Review of Buta God - Ramen Champion (Bugis+)

Ramen Champion welcomed three new contenders on 1 July namely Muso, Menban Yamagishi Kazuo and Buta God after bidding farewell to Aoyama, Menya Iroha and Taishoken which unfortunately, I've not tried before. Anyway, knowing that there are new choices on offer, I decided to go to Ramen Champion at Bugis+ to check them out. After walking to and fro between the stalls of these new contenders, I finally decided on Buta God because of these reasons:

1) Their cha shu was rather different from most ramen restaurants' in the sense that it's thinly-sliced just like what you usually get for sukiyaki. I happen to like this type of pork so I wanted to see how it tastes with ramen. Coupled with the fact that it looks well-seasoned, the cha shu should offer a very different type of taste from the cha shu I've tasted so far in various versions of ramen.

2) Sukiyaki & tonkotsu mixed together sounds like a lethal combination although I had reservations over whether it would be too high in the sodium department.

And so, this is what I ordered - the Nikumashi Ramen and the deep-fried gyoza. According to the guy at the stall, the only difference between Nikumashi and the other versions is the volume of meat so if you are craving for meat or a meat lover, this should suit you just fine. Nonetheless, I still think that I underestimated the amount of meat this version had to offer so I was rather surprised to see that the meat actually concealed the ramen and menma underneath or rather "outnumbered" the lead (ramen) in a way where I had to literally "search" for my ramen. At the first sip of the broth, it can be a bit too salty for people who prefer to have lighter ramen bases. However, as you go along, your tongue sort of gets used to the taste so it didn't feel so out of place with the meat and ramen. As for the ramen, it's of the thin variety and I think it absorbed the soup to such an extent that the ramen and soup were in harmony. Last but not least, the meat was tender and flavourful which is sometimes not the case if you are dealing with huge and thick pieces of cha shu. There was a brief moment after I finished the ramen and was eating the remaining meat slices when I had the impression I was eating sukiyaki. I guess this was due to the fact that either the meat was cooked in sukiyaki sauce or the soup contained the sauce. On a side note, regarding the onsen tamago which was placed at the centre, I didn't eat that since it was a tad too raw for me. Perhaps you may wish to tell them not to add the egg if you prefer your eggs more cooked.

With each ramen restaurant visit, I would usually want to eat gyoza along with my ramen. I can't really place my finger on why I have to do this but it's become somewhat like a habit since most ramen restaurants will have gyoza and somehow, ramen and gyoza go well together. So far, the only place which I've been to which doesn't have gyoza on its menu is Keisuke (the outlets at 100AM and Orchid Hotel). Maybe its other outlets have gyoza? Anyway, coming to Buta God's gyoza, I wasn't paying attention to the menu and thought it was pan-fried but it turned out to be deep-fried. I actually prefer the former because I like the slightly-burnt side of the gyoza with the tender side of the skin and the flavourful filling within. Deep-fried versions usually do not go down well with me. Buta God's version is OK because the filling is still moist and doesn't have a strong meaty smell. The skin did seem a bit oily at first glance because it left its trace on the dish but when you eat it, the taste doesn't seem to indicate that it's too oily.

In conclusion, I'm quite satisfied with what I got from Buta God but I guess the fact that they are only open for a week or so means that there's a lot of initial problems to iron out. There were only two employees in their stall when I visited on a late Saturday afternoon (not that many people around) and it seemed like they were having problems sorting out the orders. They got someone else's order wrong and called me to collect my ramen even though mine was way from being done. Other than these teething problems which I think they should be able to resolve soon, Buta God is still worth a try if you like your cha shu in a different manner, like thick-bodied soups or are a meat lover.