Sapporo Misono – Tsukemen In Singapore That’s Worth Your Time

As we approach the end of 2024, what better way to end off the year with a review of tsukemen? Underappreciated (at least in Singapore), but a style that often surprises me every time.

I did covered tsukemen back in my Awesome Sydney Ramen Adventure series back in August, and while tsukemen isn’t as coveted here based on the number of ramen stores that have tsukemen as an option (and even harder finding stores worthy of repeated visits), Sapporo Misono’s miso tsukemen is one of the few I’ll recommend to anyone who are curious about tsukemen and want to break out of their comfort zone.

Brief History

Sapporo Misono is another ramen restaurant owned and conceived by Keisuke (where they have ramen stores across Singapore with unique concepts). As the name implies, they specializes in Hokkaido-style ramen which opened its doors at Millenia Walk in 2021. Quite a bold move I have to say, since it opened while the pandemic was still ongoing and the dine-in experience was still quite restrictive.

Alongside their usual Keisuke ramen staple, they’re the only store within the Keisuke brand to serve Hokkaido-style ramen, which are known for their signature yellow, curly noodles (the intense yellow amplified with the prominent use of kansui, an alkaline solution) and miso broth, slapped with butter and corn for the more conventional fare to suit and combat Hokkaido’s harsh and cold climate.

Experience

Upon entering Sapporo Misono, you’ll be greeted by a figure of an Ezo brown bear, a mammal native to Hokkaido, China, and numerous regions around Russia. The meticulous details of the (fake) bear might probably scare some kids from enjoying the meal, but at least they know Hokkaido’s a place full of wildlife that people don’t mess around with.

Back to the review; I was in the mood for some tsukemen since I haven’t have it for a long while. The last time I had tsukemen was at another Keisuke restaurant, but long story short, it wasn’t a pleasant experience but I’ll digress before I rant further.

Upon being seated, you’ll be served with free flow of fermented bean sprouts, which is a staple across all Keisuke restaurants. It’s up to you whether you want them or not, but they serve as a good appetizer for those already starving while waiting for your main course. That, or use them as a condiment on your ramen.

So there are two items on their tsukemen menu, one with egg and another without. I chose the latter since I’m not a big ‘egg in ramen’ fan, and in a sense transferred what they could have serve the tsukemen with egg for extra noodles. What’s even rarer was choosing between pork loin or pork belly for your choice of chashu, and I chose the pork belly for indulgence’s sake.

Taste Test (Hokkaido Miso Tsukemen With Extra Noodles, $15.90)

The moment I dipped my spoon into the broth, I heave a huge sigh of relief upon finding it thick and viscous, as it should be. Despite miso being the main ingredient, it’s actually a mix of other parts upon taking my first sip such as fish and tonkotsu (to a lesser extent).

Seeing the huge amount of bonito (fish) powder laid underneath the broth was oddly satisfying. The noodles were fortunately chewy and thick, acting as the perfect blank canvas that the miso broth nicely covered, balancing finely between sweet, salty and umami.

As mentioned earlier, I chose the pork belly chashu. For anyone who chose the pork loin, there’s far less fat present but probably more suited for anyone preferring more meat than fat in their chashu. For me, dipping the chashu into the broth immediately after being served helps to keep the chashu warm and savory throughout the meal.

If you’re not familiar how tsukemen works, you might find yourself with plenty of broth remaining by the time you finish the noodles. For anyone who isn’t willing to waste any broth, but isn’t willing to finish drink the super flavoured broth, you can ask the server to bring you a bowl of clear soup (or soup wari), which is a light broth that dilutes the broth, making it more palatable for you to finish drinking the broth.

Final Thoughts

I happened to speak with one of the servers at Sapporo Misono shortly after ordering my meal who used to work at Ramen Dining Keisuke Tokyo located at Suntec back in the day.

For those of you who remember the store which closed its doors permanently last year, you know they served a mean bowl of crab stock ramen, a rarity that’s one of a kind around the region. Too bad there wasn’t any crab meat involved, but the stock uses crab that oozes seafood flavours. So I was quite saddened when their succeeding store at Capitol didn’t bring that back. I’ve tried the lobster ramen and gave it a chance, but it didn’t really hit the right spots, so all there’s left now of the crab stock ramen are mere memories.

That said, you can’t help but admire Keisuke doing something different with their ramen in every concept they think of, even if they don’t succeed every time. While I have yet to try it, the Ramen Keisuke Singapore outlet at Changi Airport serves ramen inspired by local dishes (like laksa, bak kuh teh, and Hokkien mee), while Sapporo Misono specializes in Hokkaido-style ramen which you don’t really see many stores in Singapore attempt these days (aside from Ichikokudo, but I’ll withhold sharing my personal thoughts until I review it down the road).

Address & Opening Hours

Address

Millenia Walk (Nihon Street)
9 Raffles Boulevard, #02-14, Singapore 039596

Opening Hours

Mon to Fri, 11.30am to 2pm, 5pm to 9pm
Sat & Sun, 11.30am to 9pm
Nearest MRT Station: Promenade (CC4|DT15)