Ippudo Express

By now, Ippudo should need no further introduction as they are one of the popular chain ramen stalls in Singapore. Apart from the full scale restaurant they have in the malls, this express setup in the departure hall of Changi Airport Terminal 3 has a concept that caters to diner for quicker dining option without compromising its quality.
We had our express order via the counter just before our long haul flight to Europe. I had a hot bowl of Mentai Tonkotsu Ramen. Disposable bowls and chopsticks were used and its very convenient to both diner as well as the business owner. Stock was as flavourful with ramen cooked right to its perfect texture and amount of roe given was absolutely generous. With sesame boasting its fragrance in its soup, I do like about the shreds of black fungus included and also the pieces of half soaked Wakame (Seaweed) in their stock.
Mentai Tonkotsu — $ 10.90
The guy who was worried that the portion might be too little had his portion upgraded with more Chasu and Ajitama (Japanese Soft Boil Egg). No doubts about their quality and I’m simply in love with the melt-​in-​your-​mouth charsu. The stock was enhanced with a slice of butter and was not too dilute nor thick. Ingredients includes corn kernels as well as shredded scallions.
Miso Butter Tonkotsu — $ 8.90 + $ 2 Ajitama + $ 2 Chasu
For those who will be missing Asia food for a while, Ippudo Express is an excellent choice during your departure to other countries.

Ippudo Express at T3 in Changi airport emphasises a lot in the word Express.
Instead of having an actual «restaurant» place in the transit area near the B gates, they only have booth in the middle of square shared with Kiliney, Dunkin Donuts and other «fast-​food» place in the real sense of what fast food originally means.
Taste wise, it’s really good. Almost as I remember it from my visit to Japan last time, but the use of disposable bowl and cutlery made the experience less dignified. My ramen came very ugly in a very sad paper bowl. Fair enough that it’s an express outlet in a busy airport and the low price probably justifies that, but I would say the experience would be so much more had I eaten off an actual china bowl with ramen arranged just like in the pictures with beautiful char siu floating in the thick tasty broth.
Isn’t it what Japanese and ramen are famous about? The presentation as well as the taste?
Oh well, like I said, perhaps the word «express» explains everything — and that it serves better for them and the customers to use disposable and undignified paper bowl.
I can’t even slurp my ramen off that.
Meh.

yes, you can!
ippudo now brings you their ramen, express airport style.
their long opening hours mean you can eat ramen at anytime of the day except after 1am and before 6am!
my first experience with ippudo was actually in NYC.
back then it was a 90mins queue to get in!
since then i’ve been to their outlets mostly in japan and SG.
their mandarin gallery outlet is ever so popular and thus it was always ippudo tao that benefitted from my patronage.
then came ippudo ramen express to cater to the working crowd at aisa square tower 2.
westgate and shaw centre are now both blessed with their own outlets too!
ippudo queue? no more!
the rapid ramen revolution in SG also means we are so spoilt for choices that even michelin star ramen can be had!
but ippudo’s rich but not so oily tonkotsu broth and it’s al dente hakata style noodles always keep me coming back for more.
the major downside to this outlet, though understandably so, is their use of disposable utensils.
somehow this detracted from the overall enjoyment and made the experience ala eating instant noodles instead.
the extra egg that i ordered was also overcooked and so a further 0.5 star was deducted.
oh and there is also an absence of the unanimous chorus of irasshaimase that normally greets you!
tables are also first come first serve, food court style, with uncleared tables at times.
they do however have a good variety of 6 types of ramen and 4 japanese dip sandwiches (to continuously innovate to remain true?) to choose from.
as and when i do try them (all), perhaps they might just get an updated review to reflect as such.
p. s. you need to buy an air ticket before you can dine here!