TABUSHI

"Flashbacks to Koenji alleyways"

Taken aback by two facts this morning:

​A: That Tabushi was a chain.
B: That Tabushi had a branch in KL.

My memory immediately harkened back to that fateful day in Koenji alleyways when a schoolteacher pleaded with us to try their ramen. We did. It was excellent.

​This deserved further investigation.

My waiter recommended the Shoyu Tonkotsu, despite me saying I had the Miso in Tokyo. I followed his lead, sat at the side watching the chef prepare the bowls, and looked forward to trying it.

This will sound awfully pedantic, but I saw the chef start the timers for the noodles, and then heard the alarm go, but he was busy filling 4 bowls (one of which was mine) with broth, and therefore didn't return to the noodle station until at least 30-45 seconds later, by which time I seriously feared for those noodles.

When the time came to try them, my fears were realised. Overcooked. Tho not horribly, they were far softer than I like in ramen. My pork (1 slice) was thin and tender, the broth had a nice fatty depth to it but was lacking something, and the egg was too cooked for me and not marinated. 

Ramen has such a minimalist approach to dining, with essentially 4 main components that scream for perfection. Tabushi did none of them perfectly, but a couple of them quite well.

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.