Yes, that Ippudo. The global Hakata ramen shop with more than 200 locations across 16 countries worldwide, including 13 outlets just in Singapore alone.
It’s already our go to place for ramen, especially when they offer limited season specials like their wonderfully oishii Yuzu Shio Ramen.
But what I didn’t realise until recently was how seriously they took their sake, and the extensive range they carry in-store.
In addition to the ubiquitous Dassai 45, they list numerous other brands in their menu. Helpfully categorised by flavour profiles like “Sweet”, “Dry”, “Rich” etc, with many bottles available in the convenient 300ml format.
What really drove home the point were the special one-day events that they run in selected stores. Different Japanese appetisers are featured each time, paired with a rotating shortlist from their sake collection.
We attended the Uni x Ikura x Uni session at their Shaw Centre branch last May, and had a fun time trying out six different sakes from various prefectures in Japan. Because of the diversity, we were able to explore bottles that typically wouldn’t appear on our radar.
Like the super dry Tenryo Homare Ginjo Karakuchi from Nagano prefecture, which turned out to be one of the best sakes we’ve tasted. It’s unlikely that we’d ever consider trying it, so the Ippudo sake event really helped broaden our horizon.
In addition to drinks, generous servings of high quality uni and ikura from Hokkaido were provided, all at an unbeatable price of S$30++ per person. We’ve had sake flights, without any food, that have cost more than that in Singapore.
Besides special dishes that are only available during the promotions, their regular menu also includes a fairly extensive range of appetisers and sides.
Dishes like grilled sting ray fins, burdock chips, shishito tempura and pan-fried gyoza, regular staples that can be found in most izakayas.
So, when the Uni x Ikura x Uni event made a repeat appearance this month, I immediately made a dinner reservation for two, this time at their Mandarin Gallery branch along Orchard Road.
Similar to our previous visit, before consuming any alcohol, we coated our stomach linings with a healthy amount of oil. Specifically, in the form of the Bonito Tonkotsu Ramen, something that we’d never tried before.
The surf-and-turf broth made with bonito fish and pork bones was rich, thick and bursting with umami. Chunky but meltingly soft slices of pork belly chashu and an onsen egg added to the decadence. A small but strategic blob of red yuzu kosho provided a citrusy counterbalance.
Following in the footsteps of salarymen all across Japan, we ordered white rice to dump into our leftover broth. Not the entire bowl though, because we’d need some to make handrolls with the uni and ikura.
With adequate defensive countermeasures in place, we caught the attention of our waitress and asked her to serve our sakes.
Like the last event, there were six choices available. We had planned on getting one of each but they had run out of the Ukiyo-e Junmai Daiginjo, so we doubled up on the Yamada Ho.
I was somewhat disappointed that this particular session was a collaboration with Hakutsuru, which meant that all the sakes would be from just one brewery. But at least there was some variety in the SMV values, ranging from a dry +4.0 to an extremely sweet -58.0!
Below are my tasting notes for each of the five glasses:
- Yamada Ho: light and delicate, but not much body and acidity
- Ukiyo-e Junmai: spice notes prominent, probably better served warm
- Ukiyo-e Daiginjo: fragrant scent, rich and fruity notes esp. strawberry, quite nice
- Sayuri Nigori: sweet nigori with obvious notes of sakura
- “Awayuki” Sparkling Sake: basically a sparkling cider, like 7-Up with a splash of alcohol
To be honest, we only really enjoyed the Ukiyo-e Daiginjo. It’s a bottle I wouldn’t mind picking up if I come across it in the future. As for the rest, let’s just say it was useful to know how they tasted.
By then, the restaurant was starting to fill up and we found ourselves surrounded by a large group of Japanese folks that seemed to know each other.
On our left was a table of two men with their beers, one of whom was working on his Panasonic laptop. On our right was a table of four, and behind us was a big table that seated a party of eight.
Party was probably an apt description, because they were loudly chatting away and clearly enjoying one another’s company. From time to time, the people from all three tables got up and mingled with the other groups.
