Ex-Kilo Kitchen head chef opens eatery serving excellent S$12.80 charcoal-grilled duck ramen
Since launching his home-based noodle kit biz in February 2022, Soba25’s owner Hubert Arnold, 29, had been driven by a clear goal: to open a noodle bar. Back then, burnt out from the gruelling demands of his head chef job at buzzy casual diners like the now-defunct Kilo Kitchen and Raw Kitchen Bar, Hubert ditched his whites to start Soba25, which offered DIY cooking kits with noodles made from scratch at his family’s HDB flat in Jurong East.
And now, just two years later, the Eurasian chef has realised his dream with the opening of LiuLangMian Noodle Bar, a 20-seat joint at Alexandra Central Mall. His noodles are not your typical soba, made from buckwheat flour. Instead, Hubert’s version is a fusion take on whole wheat ramen. In Japan, soba can refer to ‘noodles’ in general and not just the buckwheat noodles that we associate with the name ‘soba’.
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Opening own restaurant a dream come true
“It feels very surreal. I’ve been going around cooking at different pop-ups and events for the past year, so that’s how the ‘liu lang’ came about,” says Hubert, referring to his shop name, which means ‘wandering noodles’ in Chinese. Observing a drop in demand for cooking kits, the chef closed his online business early last year and turned his attention to various pop-ups instead – including taking up a booth at Gamescom Asia, a gaming convention held at Suntec Convention Centre.
“I felt that it was about time to set up my own shop and give my best in a [fixed] physical space,” he says. The chef-owner invested $70K of his savings, along with some contribution from his family, to open the noodle bar. He helms the kitchen with an assistant, and cooks daily at the shop.
“2023 wasn’t an easy year because of the unpredictability of running Soba25. Now I want to focus on achieving good business for my new shop and work towards being able to provide for my family,” he says.
The space
Finding the spot can be a little tricky, as the eatery is only accessible from the exterior of the mall. Look for the large black and gold LiuLangMian signboard a few units away from the mall’s main entrance.
The 20-seater offers a nostalgic, homely ambience with cute vintage posters plastered on a feature wall, simple long tables and wooden stools. The air-conditioned space has an alcohol licence, making it an inviting spot for post-work drinks. Best of all? There’s no GST and service charge. Scan their QR code to place your order and the team will deliver the food to your table.
Bigger menu with local twists
The move to a physical location comes with an expanded menu, featuring six noodle options and a selection of side dishes – a significant upgrade from Soba25’s original two-item menu.
At the eatery, Hubert is no longer serving his unique creamy paitan-style duck-based soup, opting for the more popular shoyu ramen broth instead. The chef noted that the former may have been too niche compared to varieties like tonkotsu, which Singaporeans favour: “My pot duck ramen had mixed reviews. Some people love it, some don’t. My [new] clear shoyu broth is lighter and you can enjoy it with other side dishes.”
“There are different customer groups in this area, including residents, office workers and tourists staying at the hotel next door (Momentus Hotel Alexandra). I want to offer food that has more mass appeal,” he shares. To do so, he’s added local touches like using a Chinese salted vegetable duck soup as the foundation for his shoyu broth, as well offering Hokkien lor bak as a topping.
No longer making his own noodles from scratch
At our previous tasting, we were a fan of Soba25’s thick, chewy whole wheat fusion ramen handmade by Hubert using a $600 “basic noodle machine”. Unfortunately, the chef tells us he is no longer making them from scratch at the new joint.
“Space, manpower and time constraints have made it very challenging for me to continue making my own noodles for now, so in order to focus on creating each consistent bowl of goodness and other dishes, I have to give up on in-house noodle making,” he says.
LiuLangMian’s noodles are now made by a local artisanal noodle supplier based on Hubert’s recipe. The new version is slightly thinner, with a more uniform thickness and maintains the same chewiness as the original.
Grilled Duck Soba, $12.80 (8 DAYS Pick!)
Hubert continues to be a proponent for duck-based broth with this clear, briny soup made from salted vegetable, duck bones and niboshi (Japanese dried baby sardine). While not as fortifying as his cloudy, richer paitan-style soup, this broth offers plenty of umami flavour thanks to a heady seasoning of shoyu, Japanese leek oil (ask for less of this as the chef can be rather heavy-handed with it) and smoked duck fat.
Along with firm, al dente noodles with a pleasant earthiness from the whole wheat, it’s served with the same beautifully tender sous vide duck breast chashu that we loved from Soba25. The chef charcoal-grills the duck briefly before serving, which perfumes both the meat and broth with a gorgeous smokiness. While it’s rich, the slight tang in the soup from the salted veg helps freshen things up a bit. Topped with chopped leeks, fermented bamboo shoot and nori, this is a robust, duck-centric take on shoyu ramen that’s totally slurpable. The portion may not look like much, but it goes a long way. Pro tip: top up an extra $2 for a flawlessly gooey-yolked ramen egg, it completes the bowl.
Lor Bak Soba, $12.80
Featuring the same soup and toppings as the above, but with three decadently thick and juicy slices of soy-braised pork belly instead of duck. While this was good at our tasting, our colleague who had it on another occasion found it made the ramen broth too sweet and overwhelmed the smoky notes of the bonito. The silkier, smokier duck is a superior option.
DBJ Chicken Mazesoba, $11.80
This dry-tossed dish comes with minced chicken, crispy wonton skin, pickled mushroom and onsen egg. The spicy fermented bean sauce makes the dish feel more like Chinese la mian. Still, we think some folks will enjoy the moreish, familiar flavours of this dish.
Grilled Chicken Wings, $6.80
Charcoal-grilled mid-joint wings finished with togarashi, pickled onion and a tangy-savoury yuzu and fish sauce dip. Not bad, but we prefer the ngoh hiang (see below).
Ah Mah’s Ngoh Hiang, $6.80 (8 DAYS Pick!)
These crunchy, garlicky pork and prawn rolls are from popular home-based biz Ah Ma’s Ngoh Hiang and pair nicely with the noodles.
Scallion Pancake, $5.80
The supplier-bought pancake is deep-fried and topped with house-made chilli crisp oil and century egg. Quite fragrant and satisfying.
Bottom line
Duck ramen isn’t common in Singapore, but the version here isn’t just a gimmick. The earthy whole wheat noodles are perfectly springy, the soup a complex blend of umami shoyu, briny dried sardines, tangy salted veg and the deep, smoky notes of charcoal-grilled, silky duck slices. Great stuff. Definitely order this over the sweeter lor bak version. Prices are reasonable for the quality of the noodles — worth a trip just for the duck ramen alone.
The details
LiuLangMian Noodle Bar is at #01-03 Alexandra Central Mall, 321 Alexandra Rd, S159971. Open daily except Tue, 11.30am - 3pm & 5.30pm - 9pm. More info via Instagram.
Additional reporting by Florence Fong
Photos: Dillon Tan
