Ramen Minamo, Sri Hartamas

Ramen Minamo in Mont Kiara

[Pork-free] Mention the word ramen, and people’s thoughts immediately turn to tonkotsu or pork broth ramen.

Hence, we were quite glad to discover a new ramen joint in Mont Kiara that specialises in chicken-based broth.

And it’s good!

Ramen Minamo みなも

Newly opened this month, Ramen Minamo みなも specialises in Tokyo-style ramen that uses chicken as its base (vs. pork-based ramen broth that has its roots in Hakata, Fukuoka).

In fact, Ramen Minamo is the brainchild of Tokyo-based chef Chihiro Miyazaki, who runs Michelin-listed Soranorio ramen in Tokyo.

This is the first restaurant that chef Miyazaki-san has opened in Malaysia, as he aimed to offer a good alternative to the burgeoning pork-based ramen offerings in KL.

Ramen Minamo is opened in partnership with Kota Furuya, who runs a bevy of Japanese restaurants in the Klang Valley – including Itsumo which is located just next to Ramen Minamo.

Ramen Minamo offers chicken-based broth

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The team here in Ramen Minamo is helmed by Chef Hiroki and Chef Takuya, who have worked for more than 11 years with Chef Miyazaki.

Hence, you can trust that your noodles are in good and experienced hands.

Ramen Minamo offers only three types of ramen on its menu.

The first is the classic Shiro, which is made by simmering chicken for 5 hours and 20 minutes – to result in a broth that is rich in umami and collagen.

The second offering is the Shoyu – where chicken bones are simmered for 5 hours and 10 minutes to yield a clear broth enhanced with unfiltered Okamoto soy sauce and fermented fish sauce.

Finally – Aka is the only spicy offering on the menu, as the broth is enhanced with chilli oil and other spices.

Ramen Minamo plans to introduce dipping-style ramen or Tsukemen – which we intend to try in the future.

Excellent service and best seats

We arrived just 10 minutes before dinner service at 6pm on a Saturday evening. And even then, there was already a queue in front of us.

However – the service here is excellent, as you’ll just need to write down your name in the waiting list with plenty of seats to comfortably wait for your turn.

The waiter was also very good as he explained all the items on the menu and also offered us refreshing cups of green tea to cool down from the hot weather. In fact – all of the service and kitchen staff here were excellent!

At 6pm, we made our way to the best seats in the house which is at the counter – to get the best view of the kitchen staff preparing each bowl of ramen.

The classic Shoyu ramen is our favourite

The Shoyu Ramen (RM30) is our favourite of the two we tried.

Made with chicken bones, kelp, fish sauce, and Okamoto soy sauce – the broth is light and very fragrant.

The noodles here are served in only the broth with the toppings on the side so we can taste the unadulterated flavours of the broth.

The home-made 300mm straight wheat noodles are boiled in soft water for precisely 1 minute 30 seconds to yield the best texture and flavour.

The toppings served alongside the ramen are chicken breast slices with leek, Japanese omelette and spicy sauce.

There are instructions on how to enjoy the noodles in different levels – with more condiments on the table, but we found the ramen to be best with the noodles in its original shoyu broth.

Creamy and rich Shiro Ramen

The Shiro Ramen (RM30) has a creamier and milky broth as it was cooked with whole chicken vs. the shoyu.

They also feature hand-pulled noodles with a more curly appearance which worked well with the broth. This was also good – the broth also has good umami with a stronger chicken essence flavour (think Maggi Mi’s chicken noodles but way tastier!).