We discretely asked our waitress if there some sort of event going on, and she replied that it was their monthly suppliers’ night. Where they would invite all their suppliers for dinner and drinks.
So desu ne.
I was served my platter of uni and ikura first, and after a short wait, a second platter appeared. But it got routed to the table on our left. The man quickly diverted it over to our table, accompanied with a friendly: “Please enjoy!”
I replied with my best rendition of “arigato gozaimasu”, which brought a smile to his face.
In between sips of sake, we picked up plump uni pieces, pearls of orange ikura and enjoyed them as-is. Then, we had fun making handrolls using the nori sheets provided.
First, just with the uni and ikura, and then later, adding small blobs of rice that we had saved from earlier. Everything was as tasty as our previous outing, down to the freshly-grated wasabi.
The supplier party was in full swing by then, with several more people joining in the revelry. Just like in an izakaya, the mood was festive and the drinks were free flowing.
I heard a loud “Pop!” from the table on our right, and noticed that they had opened a bottle of something sparkling. Upon taking a closer look, it turned out to be a Kaze No Mori namazake.
It was quite the coincidence, since the Kaze No Mori Alpha 1 happens to be our favourite sake at the moment. I couldn’t help but blurt out an enthusiastic “Sugoi!”
Soon, we ran out of food. But since we still hadn’t finished our drinks, I ordered a portion each of the Crispy Corn and Aji Fry. Both deep-fried dishes went quite well with our drinks.
We had the chance to chat with some of the staff, and were very impressed by their friendliness and enthusiasm. Ms Zhang, in particular, who has been with the restaurant for five years, including the entire Covid period.
She shared that Ippudo Singapore didn’t retrench any staff during the pandemic, and even gave them a bonus when the situation eventually turned around. During her first year, she was lucky enough to win a lucky draw prize during a staff event, which included a free trip to Japan to visit their operations.
It was obvious that the company treated her well, and it carried through to her warm and sincere interactions with customers, including ourselves.
And she wasn’t the only one.
When I asked to take a look at their sake list, their resident expert Ms Edna came by to introduce their collection. She answered all my questions, proudly shared information about their sake-related events and invited me to check out their sake fridge.
It’s true what they say: Treat your staff well, and they will treat your customers even better. And in this regard, Ippudo Singapore seems to be doing a great job.
Remember the man at the table to our left? The one who made sure that we got our uni and ikura?
Well, he walked over to our table, picked up the bottle from the table on the right and asked: “Would you like to try?”
We were quite shocked, and didn’t know exactly how to respond. Feeling bewildered, I could only muster an incredulous “Honto ni?” And before I could say anything else, he started pouring out two generous portions of the Kaze No Mori Alpha 4 for us.
I whipped out my trusty “arigato gozaimasu” again, and for good measure, threw in a “yoroshiku onegaishimasu”. Although, to this day, I still don’t know exactly what the second phrase means. But I’ve heard it from my Japanese ex-colleagues enough times to know that it’s a sign of respect.
Which turned out to be quite appropriate, because we found out that he’s in charge of the entire operations of Ippudo in Singapore.
Even more amazing was that the lady sitting on our right is a director of Ippudo HQ. Not only that, she also happens to be the wife of Ippudo’s founder.
And that bottle of Alpha 4? It was from her private stash and not available for sale at the outlet. In fact, I don’t even think it’s available for sale anywhere in Singapore.
Wow. Talk about being in the right place, at the right time.
We spent the rest of the night enjoying the rest of our food, and savouring the precious Alpha 4, which sported an impressively low 22% rice polishing ratio.
Before we left, I spent some time chatting with the Ippudo Singapore head, and even shared with him my ongoing sake exploration journey. He sounded quite intrigued and encouraged us to attend the next sake pairing event in August, featuring wagyu yukke.
Ippudo may primarily be a ramen restaurant, but it’s not only just that. It’s also a really good izakaya and our second most favourite in Singapore.
Oh, and if you’ve made it this far to find out which is our number one choice, it’s this one. And as an added bonus, here’s my favourite izakaya in Tokyo.
