I was back in my home town of Sydney over Christmas and New Years and it was a refreshing change (albeit stinking hot - the heat I definitely do not miss!).
My goal was to pretty much eat at all my usual haunts in addition to trying a few new places. Bourke Street Bakery, Hai Au, Bau Truong - I still adore you all and glad you're still going strong for when we eventually return back home. But as you all know, I am a bit of a maniac for a good bowl of ramen.
I've tried ramen all over the world and nothing beats the ones back in Sydney (except for those ramen stands in Tokyo but seriously, nothing can hold a candle to the food in Japan. Period.)
My all time favourite ramen place has got to be Menya Noodle Bar in Chinatown (the original and not the offshoot they have since opened up on Market Street). Mr GluttonousGoat and I have been coming here since it opened back in 2005 and used to go at least once a week when we lived in Sydney. Days before ramen became all the rage in Sydney and started popping up everywhere like the dreaded weed.
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| Menya: kogashi-ninniku ramen |
I would usually order the ni-tamago ramen without fail, however because the yolk is semi runny and not ideal for pregnant women I opted for the kogashi ninniku ramen (or black garlic ramen in plain English) this time around.
The stock was as I remembered it and the noodles firm to the bite. I would have liked some ni-tamago because they make really good ones here, but anyways better to err on the side of safety.
Curious about the other ramen offerings that have since opened during our time away from Sydney, I dragged Mr GluttonousGoat to the various ramen joints that have had great write-ups - Ippudo (the ever popular Japanese and New York ramen eatery) located inside the swanky new Westfield's on Pitt Street had a lovely ramen offering and their ever famous steamed pork bun (yum!), Gumshara, at Eating World in Haymarket was pork/gelatin overload. We could barely finish the bowl (shared amongst four people I might add), but that could also be due to the fact that we had just finished a meal up the road at Mamak in addition to a bubble tea (yes, we're gluttons and gluttons stick together!).
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| Gumshara: black garlic ramen |
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| Ippudo: akamaru shinaji |
Prior to our ramen-athon in Sydney we had spent a couple days in London visiting friends and also indulging in food that we can't find in our adoptive city.
Once again, ramen was the theme and it so happened that two new ramen bars had opened up in the Soho/Piccadilly area. Bone Daddies, a highly anticipated opening and one that scored rave reviews was a total let down. The portions were measly and the stock lacked the usual umami factor that is highly present in Menya's stock. So disappointed I was that I persuaded my companions to head down to Shoryu to compare their version with Bone Daddies. Alas, the line was too long and I had to return myself the following day...
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| Bone Daddies: tonkotsu ramen |
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| Shoryu: yuzu tonkotsu ramen |
The tonkotsu ramen stock at Shoryu had a greater depth than the one at Bone Daddies and the yuzu paste added a nice dimension to an otherwise stock standard pork broth. I also tend to judge a Japanese eatery by its wait staff. Shoryu has only Japanese wait staff whereas the servers at Bone Daddies were wannabe grungy looking student traveller types who were more interested in looking "cool" then understanding the complexity behind a ramen stock. Hmm...
After 5 bowls of ramen in 2 different countries in a matter of weeks, I still gravitate towards my first love - Menya.
As they say, "there's no love like the first".
[sydney]
menya
shop tg8, 8 quay street, haymarket, nsw, 2000
http://www.menya.com.au/
ippudo sydney
westfield sydney, level 5, 188 pitt street, sydney, nsw, 2000
http://www.ippudo.com.au/
gumshara
shop 211, 25-29 dixon street, haymarket, nsw, 2000
no website
[london]
bone daddies
31 peter street, london, w1f 0ar
http://bonedaddiesramen.com/
shoryu
9 regent street, london, sw1y 4lr
http://www.shoryuramen.com/
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