Ippudo at Central Park, Ultimo

Ah winter days are over, and that means the days of hot bowls of ramen are coming to a close... But my adamant love for ramen demands that I squeeze it in as much as I can before the weather gets much too hot to handle steaming hot ramen! Australian summers, you are just much too brutal. I was kindly invited by Sana on behalf of Ippudo to try out their newly opened branch in Central Park Sydney - definitely a convenient location for you USYD and UTS students. She was an absolutely delight to speak to and went over the menu with us, sadly informing us that the pork buns are not currently available on the menu. Ah well, there are other items to try!

L to R: Iced oolong tea, $4.00 / Homemade lemon lime & bitters, $5.00

Warm days mean cool drinks! I was glad to taste an unsweetened iced oolong tea and lemon lime bitters are always a refreshing drink to have on standby at any restaurant really.

Seared salmon sushi, $13.00

Salmon has got to my favourite fish. And when it's seared, there's just this delicious smoky flavour that's hard to beat. Naturally, this dish had to be ordered! Plus our curiosity over the mentai mayo really got us. It turned out to be a very welcome addition indeed, adding a lovely creamy zing to the palette. And we all know that avocado and salmon is a classic combination. Fatty salmon and more healthy fats from avocado? Don't mind if I do!

Extras plate

 Since we ordered the ramen specials, both came with its own plate of extras including a soy egg, bean sprouts, seaweed, bamboo shoots, black fungus, chopped spring onion and extra chashu (win!).

Miso tonkotsu special, $25.00

I absolutley love corn in my ramen because it adds that little burst of sweetness that goes really well with the tonkotsu broth. I found that the addition of miso to the tonkotsu broth made this one quite incredibly salty. Whilst still tasty, it was a tad much after a while but at least we had our oolong tea and lemon lime bitters! The noodles were cooked with just enough bounce - the perfect texture :D

Shiromaru special, $23.00

The original tonkotsu broth was less sodium based than the miso tonkotsu version and I preferred this one a lot more. As before, there was nothing to fault with the way the noodles were cooked and along with all those toppings, I was one happy ramen eater. I would recommend you put the egg in the soup to warm up a bit as it does come cold on the extras plate. What I did like was that the yolk inside was still soft and definitely not overcooked!

Blue Mountains, $13.00

And of course one cannot finish dinner without dessert. Though Gingerbreadmanne and I were incredibly full, we couldn't go past this green tea sundae. Who can resist green tea icecream, red beans, mandarins, oranges, apricots and coconut jelly? The icecream was so smooth and creamy and despite our initial thoughts of only having a few spoonfuls, we managed to polish off the entire thing (no ragrats, not even one letter).

At this stage, we were incredibly full and so very, very content with all that was eaten. Service here was incredibly efficient and the staff were nothing short of friendly with all the Japanese greetings - love that subtle touch of authenticity to add to the dining experience! You can find our more about Ippudo Central Park here.

Crystal Noir and friend dined as guests of Ippudo Central Park courtesy of Motoyama Sana of SD Marketing. Opinions however, are entirely her own.

Ippudo
Lower Ground, Central Park

28 Broadway Chippendale, NSW, 2008

Opening Hours

Monday - Wednesday: 11:00am - 10:00pm

Thursday - Saturday: 11:00am - 11:00pm

Sunday: 11:00am - 9:00pm

Ramen Hunting in Sydney

If there's one dish I have just a little bit of a slight obsession with, it's got to be ramen. I am not kidding you when I say I really love ramen. Probably not as much as Naruto (anybody else ever watched this anime/read the manga?) but close enough I'd say. I did eat it for breakfast, lunch AND dinner on one of my days in Tokyo these past holidays. Yet I come back to Sydney to eat more of it! The hunt for excellent ramen in Sydney continues.

I would never really make an extra trip up to the Northern suburbs if I didn't really have to but one night I found myself in North Sydney and a quick search up on my phone told me Ryo's was nearby in the area. Ramen for dinner it was!

Ramen in tonkotsu soy sauce flavoured soup with roast pork, nori, egg and shallots, $13.50

I believe tonkotsu soup is always the way to go :P This one had a touch of soy added to give it that extra kick of saltiness. The noodles retained a good amount of bounce and I really couldn't get enough of the tonkotsu soup - the broth is the most important element in a bowl of ramen! It wasn't as thick as the likes of Gumshara (which is definitely on the heavy side) so it was very easy to down. I always get an egg if it doesn't come with the ramen but luckily this one did! Still soft and gooey so nothing but positives about it. I would have to say it's one of the more authentically Japanese ramens in Sydney.

