Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Sydney's best ramen places

It's been more than a year since the last time I updated this blog. No excuse from my side, it was a major exam at first, then massive travelling around the globe, and the laziness got the best of me. I still take photos of most of the things I eat everyday (well, the good looking ones) so it would be a waste to dump the photos somewhere in my folder forever. I also do lots of instagram-ing to cheat in an attempt to make me look like a photoshop genius, NOT! Anyhow, let's roll again....

I love the Japanese ramen. When I lived in Japan, I used to buy one of those 37293723 different types of ramen guide books (more like secretly taking photos of the pages with the places I wanna try in the bookstore). Ramen is an art form in Japan, much like sushi making. Ramen masters need years of training across several generations in order to perfect the noodles and the soup base. Each ramen shop has its own distinctive taste of soup base and each has its own fanbase who would be willing to wait for hours just to have a taste of the ramen, including yours truly. Back in Sydney, I struggle to find a bowl of ramen that is as good as the one in Japan, but here are some of the notable ones.


Ryo's noodles

No.4 - Hakata tonkotsu ramen
My no.1 favourite! There are always queues here most nights. Get there before 8pm to make sure that they still have some soup stocks left. I feel that the soup here is "just right" for me, in terms of the thickness and flavour. I think this is the closest to the ramen that I enjoyed in Japan. 

Noodle bear's comments: pretty similar to what i remember it to be like in japan, satisfying 9/10


Ichiban boshi 

Tonkotsu ramen
My second favourite after Ryo's. It lacks the finessee of Ryo's but it is undoubtedly very satisfying without being overly heavy. Best eaten on a cold night. The sign in the store says they only make 15 bowls a day but no matter how late I go there I still manage to get my tonkotsu ramen fix. 

Noodle bear's comments: is just good but i don't think its as good as the other two


Gumshara

Mega tonkotsu ramen
Get this if you want to experience pork in its purest form. Apparently they boil 120kg of pork bones with nothing else every single day to get the soup base. Gumshara has gathered a strong cult following over the years, but I personally find the soup too thick and porky for my liking. This is actually the noodle bear's favourite ramen in Sydney.

Noodle bear's comments: the BEST because its so rich! 10/10

My credibility? I love ramen, used to live in Japan and cuddled my ramen guide book to sleep, tried all these places with the self-proclaimed noodle connoisseur bear.


Ryo's Noodle
125 Falcon St
North Sydney NSW 2060


Ichiban Boshi
360 Oxford St
Bondi Junction NSW 2022


Gumshara
Eating World Haymarket Chinatown
Shop 209, 25-29 Dixon St
Haymarket NSW 2000

5 comments:

  1. holy molly — that Mega tonkotsu ramen is MEGA!

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  2. haha yep! that is one crazy big ramen! I love ryo's :)

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  3. Luckily Gumshara is in the area I'm most likely to visit. Ugh but now I want ramen as well! And I just don't know any good ones on the Northern Beaches

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  4. Dear fluffy,

    We got to Ryo at about 8.30pm one Saturday night and they were already closing because they ran out of stock! Gumshara is good but I found the stock too rich for my liking.

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