I had been wondering about the charshu don from Bario for a while after seeing them on the menu. I had been thinking that it looked like it might be good. Now that I've finally had ordered it, it seemed the real thing looks better than it does on menu; and I think I've found my second favourite charshu don.
It was three thick slices of their caramelized charshu over a bowl of rice, drizzled with their soy based sweet and savoury sauce and then aburi-ed. I suspect there's more, but I don't know what else they had done. The prep time took a while and the bowl itself was "please keep your fingers off" hot.
The result was a charred teriyaki-ish aroma with tender meat and fats which dissolved after you've popped them in your mouth. I'm definitely coming back for this one again. Smoky, sweet and savory.
Tonkotsu Itto rotated in just as the current reigning champion for the past 2 years, Ikkousha had moved out of the arena in the very same shop. To digress, Ikkousha is actually finally setting up shop at Tg Pagar and set to open in less than two weeks. They seem to be offering a bunch of red and black and white flavors that a number of other ramen shops are doing that they didn't do in their original shop at Ramen Champion.
Back to Itto, I think I enjoyed their bowl of ramen and wouldn't mind having them again if I were in vicinity, but there was definitely something about Ikkousha and their broth that I felt was ahead.
What Tonkotsu Itto had on menu that was a little different was their lobster tonkotsu which was essentially a regular bowl with a slice of charshu plus a splash of thickened lobster stock on the side. After finishing the noodles, the taste of the broth did remind of a lobster bisque of sorts. Albeit one that was a little more porcine than crustacean.
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