Bar IPPUDO Ramen @ Bangsar Shopping Centre

Bar IPPUDO

I have been to IPPUDO a couple of times in the past and found their Hakata tonkotsu pork bone soup to be better than most. IPPUDO is famous for their Kyushu style ramen and pork buns. The latter is actually really yummy! The one in Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC) is actually a new Bar IPPUDO – one of their IPPUDO x sake outlets.

Bar IPPUDO Malaysia

This doesn’t mean that Bar IPPUDO don’t still serve good ramen though. I was there for lunch with Ang Khian and the place was packed! I originally wanted to meet at MidValley but due to the school holidays, there was no parking to be found. I circled two parking lots (C and H) for almost an hour before giving up and going to BSC instead.

Ippudo Ramen

There was a waiting list to get a table and I finally managed to get seated. I was tempted to order the Samurai Rock (around RM 40) cocktail which is made with Nikka From The Barrel but since it was a lunch meeting, I abstained and just stuck to their lunch sets.

Perfect Ramen Set Combo

Perfect Ramen Set Combo A (RM 29.90)

Shiromaru Motoaji

This is what I had. You can choose from Shiromaru Motoaji or Akamaru Shinaji and I opted for the former. It’s a half bowl ramen instead of a full serving since it came with other stuff. In addition to the half bowl Shiromaru Motoaji, there was:

  • Pork Bun
  • Tamagoyaki
  • Nappa Cabbage
  • Dessert
  • Green Tea (hot/cold)

Ippudo Pork Bun

I made this choice for the Ippudo pork bun, which sounds mundane but is surprisingly good. My first bite left me wanting more – the pork belly in the soft and warm enveloping clamshell dough was simply divine!

Nappa Cabbage

I really liked the sweet tamagoyaki too but the nappa cabbage was left half-eaten. The dessert of watermelon with a wedge of orange was pure genius though – the orange slice was cut in a way that each cube of watermelon *absorbed* the orange juice and it tasted wonderful.

Bar IPPUDO Set

Perfect Ramen Set Combo B (RM 31.90)

Akamaru Shinaji

This set had two different items – sashimi replaced the pork bun and beef enoki the tamagoyaki but it’s otherwise the same. You also get the same ramen options and Ang Khian went for the Akamaru Shinaji half bowl ramen.

Ippudo Sashimi

She asked me if I wanted to have a slice of her salmon sashimi and I said it’s fine. I was just being polite coz it’s only the second time I met her and we were discussing some business over lunch. Haha. I really wanted to eat it but I haven’t seen her since Chinese New Year in Ipoh in 2009 so I decided to be gracious.

Beef Enoki

I was quite tempted to eat her beef enoki too. smirk

Ippudo BSC

The service was really rushed and you can see the waitresses visibly harried – the lunch crowd at Bar IPPUDO, BSC is surprising considering the amount of F&B outlets there. People came, they ate, and they left – the turnover was so fast that we couldn’t talk shop and finished our lunch before heading over to CBTL for coffee (forgot there was a Dome there).

I’ll be back for that Nikka Japanese single malt and grain whisky cocktail with a perfectly round and spherical ball of ice though. πŸ™‚

Hong Kong Pau Cafe (Xiao Pa Wang)

hk xpw

Hong Kong Pau Cafe or Xiao Pa Wang is the newly established pau cum dim sum cum bakery cum cafe. It has literally cummed on the…er, stiff
*cough* competition along Jalan Padungan, which is famed for having the
best paus in town. Hong Kong Pau has just recently opened its doors and
the crowds have been thronging to this establishment and haven’t
stopped ever since. I have noticed a remarkable decrease in patrons to
the 6 other pau specialty establishments here ever since this place
opened.

al fresco

Hong Kong Pau Cafe brings about a new light to pau establishments,
giving this old industry a complete new makeover. It has a fusion of
foods to choose from and cool al fresco *smacks myself upside the head*
seating arrangements to the side.

dim sum

The place only serves one type of pau – char siew pau or pork bun,
but they also have a remarkable array of dim sum offerings featured in
front. Their dim sum repertoire contains about 20 odd dishes of dim sum
offerings – more than most other dim sum places here offers.

interior

Xiao Pa Wang’s most prominent area is to bakery to the side.
Finally, we have a bakery with seating arrangements! Xiao Pa Wang
serves all sorts of innovative and imaginative (for Kuching, anyway)
pastries and baked goods.

pork floss bun

We finally have pork floss rolls! w00t! It tastes about the same as
Bread Story/Bread Talk offerings; it’s the secret semen-consistency
type sauce that gives pork floss rolls the oomph! πŸ˜‰

heated pastries

There is also a small heated oven to the side where they serve all
sorts of pies – strawberry pies, blackberry pies, egg cream pie, curry
chicken pie etc. The list goes on and the menu keeps changing.

eating in

kopi peng

I have visited this establishment many, many times. I have ate here
and had some to go, before writing this review because I believe this
place deserves a proper review due to it’s innovative (for Kuching)
nature.

buns

The flagship offering – the paus or buns are always warm and fluffy.
I’ve never had a hard crust one from here, you know, the leftovers
which have grown tough. This place serves fresh paus all that time.

pau inside

Here’s a look at the inside – the filling is just nice and the fluffy small bun goes well with it.

pork ham

The most famous offering from the bakery here is undoubtedly the
pork ham. It’s a piece of ham wrapped in a swirl of soft pastry and the
illustrious semen type filling with coriander to top it off. I’m
telling you, that semen mixture that’s all the rage in bakeries
nowadays is great!

blackberry pie

This is the blueberry pie. The crust is flakey and the filling tastes good, not artificial, like from a jam jar.

egg pie

Here’s the egg cream pie, it tastes like a cross between an egg tart and a cream pie.

take away

The pastries can be ordered to go as well, and this place has the proper packaging for everything, unlike other bakeries.

chocolate roll

This is the chocolate roll. It’s a phallic looking pastry with a
flaky crust and a nice cocoa filling. It’s not too sweet, which is
great, the cocoa tastes like real unsweetened cocoa.

lotus bun

This is the lotus pastry. It’s also spherical and contains lotus
paste. It’s good, but I won’t rate it as great. It’s certainly better
than most offerings from Kuching, I’ll tell you that.

strawberry pie

Here’s the strawberry pie – exactly like the blueberry pie, but with strawberry filling. It’s good, better than I expected.

pork bun

This is one of their new menu offerings – it’s called a pork bun or
something, it has bacon or ham folded inside the pastry and a generous
dollop of that Special Sauce (TM) on top. I love that stuff.

Hong Kong Pau Cafe or Xiao Pa Wang gets two thumbs up from me. The
place changes its offerings regularly so there’s always something new
each time you go, while retaining the old classics that everyone loves.
The service here is extremely nice, the girls are friendly, and the
place just offers good food, all the time. Oh, and I think they read
the blog coz the girls called me yesterday.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...