北海道札幌拉麵羽畠食堂 — Restaurant in Songshan District

I came here because of the stellar 4.5 star rating, but left distinctly disappointed with the food.

The restaurant itself is located on a small alley behind the hustle and bustle of a major intersection. The restaurant interior is fine for a small joint like this, very simple no-frills decor: everything you need, nothing you don't.

I ordered the miso tonkotsu ramen, which seems to be their flagship: it's the first full-page photo in the menu, $230 NT. It comes with a large thin slice of trash you, 1/2 soft boiled egg, and various bean sprouts and other garnishes.

The pork seems to be cooked at too high a temperature, not tender enough throughout, with the meat fibres being slightly to "meet you"; not typical of the chashu I've had in Japan. The soft boiled egg ("ajitama") was an ultra disappointment: it was clearly overcooked, and the flavours were neither strong enough nor infused all the way through to the yolk. The UK gotten almost to that "powdery" stage that should never be (but often is in subpar ramen places in Taipei). Noodle texture was fine, chewy with teeth feel. The soup was slightly salty for my tastes, but palatable.

They also gave me a complementary deep-fried "chicken ball" which I believe was meant to be their take on deep fried chicken ("karaage", common in ramen shops). It was actually strips of chicken glued together with batter and spices into a ball form, and then battered again and deep fried. The overall experience was too much batter, lacking in flavour, and very little satisfying chew/mouthfeel that says it's chicken.

I really wanted to like this place, but there are so many other affordable ramen choices in Taipei -- and even some just 100-200m walk from here -- that I cannot recommend this shop. I will not return. But look, if you're hungry and you just want food in your stomach, this...

Simple but good food with nice service. Pork broth ramen - I like how they handle the noodle - firm and chewy. The soup taste slightly under salted which you can actually drink a bit while the noodle still got enough flavouring when eat. Char siu also good. Meaty but mixed with enough fat to smoothen up the texture. Don’t quite like the half-cooked egg since it was flavourless. Rightly cooked but either need to spice up a bit or serve in bigger portion to really participate in the noodle. Stir fried burdock - comfortably cooked that went well with the noodle. Sweet as it should be and nicely done...

Had the spicy ramen with an extra egg. Total price 220 NTD ( 190 for ramen + 30 for the egg ). Price is ok. The taste is not bad but not a top ranking ramen level for me. The noodles are nice and chewy. I don't know why they don't cut of the bottom of the "bak choi" vegetable. Not easy to eat like this.

Friendly and...