Ramen Ikkyu, Chinatown

Although this epiphany has been a long time brewing, I came to the final conclusion in Tokyo (after some particularly porky ramen soup) that Ramen doesn't quite agree with me. I'm often left feeling a bit gurgley in the stomach, which sucks as I really love eating ramen.

This is probably not the end for moi and ramen though, don't you worry!  Of course, I'm willing to suffer for my food blog as I just had to try Ramen Ikkyu which opened in Chinatown last year to much fanfare (and long queues).

As with most places in Sydney if you wait long enough the queues will die down and this food stall, which is tucked away in the corner of the Sussux Centre Food Court in Chinatown was blissfully not crowded when I arrived for an early after work dinner.

There are so many different types of ramen broth that I find it really really really confusing - salt, soy, miso, chicken, pork, chicken AND pork, chicken and pork with seafood. Wikipedia has been no help so I have NFI what's going on. I *think* that ramen broth/stock is some varation of chicken/pork/whatever and then that broth is flavoured with salt, soy or miso. If I'm wrong let me know...and if you know the deal again, PLEASE let me know.

Ooooh, touch screen ordering! Fun!

The base stock here is a mixture of pork and chicken (aka Paitan) and is described as having quite a "rich mouth feel". This should've been a warning to me that I was going to get "the gurgles" but I went ahead anyway (I'll give you 10 guesses at how this meal ended for me *gurgle*). It looks SO good though, doesn't it?

I ordered the "Chef's Special" ($13.50) which comes with black garlic oil and chilli. I just LOVE the slightly burnt, smokey flavour that the black garlic oil gives the broth. It's quite addictive.

The ramen here is HUGE and comes loaded with egg, bamboo shoots, pork belly, seaweed, shallots, bean sprouts etc etc. As soon as I saw the bowl I instantly knew it was a mistake to order an extra serve of pork on the side but for $3.00 it's hard to resist all the little extras you can buy to top up your bowl.

Needless to say I couldn't finish my meal...even with the extra serve of pork it was WAY too big. Lord knows then how anyone takes up the free offer of "kaedama" - an extra serve of noodles to go with any leftover broth you have left. Gurgle.

Ramen Ikkyu is at Shop F1A - Sussex Centre, 401 Sussex Street, Haymarket. Call them on 9281 0998.

Ramen Zundo, Chinatown

My ramen-loving friends from Street Food staged an Ippudo intervention and dragged me out of Westfield and down to World Square to try their new favourite ramen joint, Ramen Zundo.  After just one bowl of their "Zundo Black" I'm a convert!

We place our order at the counter and receive our magic number so the friendly waitstaff can deliver our bowls of heaven directly to our table. If 42 is the "meaning of life" does then mean that ramen is actually the meaning of life?

I order a hard-boiled soft-yolk egg ($2.00) on the side to add to my ramen...plus a fork. After three decades of trying to use chopsticks I finally give up! The only way not to make a fool of myself is to just bite the bullet and ask for a fork.

I think I've finally decided on my "go to" bowl of ramen - tonkatsu broth (pork) with black garlic oil.  I fell in love with this at Ippudo and I'm pleased to say that the Black Zundo ($11.90) version here is just as good. The broth here is not too thick so there is no overly oily, collagen rich mouth feel. I like the pungent, slightly burnt flavour the garlic oil adds and it's just a little bit salty too. The pork slices were so tender and melt-in-the-mouth and the noodles were soft, but not too soft. Perfection in a bowl.

Mr Shawn orders the Sea Salt Ramen ($11.00). Despite its name the saltiness in this soup is quite mild and the broth is quite clear and thin -- more like a Chinese wonton soup broth than a thick, rich ramen. I think this would be a great warming bowl of soup for when you're feeling a bit under the weather.

The Assari Tonkotsu Niboshi is Miss Chicken's ramen of choice and it's another really great soup.  This ramen is a lighter pork broth that is flavoured with one of my all time favourite foods - anchovies! It's slightly salty, but the anchovy taste is not overpowering.

Ramen Zundo is at Shop 1030 World Square - 644 George Street, Sydney.

Jap's Table, Darlington

My ramen confusion continues with the opening of Jap's Table in Darlington last year.  I've been told by my colleague, Lady Ruth (who has traveled and lived in Japan for years) that the food at Jap's Table is pretty authentic.  Lady Ruth thinks this is as Japanese as you're going to get outside of Japan.

My Japan-o-phile friends from Street Food nod their heads in agreement when I share Lady Ruth's declaration to them.  And it's so close to my work that it would be criminal not to head there and try their  ramen...often.

