108 Bourke Street, Melbourne | www.ramenya.com.au
One of my more regular haunts, but perhaps not so much in the future as my office will be moving next week. But nonetheless, I popped over to Ramen-Ya today for a last hurrah!
Securing the ultimate flâneur seat (in which time during my sitting I got to observe two parking tickets being issued and a silver suited man walk past), I enjoyed my tonkotsu charsu ramen. Now let me tell you, my bench mark for awesome ramen-ness is based on the spicy pork ramen at Ryo’s Noodles in Sydney, which I have yet to review as I haven’t been there since 2008. Search for “Ryo’s Noodles” and you’ll find a million sites out there dedicated to its awesomeness. And while I am no professional food critic, I do have a very low salt diet and am hence quite sensitive to its use. So then onto the review:
The tonkotsu broth at Ramen-Ya is awesome. It’s super tasty and rich in flavour, without the aid of excessive amounts of salt (or the dreaded MSG!). The charsu you get with it is wonderfully fatty and well balanced by the meat. I don’t worry too much about the other ingredients, but I am happily satisfied after each time I down the very last noodle in the bowl.
Service is friendly, consistent and quick; there is always a nice level of buzz in there so you can have a good gossip with friends; and you can nearly always get a seat.
A great lunch option when you feel like treating yourself.
Rating: Two Mochi
