[Review] Authentic Japanese ramen at Menya Musashi in Star Vista
Earlier this week, I went to Menya Musashi at the Star Vista (Buona Vista MRT station). It had been a while since I had a good bowl of ramen. I didn’t even have ramen when I was in Japan a few months ago in June, but finally got my fix.
I ordered the tomato tontoro (see photo)! It’s a new menu item that features a tomato based broth. It also has a scoop of mashed potatoes, slices of tomato, 2 slices of meat, half an egg, a sheet of seaweed, and scallions. I’ve only had broth this tasty in Japan, so I was really happy with my choice. The noodles were good, but nothing too outstanding. The real story is in the broth! It is thick, but not so much so that it is too rich to sip from the spoon and not feel gross. The rest of their menu is based on their 3 main broths: black, white, and red. The white is a tonkotsu broth made from pork bones, giving it a deep flavor. Next time, I think I would try the black.
However, as good as it was, it was a bit expensive. All together I paid S$18.71 for just the bowl of ramen. That is about $15 USD, so it would be a moderately special meal out for me even at home in New York. Actually, since I’ve been living in Singapore, I have rarely spent more than S$10 at one meal.
This is a famous chain from Japan, so they know what they are doing. A little searching showed that their shop in Shinjuku, Tokyo sells bowls at about 1000 yen, which is about $10USD. So it is actually a bit more expensive here in Singapore, but I guess that is what happens when something gets exported. But a 50% increase in price? That is a bit steep. I would still come back here, though probably not often. It is definitely the nearest place for me to get good ramen!
