Ramen - Kureha in Tai Hang Hong Kong ラーメン来 (Update June2012)

Update on Kureha

Summer Special Ramen with onsen egg, shredded nori, chicken broth reduction and charsiu

Still good quality and good to see they have added new flavors to the menu.  The summer special ramen adds a good twist to traditional ramen, perfect for this hot weather.  Admittedly, the bowl tasted more like japanese style, italian pasta, especially with the condiments provided - jalapeno tabasco, kraft parmesan cheese, ponzu and sesame sauce.  Thumbs up!

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Just when you thought we would stop writing about ramen shops in Hong Kong, we decided to write yet another one. Ramen Kureha ラーメン来 opened its door in Tai Hang a few weeks ago, mum and dad went there today.

If you think Tamashii's 魂 decor is nostalgic Japanese and the Japanese songs they play are from over 20 years ago, Kureha's decor is downright retro and the songs they play inside the shop are from even longer ago. Other than the Japanese songs, you could hear people slurping away at their bowl of ramen, waitress taking orders, works being done behind the counter; but no random chit-chatting!! (vs Hide-chan 秀)

Before delving into its ramen, there are a few interesting thing about this shop. If you try looking up ラーメン来 in Japanese search sites trying to find its Japanese original shop, you are out-of-luck. Because the English name Kureha doesn't translate to the kanji, 来, but instead is just written as the hiragana. くれは. In fact the full Japanese name is 玉名ラーメン くれは. 玉名, Tamana is a small city in Kumamoto, Kyushu. So the ramen served here are Kumamoto-style, thin straight noodles in thick pork broth. Ramen Kureha does a good job of reproducing the Kumamoto flavor, insofar as, dad actually said the noodles resembled those he had in Kumamoto before he knew the pedigree of this shop.

So how does Ramen Kureha compare with its competitions? Its signature bowl, which took its name from the ramen competition it won,  Tamashii No Ippai 魂の一杯, was super rich super thick full flavor, definitely a place to challenge your taste buds if you like such broth. But mum and dad preferred the spicy ramen, whose broth was probably as rich as what you get in Butao and richer than Ippudo. Butao broth had a bit more flavor but tough to tell unless you have A-B comparison. Even though, the broth was rich but it didn't feel too oily. The springy noodles were tasty and surprisingly straight!! The char-siu was a good balance between fat and flesh, better than Butao whose char-siu was a bit lean and dry. Their soft-boiled egg was cooked so that you get spongy egg-white and semi solid yolk with a tiny bit of thick runny yolk in the middle.

A well balance piece of char-siu in the richest bowl of broth in Hong Kong. 魂の一杯

You can decide how much spicy toppings to add.

Overall, this is a decent addition to the Ramen scene in Hong Kong and hope it will keep its standard. We say that because Hong Kong restaurants have a terrible records in keeping up standards. Mum went to Causeway Bay branch of Butao a few weeks ago, she already felt a drop in standard. Hope it was just a blip!! We are going to have an entry with updates on places that we have mentioned soon.

Note: below is the Japanese weblink for the ramen competition that Ramen Kureha won.
http://event.yahoo.co.jp/ramen2010/best10/taishou/tokyo/02.html