Mr Jap's Table loves cooking his Yakitori on a charcoal grill out on the sidewalk (let's see how long the council let him get away with this).

The first ramen I try at Jap's Table is the Yokohama Ramen ($9.50), a pork based stock that is much less thick than the Tonkotsu Ramen (pork bone broth) that I've tried at other places. I like this a lot as it's flavoursome but not too rich.  I often find the flavour of Tonkotsu broth a bit too porky (yes, there is such a thing) and too thick with collagen from pork bones used to make the broths.  This ramen is quite "thin" and the addition of a perfect soft yolked egg and thick, fatty pieces of pork belly add a touch of decadence.  I also grab an Ocean Trout + Avocado Roll ($2.80) which is freshly made and absolutely perfect.

On my next visit I try the Su Udon ($9.50) made with Bonito Stock.  The menu says this is a vegetarian dish but just in case you don't know - Bonito is a fish, and a fish is not a vegetable...no matter the cuisine. My vego friend Tara was recently told that seafood eating "vegetarians" are "fish-o-crites". Take note Jap's Table! This is a wonderful soup either way - light, simple and it feels like a healthy dish to eat on a day when you want to eater on the lighter side. Not a dish for Meat Free Monday however.

I'm b-a-c-k! I'm starting to feel a bit like a Jap's Table stalker but when you're on to a good thing just go with it. This time try the raw salmon don ($9.50) and it is another fresh and healthy tasting dish.  There's not much to this really - just sushi rice topped with stripes of raw salmon, sesame seeds and sliced shallots. I add a bit of soy sauce to the bowl to give the rice a bit of moisture.

Of course we've all had a salmon + avocado roll ($2.80) before but Mackerel Sushi ($4 for 3 pieces) is something I've never seen on offer in Australia (or anywhere else for that matter). The fish is less oily and less "strong" in flavour than I had though, overall a nice mild flavoured fish. 

After so many visits it seems about time to try Mr Jap's Table yakatori skewers. I can never pass up chicken skin when I see it on a menu - this is a bit less crunchy (and also more fatty) than the chicken skin I've had at Japanese restaurants, but it's still delicious.  I also try the salmon yakatori and the beef skewer - both are tender and have that beautiful charred flavour of being cooked over charcoal. Lovely.

Jap's Table is a great little place. The food is delicious, simple and flavoursome (and reasonably priced too). I'm glad I have this so close to my work - a little bit of Jap's Table helps break up the dreary work week in the cubicle farm.

Jap's Table is at Shop 6/ 245-249 Abercrombie Street, Darlington.

Menya Noodle Bar, Chinatown

As I continue to explore the various ramen joints on offer in Sydney I've come to the realization that I don't really love ramen all that much (Ippudo so far being the exception to the rule). I'm more of a Udon Noodle Soup kind of girl. Plonk me down in Menya Mappen and I'm as happy as a pig in...well, an udon joint.

Firstly I find all of the different types of ramen truly mind boggling. The BFF and I stood in front of the vast menu board at Menya Noodle Bar in Chinatown for a good 15 minutes and ended up being more confused than when we walked in.  Whilst we stood scratching our head ramen lovers walked right up to the counter to place their order without even a glace towards the menu board. What on earth where they ordering?

One thing is clear though - there are no pretty much no vegetarian options when it comes to ramen...you either go with chicken (tori gari) or pork (tonkotsu) broth. That said, the broth can sometimes be a mixture of both.  There are also variations with or without miso/soy/fish stock added.  The options are truly mind boggling.

After dilly-dallying over my order for nearly 20 minutes I should've gone with my usual "garlic" broth type of ramen as it really is quite tasty - Kogashi Ninniku ($11.30). Needless to say I had massive food envy over The BFFs bowl of aromatic and tasty ramen. The garlic really adds a great depth of flavour.

Compared to The BFFs garlic ramen my big steaming bowl of Ton-toro ramen ($12.30) seems rather bland...although the fatty pieces of pork belly are melt-in-the-mouth soft. Perhaps it would've been a bit more punchy with the addition of miso or shoyu (whatever that may be)....or perhaps one of those wonderful Japanese soft-yolked eggs.

I did order a side of VERY spicy eschallots that I added to my ton-toro broth which gave it a nice chilli hit.  They were just a bit too spicy to eat on their own, but I gave it my best try anyway.

Do you have any tips on which is the best type of ramen to order? What is your favourite? HELP ME!

Menya Noodle Bar is at Shop TG8, 8 Quay Street, Haymarket.

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.

