For those of you who haven’t been to the Boat Quay area in a while, this unassuming 30-seater joint is a very good reason to venture to that side of the river. While the ambiance is nothing to shout about, the ramen is—perfect for all this dreaded rainy weather we’ve been having. At first glance, you may notice similarities between Ramen Bar Suzuki and ever-popular Tonkotsu King near Tanjong Pagar MRT station. Both ramen spots have a compact list of tonkotsu (pork bone soup) noodle items that you can customize—you fill up an order sheet and indicate how firm/soft you want your noodles, how intense you want the broth to be—and offer free-flowing hard boiled eggs and chilled Japanese tea. However, Suzuki also offers appetizers like cold tofu ($5) and fugu mirin (grilled marinated puffer fish; $10), as well as a surprisingly decent if short list of booze like Yona Yona Ale ($10) and sakes including Dassai junmai daiginjo ($20/180ml). The star attraction, the ramen, is markedly different, too. There are specialties such as tsuke-men with tonkotsu soup ($14.90), which is limited to only 10 servings a day and only available during dinner service. We suggest dipping the thick, flat noodles into the accompanying bowl of tonkotsu broth adorned with a generous mountain of fish powder; be sure to squeeze on some lemon juice and for oomph, a touch of yuzukoshō (yuzu pepper) does wonders. We’re willing to wager you’ll make light work of the (in our opinion) Hakata-style Jet Black Tonkotsu Ramen ($16.20). We sure did, even with the extra toppings of thin char siew slices and a wonderfully runny tamago (flavored egg). The addition of squid ink, fried garlic and black miso make this a unique showstopper. Check out this hole-in-the-wall soon, you’ll thank us after.
Your best bet at Ramen Bar Suzuki: Order the Jet Black Tonkotsu Ramen. Check out our favorite ramen at Singapore’s best ramen-ya.
