Butao - Hakata style ramen

Having already visited Hong Kong eight times so far, the foodie in me is always looking for new eateries to explore whenever I'm in town. On Open Rice, I came across one particular ramen shop that's apparently been creating waves (and long queues) in the last two years - Butao Ramen.

This is its Causeway Bay branch, which supposedly has a shorter waiting time than the original shop at Central. There's also now a third branch in Tsim Sha Tsui. We reached at about 10.45am - 15 minutes before the opening time - and there were already a few people standing in line.

To my delight, Butao serves my favourite kind of ramen - Hakata style, with a rich, milky pork bone broth and thin, straight noodles. While in Japan, I fell in love with Ichiran - a chain that serves absolutely delicious Hakata style ramen - and have been trying to duplicate the taste experience since.

Anyways. The shop itself is tiny, with 5 tables (I think) that can seat 5 people each.

Through an order form, we got to customise our ramen - how strong the flavour, how much oil and garlic, how firm the noodles, and so on. An English form is also available for those who cannot read Chinese.

There are four kinds of ramen:

1. Butao King (original pork bone)
2. Black King (squid ink)
3. Red King (spicy miso)
4. Green King (basil and parmesan)

This being our first visit, we chose the Butao King. A selection of condiments are freely available.

So, meet Butao King.

My verdict? The soup is rich and tasty (though a little too oily), and the noodles were cooked just nice. Suffice to say we were happy enough to be tempted to return the next day to eat it - only thing was we had too many other places on our food list to conquer. :P While the overall taste doesn't quite match up to Ichiran, I'd rate Butao higher than Ippudo, another Hakata style ramen chain popular in both Hong Kong and Singapore.

If you love Hakata style ramen like I do, Butao is definitely worth a visit. I know for sure I'll be back to satisfy my ramen craving the next time I'm in Hong Kong!

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Butao Ramen (豚王)
Add: G/F, Wo On Building, 8-13 On Lane Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central
         中環蘭桂坊和安里8-13號和安樓地下

Add: G/F, 40 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay
         銅鑼灣登龍街40號地下

Add: G/F, Kam Wing Commercial Building, 28 Minden Ave, Tsim Sha Tsui
          尖沙咀棉登徑28號錦榮商業大廈地下