Niku Soba is a buckwheat noodle dish that had been featured in Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san (ラーメン大好き小泉さん) also known as Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles (a Japanese manga series that has been adapted for TV). The popular Japanese chain Niku Soba Keisuke is introduced to Singapore as Keisuke Takeda’s latest ramen concept, Niku King. It forms half of Ramen Keisuke Group’s first joint ramen concept – Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Niku King in Paya Lebar Square.
Tonkotsu King & Niku King in Paya Lebar Square
Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King is one of the most popular restaurants in Paya Lebar. You can read Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King @ Paya Lebar Square about our visit to the small eatery when it first opened in 2015.
The Ramen Keisuke Group opened a restaurant next to Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King. The restaurant next door occupied a larger space but, despite several changes in concept, never did as well. We would often see a long queue to get into the smaller Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King, and no queue at all for the adjacent larger restaurant. The logical thing to do would be to combine the two restaurants and that was what happened in September 2020. So now we have 2 Kings in Paya Lebar Square – Tonkotsu King and Niku King – sharing a combined space that can seat more than 45 diners.
Menu of Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Niku King
The Menu of Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Niku King is a combined one. It does not take a genius to guess that there will be a section of Tonkotsu Ramen and a section for Niku Ramen. There are also a few rice dishes and sides dishes like pork gyoza, chicken nanban and salmon rare katsu.
When you are at the restaurant, you will be asked to scan a QR Code for the digital menu, which also serves as the ordering system. Below are pictures of a few screen shots of the digital menu.
Dinner at Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Niku King
We visited Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Niku King in Paya Lebar Square for an early dinner to avoid the queue. We ordered the NIku King Shoyu Ramen ($11.90) and Tonkatsu Ramen with Flavoured Egg ($13.90).
As soon as our orders were submitted over the mobile phone, the ginger ale we ordered was served. For the diner who did not order a drink, iced water was offered.
The free hard boiled eggs, bean srpunts and sesame seeds were then served. The service was efficient and the staff were much friendlier than those we encountered when we visited Tonkotsu King in its early days.
NIku King Shoyu Ramen
The NIku King Shoyu Ramen was thick ramen topped with lots of tender cha shu slices. We had to dig beneath the meat and other ingredients to get to the noodles, which had a nice firm bite. The shoyu stock, with a nice soy sauce fragrance, had mild flavours It was a rather enjoyable bowl of ramen.
Tonkatsu Ramen
The standard Tonkatsu Ramen came with cha shu slices with meat that was leaner compared to the meat in the Niku King Ramen. The noodles were nicely cooked. The broth had a fairly mild flavour. It was a good bowl of ramen, as you would expect of a Ramen Keisuke restaurant.
2 Kings are better than 1
We had a pleasant dining experience at Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Niku King. Combining Tonkatsu King and Niku King in a common space was a good idea. The restaurant can accommodate more diners and there is more variety on the menu. Both the food of Tonkotsu King and items from Niku King should meet with the approval of Koizumi-san. It is definitely a case of 2 kings are better than one.
Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King Niku King
60 Paya Lebar Road
#01-02/03/04 Paya Lebar Square
Singapore 409051
Tel: +65 62143345
Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri 11:30 -15:00; 17:30 – 22:00
Sat, Sun & PH 11:30 – 22:00
Nearby MRT Station: Paya Lebar Interchange
The Ordinary Patrons | Real Dining Experience of Ordinary People
an independent Singapore food blog
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