BITTERMANSGUIDE
  • HOME
  • GUIDES
    • CAMBODIA
    • FINLAND
    • HONG KONG
    • INDIA >
      • FORT KOCHI
      • GOA
      • KOLKATA
    • INDONESIA >
      • BALI
      • JAKARTA
    • ITALY >
      • BARI
      • CATANIA
      • FLORENCE
      • NAPOLI
    • MALAYSIA >
      • IPOH & TAIPING
      • KUALA LUMPUR
      • PENANG
    • NORWAY
    • THAILAND >
      • BANGKOK
      • CHIANG MAI
      • KRABI
    • TURKEY
    • UKRAINE
    • UZBEKISTAN >
      • KHIVA & BUKHARA
      • SAMARKHAND
      • TASHKENT
    • VIETNAM >
      • DA NANG
      • HANOI
      • SAIGON
      • VUNG TAU
  • REVIEWS
    • CAMBODIA
    • GERMANY
    • HONG KONG
    • INDIA
    • INDONESIA >
      • BALI
      • JAKARTA
    • ITALY >
      • FLORENCE
      • MATERA
      • MILAN
      • NAPOLI
      • PUGLIA
    • MALAYSIA >
      • IPOH & TAIPING
      • KUALA LUMPUR
      • MELAKA
      • PENANG
    • MOROCCO
    • NORWAY
    • SPAIN >
      • MADRID
      • SEVILLE
    • THAILAND >
      • BANGKOK
      • CHIANG MAI
    • TURKEY
    • UKRAINE
    • UZBEKISTAN
    • VIETNAM >
      • HO CHI MINH CITY
  • RAMEN
  • ABOUT

Seirock-Ya Ramen

22/12/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
The last time I was in Jakarta was in 2001 after an insane cockroach-infested 28 hour ferry ride from Singapore. The city was flooded, and we just headed for Jalan Jaksa like every clueless backpacker and left 2 days later on the train to Surabaya. I hadn't given Jakarta a real chance. Well, now was the time.

I headed to Mondo Bar and within 5 minutes a severely inebriated Japanese man came over introducing himself and offering me Sake! I gladly obliged, and sat with him for a few minutes chatting. He had lived in Jakarta for 15 years and immediately asked me if I liked Ramen. Well, yes.

Chicken broth Ramen: Seirock!! OISHI! 

I woke up a tad worse for wear, and grabbed a Go Jek motorbike and rode 20 minutes through swarming traffic and the cough of exhausts. He dropped me off right outside the restaurant which boasted a huge NO PORK RAMEN sign outdoors to assure the Muslims. The ground floor was completely packed, and the sweat started appearing at the thought of having to share a table. The waitress came over and motioned for the 2nd floor... Hallelujah! Almost nobody upstairs, so I could find a distant table on which to focus my attention. I had heard good things about their Shio Ramen so I opted for that as an introduction. It came surprisingly fast along with a cold coke to mend the discrepancies of last nights enthusiasm.

This was a good bowl of ramen, in fact, it was a great bowl of ramen. There's only one problem. It was totally authentic, made for the Japanese palate, and not for westerners. This is a good thing, of course, but one thing that stumps me always in Japan is when the soup is too "thick", "heavy", "rich". Its literally like drinking gravy out of a saucepan, something that could be delicious for a couple of mouthfuls and then begins to tire you completely and cause your system to shut down.

I can't fault them for the execution, it's literally just down to what you're used to, or grown up with. Some things you can adapt to over time, for sure, but some things are just a stretch too far (like stinky tofu in Taipei). 

Noodle-wise, they were excellent. Chewy and textured. The brown meat of the chicken was superb, really flavoursome. The white meat was rather dry and tough, much like the chicken in the fridge the second day of Christmas. The egg was nicely seasoned but slightly overdone for my taste. The broth was unctuous and rich, but incredibly fatty, so much so that your entire mouth was coated with it long after. 

Thank goodness not all Ramen shops follow the "Heavy-Taste" ethos, so the rest of us can escape after our meals without having to lie down and drink gallons of Aquavit to cut through the curdling oils and fatback pieces. Each to their own

7/10
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Ramen Feed

    The quest to find a decent bowl of ramen in every country on earth.

    Categories

    All
    Australia
    Cambodia
    Denmark
    Finland
    Germany
    Hong Kong
    Hungary
    India
    Indonesia
    Italy
    Japan
    Malaysia
    Moldova
    Nepal
    Norway
    Phô
    Ramen
    Singapore
    Slovakia
    Spain
    Taiwan
    Thailand
    Ukraine
    Vietnam

    Archives

    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    July 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    May 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    August 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    June 2015
    April 2015
    December 2014
    January 2014
    January 2012

    RSS Feed

"The hunt for perfection continues...."

  • HOME
  • GUIDES
    • CAMBODIA
    • FINLAND
    • HONG KONG
    • INDIA >
      • FORT KOCHI
      • GOA
      • KOLKATA
    • INDONESIA >
      • BALI
      • JAKARTA
    • ITALY >
      • BARI
      • CATANIA
      • FLORENCE
      • NAPOLI
    • MALAYSIA >
      • IPOH & TAIPING
      • KUALA LUMPUR
      • PENANG
    • NORWAY
    • THAILAND >
      • BANGKOK
      • CHIANG MAI
      • KRABI
    • TURKEY
    • UKRAINE
    • UZBEKISTAN >
      • KHIVA & BUKHARA
      • SAMARKHAND
      • TASHKENT
    • VIETNAM >
      • DA NANG
      • HANOI
      • SAIGON
      • VUNG TAU
  • REVIEWS
    • CAMBODIA
    • GERMANY
    • HONG KONG
    • INDIA
    • INDONESIA >
      • BALI
      • JAKARTA
    • ITALY >
      • FLORENCE
      • MATERA
      • MILAN
      • NAPOLI
      • PUGLIA
    • MALAYSIA >
      • IPOH & TAIPING
      • KUALA LUMPUR
      • MELAKA
      • PENANG
    • MOROCCO
    • NORWAY
    • SPAIN >
      • MADRID
      • SEVILLE
    • THAILAND >
      • BANGKOK
      • CHIANG MAI
    • TURKEY
    • UKRAINE
    • UZBEKISTAN
    • VIETNAM >
      • HO CHI MINH CITY
  • RAMEN
  • ABOUT