Sex sells. But rather than R-rated images, this new ramen joint located within Picnic Food Park is tempting you with gonads – specifically those from sea urchins. Don’t expect slivers of orange atop your noodles, though. Each bowl ($21) comes with a rich and briny broth made from premium bafun uni. Eating these noods is a test of speed – you need to slurp the noodles down quick, lest it absorbs all the soup.
If the stall’s name sounds familiar, it’s because the ramen joint is an offshoot of Seizan, a two-Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant in Tokyo renowned for its dashi. And even though the restaurants are 5000km apart, the stock is still treated with the same reverence. Try it plain with somen ($18): spring water from Mount Fuji is specially imported to make the soup base; and kombu, as well as two different types of fish flakes, are then added to flavour the dashi, resulting in a deep and complex broth.
Also on the menu is the Kumamoto Wagyu ramen ($20), made with the same dashi base but topped off with vegetables, beef bones and tendon. It’s like digging into a bowl of pho, just with dense ramen instead of the usual flat rice noodles.