London’s top-rated ramen restaurant Kanada-Ya opens in Paya Lebar Quarter

Singaporeans must love ramen. There are countless ramen restaurants in Singapore and Kanada-Ya is another new Japanese restaurant in Paya Lebar Quarter offering ramen. The new restaurant in PLQ Mall has an impressive pedigree. Founded by Kazuhiro Kanada in 2009, Kanada-Ya won many awards in Japan and was voted as the No.1 Ramen Restaurant in London by The Telegraph. It has outlets in Japan, Hong Kong, Spain and UK. The first Kanada-Ya outlet in Southeast Asia opened in Singapore in December 2019.

The new Kanada-Ya restaurant in Paya Lebar occupies a compact space. It has a kitchen which can be seen from the entrance. There is a small counter facing the kitchen. Small dining tables are packed into the balance of the space.

Kanada-Ya Menu

Although Kanada-Ya’s reputation is based on its ramen, the menu in fact offers rice bowls and a fair selection of side dishes, including fried chicken and gyozas. Below are pictures of selected pages of the menu of Kanada-Ya Singapore.

An ordering chit is provided. Just tick at the right places and hand the completed form to a staff. The food will be served to the table.

A quick ramen lunch

The reputation of Kanada-Ya as a top rated ramen joint and the limited seating capacity of the PLQ Mall outlet meant that there was almost always a queue at the restaurant since it opened earlier this month. I happened to pass by the restaurant one day just before the queue formed up and decided to have a quick lunch there.

I ordered the Kotteri Tonkotsu Ramen Regular ($16.90). It was Hakata-style ramen with Kanada-Ya’s signature pork bone broth. The topping included slices of belly chashu, egg, fungus, spring onion and nori. The chashu and other ingredients were what you would expect of a ramen bowl that the price point. The creamy broth was rich. It was delectable but not really outstanding. The thin noodles were perfectly cooked to give a nice firm bite and they were well coated by the broth. On the whole, it was a good bowl of ramen but not necessarily one that would stand head and shoulders above other ramens in other good Japanese restaurants in Singapore.

Overall Kanada-Ya Singapore in PLQ Mall does offer a good bowl of ramen but don’t expect wonderful ambience or great overall dining experience. Just because it is a top-rated ramen restaurant in London does not necessarily mean its ramen is something worth queuing for. The Kotteri Tonkotsu Ramen I tried was delicious enough but I would think that I could get something just as enjoyable, or even better, in some other places in Singapore that would give a better overall dining experience. I also did not like the practice of offering you a discount if you were to download their app to the mobile phone and paying with the mobile wallet on the app.

Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: 2
Value: 3
Atmosphere: 2
Overall Rating: 3 TOPs

Kanada-Ya Singapore
10 Paya Lebar Road
#03-30 PLQ Mall
Singapore 409057

Opening Hours: 11 am – 10 pm

Nearby MRT Station: Paya Lebar

Website

The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog