Baikohken in Takashimaya

I'm not too sure why is it so that I'll normally end up in Takashimaya on weekends, maybe because Kinokuniya is there? I've spend numerous weekends, almost half a day on each occasion, will be spent leisurely there. When it's time to have my meal, I'll make a beeline to Tonkichi previously. However, I've found a new place recently. 



You can see the Ramen Master peering out of his kitchen, and he smiled...

I found Baikohken nestled in a corner of the basement level. The interior minimalistic and clean, I think it can seat about 25 to 30 persons at the maximum. You do have to place your order before you have the RIGHT to walk in to take a seat, I had very bad service encounters from one specific female serving staff which I'll touch on later. Back to food, this "Asahikawa Ramen Award" winning ramen is around for more than 40 years and is originated from  Asahikawa (旭川) in Hokkaido. To find out more about about Asahikawa-style ramen in general.

I also came across another blog that makes good coverage on ramen that mentioned Baikohken as well.

Shall we come back to my experience now? The below menu which is placed right next to the cashier at the entrance, you have to place your order and make payment, then head to an available seat.


Please click to enlarge

 The first time I was there, we were not aware (neither was there any visible instructions stated) that we had to follow the steps mentioned above to get food in our mouths eventually, so we breezed into the dining area only to be stopped abruptly by one of their female staff who reprimanded "You have to order over there first" and pointed crossly at the cashier counter. There was no please, no smile, horrid attitude and atrocious service in such a prestigious (international) Japanese mall.

I thought the Japanese actual take pride in their repute of being extremely well-mannered, although she may not be Japanese that does not mean that she can be excused from providing good service. We did not take any action as we just thought "we did step into their territory without permission in the first place and maybe she's having a real bad day" and let it go, however or day was somehow "dimmed" by the lousy experience.

Subsequently on another visit, we were starving, tired and lugging numerous shopping bags/grocery/baby pram and stuff. All we wanted to do was to "unload" our stuff at a table and head right back to the counter to place our order and to my dismay, the very same floor staff (is time she's not in her uniform, maybe she's just knocked off) walked to her counter colleague and asked her within earshot, if we have placed our order. No hushed tone, no change in with that awful attitude. I took a deep breathe, continued as our plan to put our things down, went to place our order and came back to our table. That particular staff was then seated at one of the tables in the restaurant corner, eating her staff meal staring atrociously at us. I glared right back until she looked right down into her bowl of ramen. I love the ramen they serve, I don't wish to have another harrowing experience to spoil my well-deserved meal, I gave my composed but stern feedback to one of the staff before I left. One more time, I will let the "Nasty Me" be unleashed, unadulterated.
  
Enough of the upsetting stuff, back to food now! The serving, I must say is quite generous. Thus if you are not a "big-eater", you may like to consider ordering the half-portion option instead of the full and you have the choice of either Shoyu or Miso soup-base for most of the ramen.


I tried quite some of the items from their menu and will love to recommend Cold Ramen, a must-try in our very hot Singapore.

Cold Ramen: Charsiew, shredded egg, cucumber, pickle and 
processed jellyfish with the light sauce beneath. I had slight difficulty
 in mixing my ramen with ease as the plate is really too small.

The sauce is so refreshing that I had no problem finishing the whole
serving myself even when I was once not feeling too well, I think it's all
thanks to the splash of vinegar (I suspect) in the sauce that revived my appetite.

I love Karashi with my Tonkatsu, now I can have it mixed
into my Cold Ramen! Nice... 

Eating this cold ramen always makes me happy, slurping up the springy noodles, smooth with a light veil of sauce on each and every strand. I've never though much of cold noodles, but this made me change my view completely. I repeat, it is a definite must try!

Now to the well-celebrated ramen, you may like to try having the Shoyu Ramen which comes with 2 pieces of Charsiew, 3 pieces of Bamboo shoot (Menma,メンマ) and Spring onions. If you love Charsiew, then try the Charsiew Shoyu Ramen! I tell you the 6 pieces of Charsiew with definitely fill you to the brim, even I get overwhelmed by all the meat.

I like the ramen here because after I sampled the first mouth, it earned itself a place in my "Grand List of Comfort Food". The soup is extremely flavourful yet still maintains a certain level of "lightness", which maybe contributed by the pork and chicken stock-base used. I assume the crinkly egg noodles that they serve are on par with it's fellow Asahikawa ramens as the water content should be quite low since the strands were able to soak up the beautiful soup yet still remain al dente to the bite. I loved every bite. The Charsiew's are quite tender but 6 pieces were abit too much for me personally. Lastly, I'm not a fan of menma, thus I gave my share away after sampling 1 piece. I must say it's did not taste too pungent and was supple-soft with a tinge of crunchiness. Not bad, but not my cup of tea. 

Full size Baikohken Charsiew Shoyu Ramen

Overall, I like the ramen served here enough to come back every 3 to 4 weeks (oh, that explains why I spent numerous weekends in Takashimaya...). Do give it a try if you are around the area, just pray hard that particular floor staff is not there to spoil your meal.

This most recent visit was actually made with my niece, Jade Jade. Poor baby's was not well (in fact, for such a long time that my heart pains when she cries in nightly, tortured by her chest congestion) but was still so cute and playful. I love her to bits, but sometimes she does have her aloof-attitude attacks which is not cute at all. 

I'll follow up with the next entry of a haul I did during that outing as well soon. Meanwhile, take great care!

The apple of my eye



Jade: Mummy! Milk!
Mummy: Really? You want milk?
Jade: Real!



Jade Jade's waving at our reflection chirping "Hi!"