Opened since 2003 in Mont Kiara Shoplex, Ramen Taiko, a restaurant specialized in Japanese Ramen had been serving ramen from all major cities of Japan such as Hokkiado, Sapporo and Nagasaki. After serving their loyal customers who were mainly Japanese for about 8 years, in last year September, Ramen Taiko had planned to move to the next level of its vision by going through a premise renovation and improved menu.
After a 3 months renovation, Ramen Taiko welcomed their customers with a brand new look by having an extended floor area, new facade and interior decor. The new environment is spacious, cozy and homey, accompanied by comfortable light with soft background music. There is even a beautiful backyard with comfy seats for those who like outdoor dining.
It was a pleasure to be invited by FOOD and Ramen Taiko to sample their new extended menu before Chinese New Year. We got the chance to try out their “lou sang” which is available from now and throughout the Chinese New Year period.
Lou Sang
(RM18.80 for 1-2 persons/ RM28.80 for 1-4 persons)
A combination of Salmon sashimi, shredded pumpkins, carrots, cabbage, pamelo, crouton, sesame seed, crashed peanut, tanoki, fresh lime, white pepper, sesame oil, five spice and plum sauce.
It was messy, but delicious. Huat ah!!
Green tea to quench our thirst. According to the owner, green tea in Ramen Taiko was carefully prepared as they will brew new pot of green tea once the colour change.
Appetizer:
Chashu (RM14)
BBQ pork slice, cabbage salad, BBQ sauce.
BBQ pork slice bedded with cabbage salad and drizzled with BBQ sauce.
This thinly sliced meat was absolutely delicious. I was already drooling over it while taking photos.
Tatmi Nori Salad (RM16)
Grileld baby sardine sheet with seaweed, green lettuce, tomato and cucumber.
Simple but refreshing. Like the crunchy seaweed.
Some sauces to accompany the salad, all homemade by the chef.
Pumpkin Koroke (RM14)
Deep fried pumpkin croquette.
Mashed pumpkin made into round shape and deep fried with bread crumbs. Served pipping hot, the pumpkin croquette was crispy but not oily at all. My girl loved that so much and asked me if she could get the recipe. >_<
A la Carte:
Gyoza (RM12)
Pan fried dumpling with chives, minced pork, round cabbage, dry shrimp, chinese turnip.
Chinese version dumpling was usually steamed or deep fried. However, Japanese version was a little differ. The filling was almost the same, which was wrapped with chives, minced pork, round cabbage, dry shrimp, chinese turnip. The dumpling/gyoza however was cooked in a different way where it was pan fried at first to create a crispy layer, and later showered with homemade stock and steamed to cooked. This answering why gyoza had a crispy bottom layer and shinny top part which was sometimes mistakenly being thought of as oil but it was actually broth.
Buta Kakumi (RM17)
Braised pork belly with soy sauce.
Layers of tender fatty and lean meat, how could you resist?
Mabo Tofu (RM14)
Stir fried tofu with minced pork, black mushroom and Mabo sauce.
The gravy was thick, flavorful and appetizing. Look spicy? No worries, it was rather mild and suitable for kids too. Give me a bowl of rice I can polished the whole plate.
Subuta (RM14)
Stir fried pork with green pepper, yellow pepper, yellow onion, sweet and sour sauce.
This dish resembled the ” gu lou yok” we always had when dining in Chinese “dai chao”. This one was more meaty, chewy and less-flour-coated. Another a la carte dish that goes well with rice.
Sushi Maki:
Rainbow Maki (RM23)
Sushi with tuna, butter fish, salmon, green lettuce, cucumber, mango, avocado and mayonaise.
No doubt that their sushi was good, but a tad too rich with many ingredients. I prefer simpler version sushi.
Nama Harumaki (RM15)
Rice skin wrapped with green salad, cucumber, egg omelette, crab stick, avocado, mango, mayonaise.
Displayed beautifully in front of us, these rice skin roll was too pretty to eat. A very good option for vege lover but was rather tasteless to me. A dipping with sauce fixed the flavor.
Ramen:
Taiko Chashu Ramen (RM19)
Ramen with sliced chashu, bamboo shoot, braised egg and spring onion.
Being the signature ramen in Ramen Taiko, this bowl of ramen didn’t disappoint us.
Nagasaki Chanpon (RM22)
Ramen with prawn, squid, fish cake, cabbage, carrot, and bell pepper.
With the inspiration from Chinese cuisine, this Nagasaki Chanpon was said to be a Japanese Chinese cuisine. The soup was rather light, but went well with all the fresh seafood.
Sapporo Miso Ramen (RM18)
Ramen with minced pork, corn, bamboo shoot, bean sprouts, soring onion, chives and butter.
You might be asking: why butter? The reason was to create a creaminess in the broth, and to give more energy. This is because the winters in Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido and the origin place of this Sapporo Miso Ramen, was harsh, hence ramen created there was richer as it was ideal to bring more energy.
Kimchee ramen (RM19)
Ramen with Korean kimchi, chashu slice, bean sprouts and chives.
Fancy some spicy flavor? Kimchee ramen with spicy soup base will be your choice.
Hiyashi Chuka (RM17)
Ramen with sliced BBQ pork, tomato, egg, cucumber, crab stick, shredded seaweed, corn, yellow mustard.
My girl liked this the most. Lightly tossed and refreshing, I felt that this ramen outstand the rest.
Dessert:
An Nind Tofu (RM7)
Homemade almond pudding.
This dessert made me remember my nightmare of the almond soup in Penang Kimberley Street — The cockroach soup. >_<. The pudding was smooth and the almond taste that was not very strong, but I will say that you gotta like almond before liking this.
Matcha ice cream (RM7)
Homemade green tea ice cream.
All in all, we were very surprised to came across this “hidden” authentic Japanese restaurant that had been around KL for so many years. What surprised us more were the taste and quality of the food, which were pretty tasty with reasonable price. Ramen Taiko deserved a vote and second visit. Nice place indeed.
Photographer: Summer
Writer: YLing
Address:
Ramen Taiko Japanese Restaurant
Unit 15-0-2B & 2C,
Mont Kiara Shoplex.
Jalan Kiara,
Mont Kiara,
50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Bussiness hour: 11.30am-10.30pm
Tel: 03-20961822
