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What is it about Ramen?
Lying in bed on Saturday morning, I was checking out Facebook and watching New York's "Ramen Shack" do a pop up for one day. The man had taken 5 days to prepare 400 portions of the most perfect Ramen. I was hooked, mesmerised, I needed a Ramen fix.
Where to go? This place had received some great reviews, so I thought, lets go!
It was about 12:30pm on a Saturday and as I walked around Milligan St looking for this place, and not finding it, I saw a group of 4 young Asian guys and thought, Im close! Follow those guys. The restaurant is located in the Melbourne Hotel but on the Hay Street side. A small queue had formed and I knew I had arrived.
From the street the restaurant is lovely and clean and has a nice Japanese aesthetic. I noticed in the reviews many people complaining about the size of the restaurant, but for me it just confirms a closer tie to life in Japan. I could see people greedily gobbling down life giving bowls of Ramen, enjoying their Saturday with a good friend.
Even though I was in the queue for about 30 min it was all part of the experience. In Asia if you want good food, be prepared to line up. After living in China for the best part if a year, you learn to stay in the queue and not try the restaurant next door with NO customers in it. 🤢
So enjoy the queue. I ended up chatting with the four young guys about what was the best choice here and hands down they agreed the original Ramen was the best.
As I was on my own I got seated fairly quickly. This place is not where you bring 10 friends. The best groupings are 1, 2 or 4. But no more than that. They can do 6 but I saw that family wait a long time.
The serving staff were lovely and took their time to explain how to use the little sesame bowl and how to choose my Ramen using the order sheet. I chose the Black Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen special, with everything on the order sheet ticked normal except I wanted my soup hot.
But please note: do not expect your Ramen to come out boiling hot. It wont happen. The Japanese believe that food should be served at the right temperature as flavours are best experienced that way.
My Ramen came out and it looked amazing. Lovely big slices of pork and a gooey egg on top. I tried the soup that had not touched the spicy black oil yet and it was amazing. Lovely and rich. The noodles were perfect and had a great texture. There were complimentary eggs and marinated bean sprouts on the table. I also ordered a hot green tea and this really complimented the meal.
The spicy black oil was nice but a little on the heavy side and if I go again I will just order the original Ramen. The boys were right. 😂
So if you're craving a Ramen, this place wont disappoint. Enjoy the experience of Japans best comfort food, Ramen.
I must mention that their service was great! We took a small bub, so they made sure if she could be seated secure. Very busy place but gave us enough space.
Ramen was also good. The soup has bold thick flavour. Some may find it is fatty (I ordered 'notmal'). Not milk-like tonkotsu soup. It reminds me the ramen o-san in Sydney.
I definitely go back again.
Just a note for parents with small child:
They don't have a high chair, but provide booster seat. If your bub cannot sit without support, it would be difficult. The place is very tiny, so it would be better to avoid the peak time if you bring in a pram.
The ramen is simply delicious and authentic. Many Japanese flocked this place. So I am sure it indeed has that authentic Japanese taste. Be ready to wait in line. Evening last order is at 8:30 PM although open until 9:00 PM.
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