One of the perks of not having a regular 9 to 6 ? Being able to go for extended lunch breaks and not have a boss pinging you constantly to “get your ass back to the meeting room”. Better yet if you have a friend who also has a flexible work schedule – that way, you can meet up on a random Tuesday afternoon to try out a viral ramen chain, and avoid the hour-long queues over the weekend that you’d have to brave otherwise.

At least, that’s what H and I did.

I know. I’m super late to the hype train. Nearly two years late, in fact. But as the saying goes, it’s better than never – and at least I can say now that I’ve tried Kanbe Ramen, the hakata-style ramen at The Exchange TRX that everyone seems to rave about constantly.

Look ma, no queue!

This is actually Kanbe’s second branch, the first being in Mont Kiara’s 163 Retail Park. The outlet here has a spacious floor plan, but it’s packed quite tightly with tables. Counter seating caters to smaller groups and solo diners, and it faces the semi-open kitchen, so you can watch the chefs in action. Interiors feature typical Japanese touches, with lots of wood, folding screens depicting traditional Japanese art, chochin (lanterns), and the like.

Originating from the Fukuoka prefecture, hakata ramen (sometimes called tonkotsu ramen) is one of the more popular styles of ramen. It features a pork bone soup base that has been boiled for hours to form a rich and cloudy / milky white broth, and the noodles are often thin and firm. Popular chains like Ichiran and Ippudo are both from Fukuoka, with the latter being from the Hakata area specifically.

At Kanbe, you can choose from a variety of soups, with differing degrees of intensity and flavour. The Shiro is the restaurant’s signature, featuring pork bone broth at its purest. For those who prefer a more pungent taste, the Kuro is strong and garlicky, with an inky black appearance that comes from squid ink. All bone broths are simmered for up to 48 hours to extract maximum umami.

It can feel a bit overwhelming for first-timers, so the shop has a useful step-by-step guide at each table. Orders can be made on a chit, and you can also customise various aspects of your bowl, such as whether you want to add egg or chashu, as well as the firmness of your noodles.

Since H has been here before, I went with her recommended Sakura soup base, consisting of pork bones boiled with whole ebi (prawns), and enhanced with the deep umami of baked ebi oil.

The result is a rich, flavourful concoction, which I slurped down to the last drop. The noodles were cooked well too – I went for medium firmness so it had just the right amount of bite and springiness. The bowl would have been good enough on its own, but the slices of fatty, thick cut chashu were the cherries on top. The meat was cooked to perfection – just look at those beautiful, glistening layers of fat!

Overall, I think Kanbe delivers delicious, solid bowls of ramen, and they have interesting flavour combinations. But personally (and fans of Kanbe may disagree with me), I don’t think it’s worth queuing up for more than 40 minutes, when there are other tonkotsu options out there that can hit the spot just the same.

Being at TRX, prices are on the slightly higher end, so expect to pay upwards of RM30++ – RM60++ for main dishes. Aside from ramen, they offer rice bowls and side dishes like karaage and gyoza too.

KANBE RAMEN (THE EXCHANGE TRX)

PL.08.0 Park Level, The Exchange TRX, Persiaran TRX, Tun Razak Exchange, 55188 Kuala Lumpur

Opening hours: 11AM – 10PM (Daily)

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