Monday, January 21, 2013

Ippudo, Sydney CBD

Ippudo. You'll either know what that means...or you won't. Which means you're either a ramen lover or you're not.  I'm a ramen liker...but I know people who are Ramen lovers...one of whom recommended that I try Ippudo, a ramen joint from Japan, when I was in New York last year. Sadly I just never got around to it (too full, not enough time and they weren't open when I finally attempted a visit) and I can't help but feel like I really missed out on something special.


Low and behold a year later Ippudo has opened up shop in Westfield Sydney so my opportunity to try their legendary ramen was finally able to come true...along with half of Sydney! Although their prices are...not cheap, I'm fairly sure it's the steep rent that Westfield charge and not Ippudo's use of free-range pork that accounts for their pricy ramen. There was a major lost-in-translation moment when trying to ascertain the provenance of their porky goods - sometimes you've just gotta go with the flow and do the best you can when you can. Which is not at Ippudo.


The queues at Ippudo are HUGE and The BFF and I beat the queues by arriving for an early dinner on a Tuesday night. Yet again my tendency towards nana dining hours has paid off. We walked right in at 5.30pm and got a seat...by 6.00pm their was a queue out the door and a wait an hour long!


We kick things off with a few nibbles - probably a mistake considering that the ramen is pretty filling, but we just HAD to try the Pork Buns here ($4.00). A thick slab of braised pork with Ippudo's slightly spicy "original sauce" comes sandwiches between a soft pillowy steamed-bun. It's REALLY GOOD and it's hard to stop at just one.

As I'm in love with Chinese cucumber with soy, chilli + garlic I CANNOT go past Ippudo's Japanese cucumber that is seasoned with a sesame oil dressing and topped with sesame seeds and a chilli powder. It's light and refreshing and it just has to be healthy, right? A serve of Gyoza ($6.00) are small, but very flavoursome and has us wishing there were six and not five dumplings.


Ippudo here in Sydney offer up just three types of ramen - all with a porky tonkotsu broth so it's not a vegetarian friendly place by any stretch of the imagination.

Showing that great minds do think alike The BFF and I both order the Akamaru Chashu ($20.00) - a big steaming bowl of tonkotsu (pork) broth that isn't as thick, or as porky, as Gumshara's legendary ramen. The Akamaru on its own is $16 - add another $2 for a flavoured, soft yolked egg and another $2 for some fatty, silky, melt-in-your-mouth pork belly.  The broth is topped with a fragrant blend of miso paste and garlic oil which is simply magical - I love the slightly garlicy, slightly salty taste that this lends to the broth.  The noodles are quite thin and are not the highlight of the ramen by any means, but we like the novelty of choosing how well done the noodles are cooked...we go with "hard" which we're told is the way it's done in Japan.


Our waitress provides us with some white and black peppercorns so we can spice up our ramen if we like. How amazing is this sesame seed grinder?  I simply MUST have one for home, for those rare occasions when I need to smoosh sesame seeds. I'm just not sure where I can find one in Sydney?


I'm WAY too full for dessert by The BFF has his heart set on trying the Kurogoma Panna Cotta ($7.00). The panna cotta is as light as a feather and the black sesame flavour is delicate but definitely present. Black sesame always reminds me of cookies + cream...


The ramen isn't cheap here but considering the amount of food we ate I think that $36 each isn't too bad for the city.  Would I come back - hell yeah, I already have!


Ippudo Sydney can be found on Level 5 of Westfield Sydney, Pitt Street Mall, Sydney.

Ippudo on Urbanspoon

27 comments:

  1. I went back 3 times in the one week. I think that's saying something....... ALWAYS YES TO MULTIPLE PORK BUNS!

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    1. LOL...I don't feel quite so obsessive going twice in two weeks then..

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  2. Amazing timing ... not only your 5.30pm 'nana' table nabbing touch, but also your post. I need to find some good ramen places to explore, and you've just pointed me in the right direction.
    Thanks - great post.

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    1. Are you on a ramen hunt? Gumshara is also good (it has a cult following in Sydney) and Ryo's in Crows Nest is also good I've heard...along with a place in Potts Point that Dan Hong (Ms G's) is always tweet about - Blancharu or something like that.

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  3. OK I need one of those grinders! I feel like thicker noodles would make this perfect, but I def need ot give it a shot.

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    1. It was delicious Nic, but I can't think of anything on their menu that a vegetarian could eat...

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  4. Love their awesome pork buns! But I'm not a fan of their ramen at all. Broth is really good but that's about it. Found it over-priced too :( That's just me.

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    1. I liked the flavour of the broth and the pork; the egg was different to what I was expecting (not soft yolk) and I love their pork buns!

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  5. Ooh that bowl of ramen looks good... Glad to hear that you managed to nab seats before the line built up! It's always crazy long...

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  6. They sell the grinders at the upstairs section of Maruyu on Clarence Street and at Tokyo Mart, Northbridge. I have far too many japanese kitchen accessories that are completely underused (3 pronged kewpie dispenser and special seaweed scissors).

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    1. Thanks SO much Laura! I'll be checking out the city store soon!

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    2. Have you been able to find it? I went last week and they told me they didn't have any :(
      & that's the same with Daiso??! boo.

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  7. So you were too full for dessert... but still had it! :)

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    1. I had a mouthful of The BFFs, no way I wanted a dessert for myself.

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  8. Oh those pork bind are divine! Love this place and this post ; )

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    1. The pork buns were great - I'd say a happy go to if you can't get to NYC to try the real deal in NYC (or if you can't stand the thought of going to Star City to try Momofuku pork buns there).

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  9. I have only been here once and will be definitely going back again (tomorrow in fact!)and I cannot wait to have a pork bun...
    Great post Mel!

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  10. The queues are crazy aren't they? And I picked up one of those sesame grinders at Daiso on George St (next to the Great Southern Hotel) only the other week. Just $2.80!

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  11. The pork buns look amazing! Dessert looks good too! :)

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  12. yes this place isnt cheap but i love it and so worth it!

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  13. Yet to try, but looking forward to doing so.

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  14. you have to be kidding me. the ramen itself is 16$ and you have to add your own toppings?

    and you've been back multiple times?

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  15. I am so intrigued by the black sesame panna cotta! :O

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