When we left, there was a massive line waiting outside so that says wonders about its popularity!

Ryo's
125 Falcon St
Crows Nest, NSW, 2065

Opening Hours
Monday - Sunday: 12:00 noon - 2:00pm and 5:00 - 9:00pm



Another one that has received raves from the blogging community resides in the humble food court of Sussex Centre in Chinatown. Who says you can't get good food in food courts? This food court has undergone a renovation and is actually surprisingly clean compared to what it used to be. You'll find Ramen Ikkyu huddled in the far corner so it could be easily overlooked if you don't know what you're looking for.

Pork rib ramen, $20.00

For twenty bucks, you're sure getting your fair share of meat. JUST LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT PORK RIB. It was amaaazingly soft and tender with lovely fatty parts throughout, and they cut it off the bone for easy eating but don't fret! The bone is still given to you for some caveman chowing :P (We all know the meat on the bone is the most flavoursome). This broth here has a mix of chicken, pork and seafood and is very discernable on the palette. I have to say that my preferences lay with the classic all pork broth (tonkotsu all the way!) but this one was still very delicious. And of course, if you haven't heard of the kaedama, I'm sure that this free extra serving of noodles will tempt you for a visit to Ramen Ikkyu! I would go back for that pork rib alone :D

Ramen Ikkyu
Shop F1A 401 Sussex St
Haymarket, NSW, 2000
Sussex Centre Food Court

Opening Hours
Monday - Sunday: 12:00 noon - 8:00pm

Gumshara, Haymarket

"I love ramen," I said whilst slurping on awesome ramen, not giving a care in the world how I looked.
"Have you been to Gumshara?" my friend asks. 

And thus the legendary ramen of Gumshara was brought up again. I have heard its name far and wide, heard it was good, and that it was the collagen-rific soup of dreams but with all the hype, can it really live up to its name? So it was that one hungry afternoon, I made a pit stop with my sister to try this amazing soup that cooks for hours and hours upon their stove pot in the small kitchen of Eating World food court.

Gumshara is an unassuming little joint, with a little shop front. As long as we can order, that's good enough for me. I was very insistent upon trying the thick tonkotsu soup, but they don't serve that until 5pm ie dinner service. What a pity that was - so disappointing!

Garlic tonkotsu ramen noodle, $11.50

I settled upon the garlic tonkotsu ramen because how can you go wrong with garlic oil? ;) Best stuff ever! So how was it? Can I just say that the soup is the stuff of dreams? With an awesome hit of garlic! Love it. If this was the thinner soup, the thick one must be super intense! This was still sticky enough from all the collagen boiled down from the bones that you could feel it sticking to your lips. The flavour was strong and the noodles were awesomely springy. Of course I also had to nab those eggs first before my sister could even try to steal them. As everyone with siblings knows, first come, first served! Mm, googy eggs... And those ribbons of fat on the chashu! So tender and melt in the mouth... I really wonder if I could down a bowl of the thicker soup. I guess it warrants a revisit to test my limits!

Gumshara Ramen
Shop 211 25-29 Dixon St
Haymarket, NSW, 2000

Opening Hours

Monday: 11:30am - 8:30pm

Tuesday - Saturday: 11:30am - 9:00pm

Sunday: 11:30am - 8:30pm

Ramen Zundo, Sydney CBD

Whilst I love a good bowl of pho, there's something about collagen-rich soup that has me craving ramen. K and I were on a mission to convert one of our fellow friends who is a ramen hater after her experience at Ajisen Ramen. It was nonsense that she didn't like ramen! So to Ramen Zundo we went, intending to convert that hate into love.

Ramen Zundo was packed when we wandered in for lunch. We managed to luckily snag the last available table. They have a loyalty program where if you order enough times over $10, you will receive a free dish. There is an open window with a view of the kitchen so that you can see the chefs hard at work creating your meal.

