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A while back, I discovered an authentic tempura tendon and ramen kopitiam stall called Ichizen. Ever since then, I’ve become a fan and returned to visit them. This time, my Japanese food adventure has landed me at Chinatown Complex Food Centre, where I check out a similar spot called Uma Haus.
The stall is managed by 55-year-old Meng and his mysterious lady business partner who wanted to keep a low profile. As she didn’t want to share her identity with us (I shall respect that), I will refer to her as ‘Miss X’. Before she joined Meng, she gained experience preparing Japanese cuisine at various hawker stalls and restaurants.
“Uma Haus means a house bursting with umami!” Miss X answered when I asked her about the meaning of the stall’s name.
“I don’t know how to cook, she’s in charge of the kitchen!” Meng remarked while giggling. He was busy dipping the prawns and other ingredients into the tempura batter before dropping them into the deep-fryer. To say he had no clue how to cook was an understatement — he was just being humble.
What I tried at Uma Haus
There were 2 mains on the menu that were the cheapest: Classic Zaru Soba (S$3.90) and Abura Dry Ramen (S$3.90). We decided to start our lunch with the latter, that consisted of ramen crowned with half an onsen egg, minced pork, fried shallots, and spring onion slivers.
I must’ve looked silly grinning at my egg, but can you blame me? The yolk was runny and indulgent, and the egg white just melted in my mouth. It was executed really well.
In case you’re wondering if the noodles were plain, rest assured — Miss X had drizzled an entire ladle of her house-made shallot oil over them. We gave everything a good toss and gradually, each strand caught the light, gleaming under its delicate coating of oil. Though I liked the texture of the noodle and minced meat, I felt that the shallot flavour lacked the oomph that I was hoping for. I mentioned this to Miss X, so fingers crossed, your bowl gets the full shallot power-up.
For its regular ramen, Uma Haus skips the miso and shoyu variants, offering just a tonkotsu soup base. But it’s not without a few tricks up its sleeve — you can go Original, Spicy, or Black Garlic Oil. Unfortunately, the Prawn Oil option has been removed due to its unpopularity.
The menu offers 6 choices and we went for the Signature Tonkotsu Ramen (S$6.90).
Thanks to my klutziness, my first spoonful of broth didn’t go well. It went down the wrong pipe and had me choking non-stop. After a quick breather to regain my dignity, the subsequent sips delivered a slow burn on my tongue, packing quite the punch (in a good way). The chilli oil made its presence known, without snatching away the spotlight of the tonkotsu broth’s robust flavour.
I slurped up the noodles shamelessly, each strand absorbing that gorgeous broth bursting with flavour. Between each chewy bite came little pops of crunch from the thinly-sliced wood ear mushrooms and spring onions.
It was funny observing the facial expressions of our party of 3 as we each took a bite of the char siew. Our faces lit up, heads nodded in unison, all in silent agreement over the melt-in-the-mouth perfection.
We switched things up a little with the last dish — Black Tiger Prawn Tendon (S$9.90). I dived in straight for the 3 pieces of prawns. Though the freshness of the prawns and the batter had room for improvement, it was still decent enough to polish everything off.
What I initially thought was white fish turned out to be a piece of salmon instead. I can’t recall if I’ve ever had salmon in tempura form, but this was soooooo GOOD! The pink flesh was flaky and still retained its moistness.
What we didn’t really enjoy was the pumpkin tempura. It was semi-cooked and the flavour was rather one-dimensional.
Another element of the dish that also left us slightly disappointed was the rice. It probably lacked water during the cooking process, leaving certain parts a little hard.
Final thoughts
Amid the sea of stalls at Chinatown Complex Hawker Centre dishing out every variety of Chinese and local cuisine, Uma Haus is a breath of fresh air, bringing something different to the table. Though there were some hits and misses, I’m sure Meng and Miss X will iron out the teething issues with time. If you’re in the area, do give them a try.
What people read:
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