Friday 31 March 2017

Zombie Soup


My brother and I love ramen. If you remember, we went on a quest for ramen here and here. Now what's with the Zombie Soup? I'll get to that in a bit.

It was an evening when I was without transport and my brother very kindly agreed to fetch me. So we took the opportunity to have dinner together.

Another place that we had ramen previously was Gantetsu@Isetan Eat Paradise 1-Utama simply because their neighbor was closed for renovation. Now that the neighbor has re-opened, we decided to give it a go.


From what I read in a blog, the management of this outlet has changed and apparently the taste of the food is not the same anymore. I also read unflattering comments on their FB page. The menu is different too, I noticed. 

But still, we have not eaten here before and having tasted the awesome (to us) ramen at Tokyo Ramen, we would use that as our benchmark. 

So. Time to place our orders.

Image source : Zomato.com
We both settled for the Musashi Ramen (RM32.00). Why? Because the Chasu Ramen (RM36.00) did not come with egg (according to the menu). We are suckers for egg.

We also selected (rather I suggested) kuro as our oil flavoring which is a special mix of fried shallots and garlic flavored oil (because these should be delicious).

Image source : Zomato.com
We also added a side of Edamame (RM4.50) and Gyoza (RM12.00).


For drinks, it was Green Tea (RM3.00), hot for him and cold for me (since my Ketua Pengarah wasn't there).


The Gyoza was very good. My brother loved it a lot and so did I.

I purposely chose the burnt one because I like burnt taste.
As usual, we love Edamame.


And now for the piece de resistance


I wonder why the soup is black (yes, I did read that the broth with kuro is black but I was attracted to the shallots and garlic). 

First thing I noticed, where is the egg? I dug into the soup but alas, no egg.


My brother was still busy with the Gyoza when I took a tentative sip of the broth. The first thing that hit me was the very strong unpleasant porky smell.

So I muttered to my brother "Very strong porky smell". Well, he did not take me seriously and thought that I was being fussy (he confessed later in the car hah..hah...).

Then it was his turn to eat. OMG! He too found it overpowering. 

So we both turned to these to kill the taste.

Fried garlic and chili pepper.
Somehow after a few sips, it didn't taste as bad. I'm afraid this ramen experience was not good for us due to the strong smelling broth. Though it had a good thick consistency, the unpleasant porky smell spoiled our experience.

It was this funky smell and taste that prompted my brother to call the broth "Zombie Soup" because he reckons (in jest) that's what zombies must taste like. I hope I don't get sued.

But it was not all bad because we did enjoy the Gyoza. Will I return? I would, just to try it again with another flavor. Maybe that particular batch of broth was not good. Who knows. My brother would return too, but only for the Gyoza.

43 comments:

  1. thank you for the warning! i have not been there after the renovation so after reading this i don't think i will go since i don't like porky taste. that taste must be very off putting since both of you can't stand it.

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    1. I went there again and pleased to report that the ramen was good on second visit :)

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  2. Makes me think of lei cha...but that's healthy. :D

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    Replies
    1. Oh, but that is quite different hee..hee..

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  3. Gyoza is my all time favourite, hehe...

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  4. At least it's not all bad.

    Will be waiting for your 2nd visit review.Hihihi

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  5. Was there an egg in your brother's soup ?

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  6. Look at the green tea, makes me think of eating at Nana Green Tea, miss it!

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  7. Gyoza for me. I tried to make it twice with two different recipes. Perhaps it was just me. It was not satisfactory.

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  8. OMG, porky taste and smell is one of the worst things ever. I've had my fair share of overly porky pork and would normally leave the plate unfinished. I don't know how you could muster the strength to finish that ramen (when you even used the words ("very strong"!). What is worst than porky taste?....it's the taste of it in the soup! Double yucks!! >.< I'd definitely not return!

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    Replies
    1. Well, I did return hah..hah... Thankfully, the experience on the 2nd visit was very good :) I suppose they are being inconsistent.

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  9. hai PH..
    lama kaknoor tak datang sini..

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    1. Hi Kak Noor! Terima kasih kerana sudi jenguk2 PH walaupun Kak Noor super busy :)

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  10. Hi PH.. SB pon sama, tak tak jenguk sini.. Tertinggal byk entry ph

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    1. Hi SB! Terima kasih sudi datang jenguk2 PH hee..hee..

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  11. Replies
    1. Hi ticer! Khabar baik :) Tapi esok Monday blues :(

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  12. Though I eat pork, I don't like the meat "too strong porky smell".

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  13. Oh no... they changed management? This used to be one of my favorites for ramen in KL :(

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    1. I did return and on the second visit, the ramen was quite good.

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  14. Hee hee, 'zombie' soup - I was thinking it was going to be another one spicy enough to wake up the dead.

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    1. LOL! The one on my second visit with chili oil was indeed very spicy and good.

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  15. When I make meaty soup, I normally blanch the meat first and throw away the "first water" so that the porky smell will go off.. gelish to smell or drink the porkish smell.. :)

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    Replies
    1. My auntie taught me that method too.

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  16. Thanks for the updates! My Japanese clients treated me there to makan last year. They seem to give thumbs up for their food! I must ask them belanja me again. I also had many experience when the porky broths were too strong in Japan but the folks loved them. Just like beef, many people could not stand the smell and avoid it not due to religious taboos.

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    1. Really? Well, I went there again and the soup was not so porky smelling. In fact it was good. Inconsistency?

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  17. Maybe our pork here smells that way. If the hot is very hot, I guess that smell won't be stat strong. This zombie ramen, I definitely will not order lor...

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    Replies
    1. If the soup is very hot,.... won't be that strong.
      Sorry from morning, cannot typed properly.

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    2. The soup was very hot but still strong smelling...

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  18. zombie soup =_="

    I love edamame, basically I love all kinda Jap food la, except for Sashimi..

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  19. Missing egg and you didn't complaint about it?
    1st time was bad experience and the 2nd was ok, inconsistent food quality, not really can convince me for a visit I think =.="

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    Replies
    1. I love ramen too much and this was the nearest to my place, so give second chance hah..hah...

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  20. Ramen ni macam sup ke LL?

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    Replies
    1. Ramen ni kiranya mee sup Jepun lah, Hainom.

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  21. I love Gyoza and I can sapu the whole lot by myself. I hate porky smell. Sometime must have gone wrong to cause the porky smell. Waiting for the next review. Ha ha!

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    1. Me too love the gyoza hee..hee... seems like a favorite of many.

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