Whenever my friends ask me what do I want to eat, my answer will most likely be “Hmm..Anything but preferably not RAMEN”. I don’t hate the taste of Ramen. I think it’s pretty okay. But comparing to my whole list of other cravings, I would rather spend my money on something I like better. Tsukada Nojo is one of the rare restaurant in which I would suggest going for lunch because of its Beauty Collagen Soup.
Every friend that I introduce to Tsukada Nojo, ALWAYS ask me the same question (At least most of them), “OH! This is the collagen you always post is it?”
Yes it’s the same Beauty Collagen Hotpot, except that Ramen is served instead of hotpot during lunch hours, which is also more price-friendly to my pocket.
There are 3 types of soup base Bijin Men Shio (Original) – $16.80, Bijin Men Shoyu (Soy Sauce) – $17.00 and Bijin Men Hokkaido Miso Butter Corn (Miso) – $18.00.
Pick from 3 types of noodles – Beauty Noodle, Thick Mochi-mochi and Thin Tsuru Tsuru Egg Noodles.
I went straight for the Original soup base because nothing beats the original taste of the Collagen Chicken Soup! I didn’t want to have additional flavors messing with the soup base. In case you still do not know what is Beauty Collagen, their soup is made from boiling the bones of Jidori chickens in Japan and is known to contain a generous amount of Collagen!
The soup base of Bijin Men Shio is exactly the same as the hotpot served during dinner. It’s a good alternative if you are craving for the soup but don’t want to join the horrendously long queue in the evening.
The soup is quite thick and flavorful, tastes best before adding any ingredients into it so you might want to give it a try before placing your noodles into the soup. It’s really addictive and many have told me that they love the soup after trying it once. The chicken meat itself is really springy and tender, and you can top up meat, noodles, vegetables if you feel that the portion is too little for you. Personally, I find it perfect as the soup can be quite filling if you’re finishing down to the last bit. Or top up for more collagen soup!
Bijin Men Shoyu was a little disappointing as it covered the original taste of their signature collagen soup. It tasted like any other ordinary ramen. On the other hand, the Bijin Men Hokkaido Miso was something different, with a strong buttery corn flavor to the soup. It gets a little too oily towards the end. If you’re into butter + corn, you can give this a try! Beware of the oil though!
We also had the Nikumaki Rice Ball as our appetizer – Cheese and Yuzu-mayo ($3.80 each). Overall it is quite a filling appetizer but nothing too impressive.
Short rant:
One of the staff (let’s call her Staff A) was really friendly and kept joking with Jamie because she ordered everything different from us, so that the 3 of us can taste the different soup broth. I was quite disappointed with the other staff though (Staff B).
Pat & I arrived at the restaurant earlier and we informed Staff A that our friend was late and whether we could enter the restaurant first (knowing that they had a strict rule that all guests must arrive before entering the restaurant during dinner hours).
She said okay, and we proceeded to order appetizer and drinks because we were hungry. Staff B stepped in to inform us that our dining duration is only limited to 1 hour. We were quite surprised because we weren’t informed from the start and she stated that it was written at the entrance. Fair enough (Even though I feel that they should remind customers VERBALLY).
So I proceeded to ask if the 1 hour starts from the time our food arrive or from the time we sat down. She said that it was from the time we ordered our food. In which we have already did so. I told her that we were waiting for our friend so can we halt our order otherwise we wouldn’t be able to finish within 1 hour. She insisted for awhile before asking how long more will she take to arrive.
I thought that was totally unnecessary! Before I go on, let me emphasize, the restaurant was only less than half filled and there were plenty of seats (It’s not a buffet). I feel that it was not a very nice gesture to patronizing customers who are sincerely keen in dining at the restaurant and not hogging the seats for other reasons. Perhaps they could have said something like “The lunch duration is set to 1 hour limit, however we can allow you to stay a little longer if there are no other people waiting in line.”
Thankfully, Jamie was already reaching so we let go of the issue and decided to just quickly eat and head to dessert place after for a better experience.
Well at least, the meal was still delicious.