Zundo black, $11.80

I have a penchant for garlic so I picked the tonkotsu based soup with galic oil yay! The soup is nowhere near as thick or rich as Gumshara, but still absolutely delicious. There were beansprouts and shreds of cabbage which I found to be a welcome change to feel like you're being healthier and eating your veggies. And that chashu! It was so tender and melt in the mouth from the fat... I could eat pieces and pieces of that chashu alone!

Double soup, $11.80

K opted for the double soup, which is a combination of both the chicken and pork broth, creating a soup which is much lighter. For some reason, I thought there seemed to be a slight seafood-like taste to the broth despite the fact that there is none! That googy egg also looked so good, glistening atop the noodles.

Zundo white, $11.80

My ramen hater friend ordered the classic tonkotsu. The verdict? I can say with happiness that she will be joining our ramen adventures in the future :D Absolute love for the soup and chashu. I think K and I succeeded on our mission that day.

Next time I'm coming back, I am going to order extra chashu :P

So do let me know, do you prefer to have a richer soup like ramen or something lighter like pho?

Ramen Zundo
Shop 1030 World Sq 644 George St
Sydney, NSW, 2000
http://www.ramenzundo.com.au/

Tenkomori Ramen House, Sydney CBD

Who doesn't love a good bowl of warm, steaming ramen? There's something about slurping the noodles that's so comforting. Ultimate winter food don't you think? Even though it's not winter yet, Sydney's had some pretty crazy weather that's been all over the place lately and despite it currently being summer, there's been some cold wintery days too! Though it has been heating up this past week... What is with that?

Tenkomori is the brother store of Menya Mappen and Oiden where you line up cafeteria style, pick your ramen base and add on anything else that takes your fancy from the hot bar or cold dishes!

Tonkotsu butter corn ramen, large $7.30

I love tonkotsu based ramen! Mm, pork collagen... This was particularly good because the butter made it that much richer. Look at the pool of yellow the melted butter left behind! I also loved hunting for those little pieces of corn.

Chicken kara-age, $2.20 & takoyaki, $2.00

Fried chicken! It tasted good but for some reason it was cold :( I always can't help but grab myself a stick of takoyaki. Love that stuff!

Tonkotsu curry ramen, regular $6.30 & mushroom salad, $1.80 (I think)

I was really interested in this ramen because I've never eaten curry with ramen before and I wasn't sure how the two would pair. It actually tasted good! If you like Japanese curry, you'll love this :) And those mushrooms that have been marinated were quite sweet, pairing very well with the spicy kick from the curry.

If you're up for something quick, and something cheap then this place is it.

Tenkomori Ramen House
Shop 16 Regent Place, George St
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Ippudo, Westfield Sydney, CBD

Westfield Sydney has opened yet another world-renowned restaurant and this time, it features delicious ramen that is best eaten by slurping. The lines that would snake around just outside were rumoured to be at least 40 minutes long when they first opened. Never having anything like that deter me, I went at times when people would normally not eat - at 11 and 5. Of course we were instantly seated :D

Pork buns, $4.00 each

Who could say no to these cute buns? They were gloriously good. Soft, fluffy, pillowy bun with a soy-braised pork belly with lettuce for crunch and a squeeze of kewpie mayo for good measure. I could order myself multiple of these until I fill up all my stomach space with just these! They do look like the Momofuku ones but I haven't tried them so I can't compare. It will be on my list of go-to's!

Ippudo chashu gohan, $5.50

Underneath the mountain of seaweed was little pieces of simmered pork belly where some of the sauce has gone through to the rice at the very bottom. The soft meat was tender and the fat just melted in the mouth... Delicious! My only complaint would be that there definitely wasn't enough pork belly ;)

Karaka men chashu, $21.00

I was expecting more flavour from the tonkotsu broth in this ramen but the spicy miso definitely overtook the flavour of the broth in this particular ramen. It would be very nice if I was in the mood for that particular spicy flavour though!

Akamaru shinaji, $16.00

The pick of the two ramen dishes was this one. The tonkotsu broth was enhanced with miso paste and garlic oil, creating a rich broth that definitely hit the spot. I loved the addition of black mushroom and shallots. The noodles were thin and were cooked with just enough bite. I was sad there was only one slice of pork belly! It definitely was a good slice though ;)

If I'm craving a good ramen, I know where I can get it now (:

Ippudo Sydney
Level 5 Westfield Sydney
188 Pitt St
Sydney, NSW, 2000

Opening Hours
Open daily from 11:00am - 11:00pm