Aji Noren, Prima Tanjung

Food in films is probably one of the best things to live for. We settled in at home last night to watch the Japanese classic Tampopo, a deliciously hilarious movie consisting of vignettes about food and all related fixations. The main story is that of a widow who runs an inferior, sorry ramen shop who seeks the help of a kind-hearted mysterious "cowboy" and various other characters to serve better ramen and turn her business into a success.

We loved the movie and naturally, the ramen craving that took us to bed last night kicked into high gear come lunchtime today. There aren't many ramen options in Penang and we've pretty much written off most of the ones we know, i.e. Yataimura, Aji Sen. There was just one which we felt OK returning to, Aji Noren in Tanjung Tokong.

It's been a while since our last visit and I got excited to see in the menu some of my all-time favourites, apart from ramen, such as Omu Raisu (also wickedly featured in Tampopo).

Fat Tulip studies pretty extensive menu

However we came strictly for ramen and only ramen it was! They had reasonably priced ramen sets so both of us dived straight for that.

Fat Tulip's Miso Ramen.

Slurrrrrppp.... Tampopo style!

My Chashumen Ramen. Essentially same ingredients but my broth was somewhat lighter than the thick and murky Miso Ramen's. We'd both been spoilt rotten by our ramen experiences in Japan so we weren't expecting this to blow our minds but nevertheless, we were overjoyed that the ramen was of decent quality and the serving was generous enough to satisfy our massive post-film craving.

Both sets came with a serving of Gyoza. This was flavourful and full of bite but again, not out of this world.

For RM20++ each, including an uninspiring salad (basically shredded cabbage with a dollop of slightly-off thousand island dressing) and fruit, I'd say this was fair enough. While the ramen probably did not go through the refining process as Tampopo's, I'll be back for the Omu Raisu.