I HAVE done a double take at the name “SoloMen Cafe” on my regular trips down the main road to SS2 in Petaling Jaya. So at last, we checked it out on a friend’s recommendation, and were pleasantly surprised.

It is a Japanese restaurant known for its ramen, and there are 15 varieties, with different soups and toppings, on the menu. Some rice dishes, like Katsu Don, Takana Chahan and Hokkaido Buta Don, are worth taking note of, too.

For small bites, we could not resist Gyoza – Japanese dumplings that had the thinnest wrappers and bursting with their filling of minced pork, cabbage, leek, onion and ginger. They tasted so good, dipped in a ponzu (vinegar) sauce. We also had a serving of Shishamo Shioyaki, or grilled “pregnant” fish.

Tonkotsu Ramen came with al dente noodles in a milky pork bone broth topped with char siu, egg and vegetables. It is a less thick, milder broth than you would get at other ramen restaurants. The flavours are not as heavy, and the broth less oily. I prefer it this way.

The char siu was good, and I liked very much the vegetables, which I found out later from the chef were the leafy variety of salted vegetables that he had soaked to get rid of the salt and cooked with his own sauce.

Takana Chahan is Japanese fried rice with vegetables, char siu, Japanese fishcake and egg. It was delicious, full of “wok hei” (wok heat) and umami. All the ingredients had been finely chopped up, and their flavours hugged every grain of rice.

Katsu Don had rice topped with a deep-fried pork loin, fried egg and onions in a lovely sweet sauce. The meat had been marinated with mirin, sake and shoyu before being dipped in egg, coated with breadcrumbs and fried. This tasty pork, together with the sauce that trickled down to the rice, and the egg, made the dish a total delight.

We asked for the rice to be left out of Hokkaido Buta Don, and were served slices of pork belly fried in a sweet and pungent sauce nuanced with miso, and served with vegetables. On second thought, we really should have had the rice to mop up the yummy sauce.

We thought Unagi Kabayaki had too much sauce on it, used I am to grilled unagi that is slightly moist.

SoloMen Cafe serves coffee and cakes, too, though these are not made in-house. Cempedak Lover satisfied a sweet craving, with a fruit that I love. There were nuggets of fresh cempedak in the chocolate-and-cheese cake.

The food, served in hearty portions, is reasonably priced, from RM16.90 for Takana Chahan to RM18.90 for Hokkaido Buta Don and RM21.60 for Katsu Don. Tonkotsu Ramen is priced at RM21.60 and Gyoza, RM11.30.

I will come back for the other ramen varieties, such as Niku Hosogiri Itame Ramen, with fried strips of beef in a shoyu broth, and Miso Ramen Special, and of course, the other Chahan dishes, which chef/owner Ng Tiong Yow does so well.

SoloMen Cafe is located at No. 16, Jalan SS2/24, Petaling Jaya. It can be reached at 016-289-9079. – November 17, 2018.

* Eu Hooi-Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published the cookbook Fresh Ingredients, and also writes for her website hooikhawandsu.com.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.