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DaiFukuya's ramen
Image from Locky's English Playground |
Just finished marking all the term papers with my colleague and so I finally have time to post some entries which have been stacked up in my drafts for awhile.
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Cochrane Street near SOHO
Image from Locky's English Playground
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Few weeks ago, my wife, baby Muse and I were at Central almost the whole afternoon, and at 6pm, we thought we should eat before heading home and so we went to SoHo at Central, just to realise that most restaurants do not open until 7pm. Hot and tired, we decided to walk into any one that was opened.
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Daifukuya Ramen Restaurant
Image from Locky's English Playground |
And there on the side, we found this Daifukuya Ramen Restaurant. We had never heard of this Japanese ramen restaurant, nor had we searched for its reviews on Openrice, we were just drawn to it by the warm welcom of a staff who kindly let me put the pram at the reception counter.
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Menus on the wall
Image from Locky's English Playground |
The air-con was desperately needed, as baby Muse was sleeping while sweating all over.
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Happy staff
Image from Locky's English Playground |
As we were cooling down, I took some time taking photos for this blog post. It was too early for dinner, so the restaurant was pretty empty, maybe that is why the staff looked happy.
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Looking out from inside
Image from Locky's English Playground |
Seems like our presence had really raised the attention from the tourists outside, who eventually came in for their ramen.
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Only 4 types on menu
Image from Locky's English Playground |
Once we were cooled, we took a look at the menu. It was simple, just 4 types of soup base (actually 2 only, because the other 2 are just blended and diluted) and the same noodle with different side dishes. Specialised? Or just simple? Not sure. But definitely, you do not need a genius to cook them and that is good in terms of management, as you do not need to rely on any particular "chef".
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Pork Broth Ramen
Image from Locky's English Playground |
My wife ordered the original pork broth ramen, and to her disappointment, the soup basically was tasteless, not even salty enough. The noodles were definitely burning hot though! She loves the egg too, and so, here's the score.
Scores:
Look: ★★★★☆ 4/5
Taste: ★★☆☆☆ 2/5
Smell: ★★★☆☆ 3/5
Textures: ★★★★☆ 4/5
Temperature: ★★★★★ 5/5
Overall: ★★★☆☆ 18/25
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Rich Pork and Fish Broth Ramen
Image from Locky's English Playground |
But when it comes to my rich pork and fish both ramen, the story is completely different. The soup is rich in fish in particular, and the saltiness was spot-on. In fact, it was so rich that I mixed my soup with the soup in my wife's ramen and then split the soup again and it still tasted great, actually even better! Once the soup is right, and the texture of the ramen is not that bad, then everything else becomes great!
Scores:
Look: ★★★★☆ 4/5
Taste: ★★★★☆ 4/5
Smell: ★★★★☆ 4/5
Textures: ★★★★☆ 4/5
Temperature: ★★★★★ 5/5
Overall: ★★★★☆ 21/25
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Mr. Bing, is this Singlish? Oh no, that's Ah Beng.
Image from Locky's English Playground |
After a good rest in the restaurant, we paid and we went opposite to this Mr. Bing Beijing pancake shop to buy a piece of the original as my wife said she had always wanted to try one.
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Photos of the owner having fun with water
Image from Locky's English Playground |
Maybe the most attractive things about this pancake shop are the photos of the owner on the wall. I mean yeah, people putting up photos of visited celebrities or politicians is a common phenomenon in Hong Kong, but photos of boat-trips and snorkelling? This has to be the first.
Oh well, when we got home, we realised that it will be the last time we visit Ah Bing, because we realised Chinese pancakes are not even close to
Kebab rolls. It is just.....not our cup of tea. My wife took one bite and decided to chuck the rest to me, and I took two bites before chucking it to the bin. I mean, it was actually really nice, could be excellent for some people, but to me, it tastes like every other pancake you get in a Chinese restaurant if you go yum cha at weekends -- floury, oily, spring-onionly. When we were already that full of ramen in the stomach, something so filling and rich-smelling was just too much for us.
I really want to have kebabs again after that though.
Resources:
Daifukuya Ramen Restaurant @ Openrice
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=155303®ion=0&s=3
Mr. Bing @ Openrice
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=120595®ion=0&s=3
Kebab @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kebab
