Japanese vegan at Samurai Ramen Umami

No meat, no milk, no egg, no garlic, no onion, no MSG and no alcohol.

Facade of Samurai Ramen Umami Premium at R & F Mall

In its place, flavours are derived from umami or rich vegetable stock, for the dining pleasure of vegans and vegetarians as well as diners seeking a more plant-based diet.

It all started in 2014 when Samurai Ramen Umami wanted to meet the demand from foreigners who were seeking instant noodles as souvenirs – Ramen, Japan’s comfort food – and offered this product mainly through online sales.

Now a range of Samurai Ramen Umami products are also available from retail outlets in Japan.

Then in 2017, Samurai Ramen Umami, a family-style restaurant, was opened in Aeon Tebrau City, Johor Baru to serve a menu that mirrors the food served in its Tokyo outlet, Saido Vegan Restaurant in Jiyugaoku.

Look! Scallop-edged wooden stools!

The popularity of Japanese vegan cuisine here has encouraged the owners to open Samurai Ramen Umami Premium at R & F Mall Johor Baru to serve a similar menu, they proudly brand as, “All the way from Tokyo, Japan.”

Curious about Japanese cuisine that is suitable for vegans and vegetarians, I accepted the invitation to have a dining experience at Samurai Ramen Umami Premium restaurant from Yoshiko, my Japanese friend who has made Johor Baru her home.

At the restaurant, I’m introduced to restaurant manager, Miho Yano, who warmly welcomes us into the cosy restaurant and seats us at a table among a row of wooden tables that are lined against the wall.

As in traditional Japanese ramen restaurants, there is also a dining counter where diners may enjoy their meal, seated on high stools at the counter.

But I’m seated at the table, not only feeling comfortable but totally charmed by the scallop-edged design on the [wide!] wooden stools.

Restaurant Manager, Miho Yano [Left] behind the counter

While Miho excuses herself to go into the kitchen to oversee the food preparation, the staff serves us warm cups of Houji Cha, original roasted green tea.

Miho is eager to showcase the entire menu of dishes but I encouraged her to highlight just a few of the favourites or signature dishes to let us have a taste of what Samurai Ramen Umami Premium has to offer.

The meal kicks off with a small serving of clear soup – Saido Golden Natural Vegetable Soup – topped with a tiny shaving of edible gold!

I raise the bowl to my lips in the Japanese tradition and discreetly drink the refreshing soup to the very last drop to savour the delicious umami or natural flavour of vegetable soup stock.

Smoke escaping from the chilled jar of Sairyoku Appetizer 

This soup aims to prepare our palates and stomachs to enjoy the next dishes…

The Sairyoku Appetizer is served in a chilled vacuum-packed jar of tomato, beans and broccoli topped with basil oil dressing.

The serving staff places the jar in front of me and politely instructs me to give a good stir to the ingredients before eating.

When she unlocks the jar, I’m pleasantly surprised by the swirl of smoke that escapes!

Following her instructions, I give the ingredients a good stir to mix everything up before enjoying spoonsful of the smoky-creamy flavours from this jar of salad.

Two popular choices of Ramen:
Onmen [Left] and Miso [Right]

Miho pops out from the kitchen to tell us to be ready to enjoy a range of popular ramen and rice dishes, and assures us that the recipes used here strictly follow those which are used in their parent restaurant in Japan.

At Samurai Ramen, we must have a taste of their signature ramen dishes so our first noodle items are popular Onmen, mushroom clear soup noodles, and Miso, creamy sesame miso soup noodles.

In keeping with Japanese tradition, I bring my face close to the bowl while I flex my chopsticks to twirl the ramen into my mouth to enjoy each mouthful with a soft (opposite of loud!) slurp.

Yoshiko demonstrates how the ramen should
be dipped into the Walnut sauce...

With each mouthful, I’m pleasantly surprised to discover how flavourful these soups are in spite of being free from any artificial flavouring.

“Which do you like better?” I hear a polite question from Miho. I admit that really cannot decide because I like both items, the Onmen and Miso ramen soup noodles!

Next, a portion of Tsukemen, is served. Its dry ramen noodles with a side of Walnut dip sauce

A delicious aroma of toasted walnuts is emanating from the dip sauce but I hesitate, quite unsure of how to handle this noodle dish. So Yoshiko comes to my rescue.

This is the way the Japanese will enjoy Tsukemen: With a pair of chopsticks, Yoshiko picks up a bunch of noodles and dips it into the bowl of walnut sauce.

When the noodles are soaked in the sauce, she lifts up the noodles – dripping in rich walnut sauce – and eats it neatly, using a tissue paper to wipe any stray drops of the sauce that may have flicked onto her chin…

Yakitori-don, rice topped with fried
chicken flavoured mushrooms and vegetables

Taking her cue, I do likewise but unlike her practiced hand, I end up with many more droplets of walnut sauce, not just on my face but also (wasted!) on the table!

Another popular choice is the Aburasoba, dry-style noodles tossed in rich oil sauce that may appear quite similar to the Chinese kon-lo-mee but clearly tastes like dry-tossed Japanese soba.

Besides noodles, the restaurant also serves a menu of rice dishes made with mixed-grain rice, a mixture that includes brown rice, red beans, sunflower seeds and black glutinous rice.

Sauce Katsu-don is a portion of rice served with a deep-fried, breaded cutlet that hints of tomato and chicken flavours.

Samurai Homemade Cutlet Curry Rice is a popular choice

While the breaded cutlet offers quite a crunchy bite, the Yakitori-don is a portion of rice topped with fried chicken flavoured mushrooms and vegetables.

Meanwhile the Samurai Homemade Cutlet Curry Rice is a popular choice for rice fans as it combines a portion of rice topped with a deep-fried, breaded cutlet with a side of vegetable curry gravy made with 10 spices.

Among the recommended side dishes are Yakitori, bite-size chicken-flavoured mushrooms grilled on skewers and Mimosa Salad, created with green, garden salad with vegan salted egg and drizzled with natural olive oil.

A serving of Mimosa Salad

Then Miho serves us warm Signature Tofu that comes with separate bowls filled with Tofu, Samurai Sauce, Himalaya Salt, Japanese Soya Sauce and minced Raw Old Ginger.

She demonstrates in a step-by-step, Do-It-Yourself method on how this should be savoured. First, she dishes a portion of tofu into a bowl and then added a choice of the other ingredients before mixing them up.

To me, the soft tofu in the bowl appears to resemble Chinese taufu-fah, a sweet dessert.

While my mind is stuck on the sweetness of taufu-fah, I was unprepared for the contrasting taste of this Japanese-style Tofu which turns out to be savoury!

Samurai Signature Tofu to enjoy in D-I-Y way

As I finish the smooth Tofu with a traditional Japanese slurp, Miho is probably smiling at how I’ve adopted this Japanese tradition and goes on to tell us about their plan to introduce some desserts into their new menu.

For a start, there is Strawberry Sorbet served with Japanese red beans, topped with matcha or green tea sprinkles and drizzled in red date sauce.

This is indeed a sweet ending to our Samurai Ramen Umami experience and to top it all, this tasty Japanese vegan meal leaves a pleasant aftertaste on my palate.

Samurai Ramen Umami Premium restaurant is at No. Unit 1-105, Level One of R & F Mall Johor Baru.  Tel: 607 – 268 0331. Open daily from 10am to 10pm.

Another outlet is located at Level 2 of Aeon Mall Tebrau City, Taman Desa Tebrau, Johor Baru. Tel: 607 – 364 4290.