Ramen Bar, Newtown

After my little outing to Gumshara a few weeks ago my interest in Ramen has been piqued. Needless to say I'm more than happy when I find out that Ramen Bar has opened up at Berkelouw Books in Newtown.   Asides from food my other great love is books, combine the two and I'm in heaven.

The menu at Ramen Bar is short and sweet, but I still agonise over what to order. Whilst I found the rich, pork tonkotsu broth at Gumshara interesting I didn't "love love" it. At heart I know I'm more of a Shoyu Ramen girl.  I prefer the thin, salty broth.

So now that we've established that my decision making process seemed to get much easier and I select the Miyagi Ramen ($11.00). Yes children of the 80s this dish is indeed a homage to the wonderful Mr Miyagi of the original Karate Kid (god I loved Ralph Machio in that movie...but I digress).

My Miyagi is made with shyuo broth which has a chicken and vegetable base that is seasoned with mirin, soy, sake and black pepper.  The glossy broth is rich and dark in colour - almost black and it's deliciously salty without being unbearably so.  The pork belly and shoulder are so tender that they shred with just a touch of my fork (yes fork, I'm totally useless with chopsticks).  The addition of a hot spring egg, that is poached rather than soft boiled, is wonderful. A prod of my ever-present fork has yolk oozing into the broth.  HEAVEN!!!

Phuoc opts for the Murakami Ramen ($11) which has all the same components as the wonderful Mr Miyagi, but with a tonkotsu pork broth. The tonkotsu broth at Ramen Bar is made in the traditional Japanese way by the Swedish chef and cooked over an 18 hour period.

As this is Miss Chicken's second visit to Ramen Bar she abandons the menu altogether and hits up the specials board. The Matsumari Ramen ($11.50) comes with mince pork and has a thick miso, sesame paste and tonkotsu broth that is almost stew like in its density. The dish is topped with shredded Bok Choy, bean shoots and corn kernels.

Ramen Bar can be found on the ground floor of Berkelouw Books, 8 O'Connell Street, Newtown.  Slurping is allowed...just not on the books!

Gumshara, Chinatown Sydney

A wet Thursday night mooching around Chinatown with the BFF seems to be the perfect opportunity to head on down to Eating World to check out the legendary ramen on offer at Gumshara.  

Ramen-fanatics rave about Gumshara and its porky, collagen-rich broth know as known as tonkotsu.  This small food stall hidden at the back of a food court in Chinatown almost has a cult following.

The tonkotsu is mix of pork bones and water that are cooked until the bones and marrow break down – leaving a thick collagen rich broth behind (check out Helen's blog for a full-blown-behind-the-scenes account of how the broth is made). If this all sounds like a bit too much porkiness, diners can request a lighter, less rich, broth.  But, the BFF and I are here to try the famous tonkotsu. 

I really want to try the Pork Spare-Rib Noodle ($14.50), but as Gumshara only make 20 of these a day I wasn’t feeling hopeful that there would be any available for me to try as we’d rocked up quite late in the day.  Lady luck was smiling on me however as I’m told there are still a few pork spare-rib noodle soups left – yay!

For an extra $1.50 I add a soft boiled googy-egg to my soup. The egg was so tasty, and the yolk so creamy and soft, that I wish I had ordered two.  The BFF and I also make the most of the free condiments on offer, sprinking our broth with sesame seeds, and taking a little bowl of pickled ginger and chilli to the table with us.

This is without a doubt the thickest and most rich ramen I’ve ever tried, though it is much less salty than I had anticipated. I’m normally more of a Miso Ramen gal myself, so it takes a few sips to get used to the flavour of the tonkotsu. I try not to think too much about the collagen in the broth either as it gets me thinking about Angelina Jolie’s lips just a little too much.  The pork spare rib (along with that delectable egg) is the highlight of the dish for me - fatty, tender and melt in the mouth good. I'm not too happy with the BFF snaffles two big bites all for himself.  Hey, get your own dude.

The BFF opted for the Garlic Tonkotsu Noodle ($10.50), sans egg.  This is basically the same as my ramen, but the thick meaty pork spare rib is replaced with thin slices of roasted pork.  The broth is also slightly more salty than than my plain tonkotsu - but still not salty enough for The BFF.  Both of our dishes come with thin, noodles that quickly absorb the broth and become as slippery as worms (especially for those of us who cannot use chopsticks very well). The ramen is garnished with sliced shallots and a sheet or nori.

The BFF finishes every last drop of his ramen, but my stomach quickly reaches capacity and half of my soup goes untouched.  I blame this partially on the richness of the soup, but also the bucket sized serves.

Gumshara can be found at Shop 209, Eating World Harbour Plaza, 25-29 Dixon Street in Chinatown.