Ippudo Tao .... Ramen with the spirit of modernized traditional Japanese drum beat of TAO

Friday, February 18, 2011

Ippudo Tao .... Ramen with the spirit of modernized traditional Japanese drum beat of TAO

I haven't been to Ippudo at Mandarin Gallery yet as I was turn off by the queue. Fortunately, Ippudo decided to open another Ippudo outlet at UE square called Ippudo Tao. Tao is a popular Japanese drum group that modernized the traditional Japanese drum performance. In the same spirit, Ippudo wants to bring traditional ramen making art into the modern world and hence a collaboration with Tao led to the opening of Ippudo Tao.

An art piece of Japanese traditional drum inside the restaurant. At the alfresco tables outside, there's screening of Tao's drum performance on a large screen.

While we were waiting for friends, we ordered the Tsukune - grilled chicken minced meat. The grilling was done with sea salt. Not bad, but I'll go Shunjuu that's nearby for sumiyaki instead if I need more grilled food.

Ippudo Pork Bun - Steamed Bun with Braised Pork and Ippudo's original sauce. Still like our more localized ones from West Lake or Chuan Xiang

Renkon Chips - Lotus root chips. Crispy and tasty. An alternative to potato chips!

Tao Aka Chashu - Tao Kuto with simmered pork belly. Tao Aka 赤 is one of the 3 category of ramen in Ippudo Tao. It features thin curly noodles served in tonkotsu soup blended with Japanese fish stock and Ippudo's spicy miso paste topped with bara chashu (pork belly), spring onion and accented with fragrant garlic oil. The red soup base expresses the passion of Tao. There's Tao Kuro 黑 that features thick chewy noodles served in shoyu tonkotsu broth topped with bara chashu, flavored black fungus, spring onion, umami-dama (special blended miso paste) and fragrant garlic oil. Tao Kuro expresses the dynamism of Tao. Of course there's the Ippudo Shiro 白, featuring the same original Ippudo ramen that created a storm in Mandarin Gallery.