review: menya mushashi (take 2)

Address: 2nd floor, Isetan Eat Paradise, 1Utama

Sometimes I think I'm a complete grouch when it comes to food. If other people are ooh-ing and ahh-ing about a new joint, is it weird that my nose is out of joint? I've seen several other blogs give good reviews to this ramen place at Eat Paradise, so I've given this place two tries so far (read about the first time).

This time, I ordered the onion (shiro) soup - since I typically like clearer soups to begin with. Plus, this was the original flavor, so I was hoping for the best. A bowl of innocuous noodles soon showed up.

Closer inspection is always a good thing, so I tried to drill down to eye-level. It seemed strange to me that the soup was actually quite dark in color. Throwing caution to the wind, I scattered what I thought were chilli flakes - which are quite typical of Japanese restaurants. I was quite surprised to get a red powder instead (see picture below).

To my tongue, the taste of the "chilli" was more akin to that of curry powder - definitely not what I was hoping for! I also found the taste of the soup rather overpowering -  a bit too jelak to finish. I did appreciate the generous slices of pork - however, if you are not a big eater, you might not want to order the 2-piece bowl as I found it quite heavy, especially in addition to the already-thick broth. Also, the egg was not of the runny type that I usually prefer, which is ideal to stir into the soup, adding a velvety texture. In fact, I don't think this soup needed any more richness anyway!

As I neared the bottom of the bowl, I started to detect a "ring' around the lip of the bowl. I'm guessing that this is actually from burnt onions which might have gone into the stock. It did not look very appealing - sort of like the ring of scum you might see around a bathtub! Does that mean that some of the onions get burnt in the frying process?

Menya Mushahi is appealing as dinner theatre I guess. I was seated at the counter so I got the full benefit of the chefs swinging strainers of noodles around and welcoming new diners. I would love to have some of their noodles (which were well prepared, with a nice bite) with a lighter soup - but failing that, I don't think I will venture here again in a hurry.

Note: The hostess at the entrance was lovely though. She was very patient and kept offering the menu as I waited for my friends, and answered my questions on opening times, specials etc. very courteously. 

Address: 2nd floor, Isetan Eat Paradise, 1Utama