HOKKAIDO RAMEN SANTOUKA

"The eternal search for perfection means you have to take a few for the team."

Today, thankfully, was not one of those days. 

I despise shopping malls more than the idea of hell or purgatory. In fact, if either of those concepts existed they probably are shopping malls with no exits. Today I was forced into Pavillion with its rows of designer goods, horny shoppers gushing at the sight of a handbag, husbands dragged along swearing under their breaths at the potential carnage their MasterCard will endure, kids, screaming and protesting on escalators turning the entire cathedral of shit into a ringing tinnitus dagger. Thankfully there were no kids at the ramen spot. 

I dug in my heels and ordered their signature bowl (with an egg). Shio Ramen is not something I order too frequently, but if it is done right it can be delicious. This bowl was a touch on the bland side, though the pork, noodles and egg were all spot on. It was one of those experiences where the more you eat the more bored your palate gets instead of continuing to want to attack from different angles.

I paid and left, hurried to the exit, and spilt out on open streets with more families with more screaming kids and idiots on their cellphones heading straight for collisions unless YOU move out of the way..... the future of the world is over. We are doomed.​

These recommendations are just personal opinions based on my palate, things change, chefs get fired or replaced, places open-close, relocate, so take it all with a pinch of MSG  and discover your own gems too. But please do try a few of these, they have been researched exhaustively.