80
It has a Chef Recommended mark in the menu, so it should be good, right? Totally wrong. It was no difference from the usual pork dumplings from any Chinese restaurant. Well, a little better than the ones you get in dumpling noodles, but it’s nothing to rave about.
My friend had the black pig spicy toro ramen (I think).
Black pig toro ramen, $15.90
I don’t know about you, this is by far the most unappetizing ramen I’ve seen. Soup swills on the edge of the bowl, soup that looks a sickly brown like satay sauce… hey, it smells like satay sauce too. Just without the peanuts. You get what I mean.
But my tonkatsu ramen looks fab! (Well, looks are everything these days, aye?)
Tokatsu Ramen, $15.90
It was prudent of them to serve the tonkatsu separately. Other stores serve it on another plate, they serve it on a metal grill. Interesting concept. Each table also has a bottle of sweet and sour sauce for the tonkatsu, which I felt is necessary because deep fried pork is the 2nd driest thing on earth next to Thirsty Hippo dehumidifier. My soup colour looks better – like a hearty less-spicy laksa soup base. With that funky smell of Japanese bamboo shoots. I am so turning you away from going to Tampopo.
Apart from the food, I derived a lot of fun poking fun at the menu. Really. It’s not everyday I get to poke fun at the menu. And I don’t mean the way I did with the RIB (singular) promotion on top, oh no. I think that was real and legit. They really mean ONE rib. Anyway, I spotted something rather disturbing in the menu:
Pardon my Japanese but I’m pretty sure hata hata means Franken- in English. So it’s deep fried frankenfish. With mouth agape and fins outstretched ready to chew your face off before you do to it.
But seriously, it’s not a bad place to eat, just that the food’s a little funky. So, while I don’t advise you to queue for it (you get a better bang for your buck at Waraku), if there’s no queue, it might be a good place to go.
Oh yeah, if you want the website, here it is: http://www.cfc.com.sg/
Tampopo
First time to Tampopo at Ngee Ann City, and I think perhaps my last. Don’t think I’d voluntarily choose this restaurant again unless everyone else wants to go there.
Tampopo - not SimPoPo KTV Lounge
Tampopo prides itself in its airflow black pork from Japan. Pricey black pork I must add. An evidence:
Promotion
I’m sorry my watermark covered the price. It’s supposed to be $15.50+. So, grilled black pig spare rib (note: singular) for $15.50. I’m assuming here that’s ONE rib. Not the half rack you get at Kenny Rogers. $15.50 for ONE rib. No wonder it has to come with free Asahi beer. I can buy a slab of siobah (not Siobhan, thank you) with that money.
Well I digress. So since there’s black pig, we ordered black pig dumplings to share.
Black pig dumplings, 5 pieces, $5.80
It has a Chef Recommended mark in the menu, so it should be good, right? Totally wrong. It was no difference from the usual pork dumplings from any Chinese restaurant. Well, a little better than the ones you get in dumpling noodles, but it’s nothing to rave about.
My friend had the black pig spicy toro ramen (I think).
Black pig toro ramen, $15.90
I don’t know about you, this is by far the most unappetizing ramen I’ve seen. Soup swills on the edge of the bowl, soup that looks a sickly brown like satay sauce… hey, it smells like satay sauce too. Just without the peanuts. You get what I mean.
But my tonkatsu ramen looks fab! (Well, looks are everything these days, aye?)
Tokatsu Ramen, $15.90
It was prudent of them to serve the tonkatsu separately. Other stores serve it on another plate, they serve it on a metal grill. Interesting concept. Each table also has a bottle of sweet and sour sauce for the tonkatsu, which I felt is necessary because deep fried pork is the 2nd driest thing on earth next to Thirsty Hippo dehumidifier. My soup colour looks better – like a hearty less-spicy laksa soup base. With that funky smell of Japanese bamboo shoots. I am so turning you away from going to Tampopo.
Apart from the food, I derived a lot of fun poking fun at the menu. Really. It’s not everyday I get to poke fun at the menu. And I don’t mean the way I did with the RIB (singular) promotion on top, oh no. I think that was real and legit. They really mean ONE rib. Anyway, I spotted something rather disturbing in the menu:
Pardon my Japanese but I’m pretty sure hata hata means Franken- in English. So it’s deep fried frankenfish. With mouth agape and fins outstretched ready to chew your face off before you do to it.
But seriously, it’s not a bad place to eat, just that the food’s a little funky. So, while I don’t advise you to queue for it (you get a better bang for your buck at Waraku), if there’s no queue, it might be a good place to go.
Oh yeah, if you want the website, here it is: http://www.cfc.com.sg/