More chefs are making nuanced broths and noodles that tell a personal story the larger ramen franchises can’t.
Melbourne’s ramen love affair is evolving. For the past decade or so, the ramen scene has been dominated by franchises such as Hakata Gensuke, Ippudo and Mensho – places often with broad menus and flavour bombs to capture the masses. However, more refined, single-minded shops are beginning to emerge. These shops dive into one specific broth, sauce base, and noodles, based on regional produce in Japan, and you can expect nuanced slurps with personal inspiration from the chef.
For monthly innovations and Ginza-esque cool: Suupaa
Cremorne’s brand new Suupaa, from the Future Future team, serves a monthly rotating ramen with a slick convenient store twist. Its current bowl is a chicken and pork broth mixed with a base of two types of miso rendered in pork mince and fat, and boosted by scallop powder. Wagyu brisket slices also make an appearance, marinated overnight in salt koji and slow-cooked for 36 hours. The black garlic and sesame tan tan, a soup-less “abura” style vegetarian ramen with burnt-garlic chilli oil and crunchy broad bean furikake, is also a standout.
The next monthly ramen will be inspired by Tokyo-style shoyu. “For Atsushi [Kawakami] our head chef, it’s a particularly nostalgic dish,” says Suupaa co-owner Stefanie Breschi. “He remembers childhood visits with his father to Ogikubo, a Tokyo neighbourhood known as ramen town, home to some of Japan’s oldest ramen shops.” Expect slices of chashu pork neck, bamboo shoots and a slick of chicken and duck fat oil.
Pro tip: Later this month, Suupaa will launch a “Custom Cup” for customers to create their own takeaway noodles with fresh ingredients.
65 Dover Street, Cremorne, suupaa.au
For the shoyu devotee: Ramen Shouyuya Sake Bar
Chef Fujio Tamura dedicates his non-descript store in Brunswick to shoyu (soy sauce) ramen, with three choices on the menu. Tamura adds depth to his broth by using niboshi (boiled and sun-dried anchovies) and kelp from Hokkaido, imparting a savoury character distinct from more common bonito stock. This combination shines in his slow-cooked duck shoyu, a nod to a traditional duck and soba dish. Thin, springy Australian wheat noodles are made in-house on an imported Yamato machine.
Pro tip: Experience the full depth of Tamura’s shoyu with the tofu entree, served with three types of soy sauce from three different prefectures (Aichi, Gunma, Hyogo), topped with grated ginger bonito flakes, spring onion and nori.
692 Sydney Road, Brunswick, instagram.com/shouyuyasakebar
For ramen like a mother’s hug: Ramen Ako’s
Ako’s in Fitzroy is a heartfelt story, born from owner Sho Iijima’s nostalgia for his mother’s home-style chicken soup from Kanagawa, Japan. This translates to a concise menu where chicken shio ramen – clear chicken broth with a salt-based tare – is the hero. Sho only serves 80 to 100 bowls daily, each with meticulously prepared house-made noodles, tender torched pork chashu, marinated egg and bamboo shoots with a perfect bite. A vegan mushroom broth, also inspired by Ako’s recipes, offers an equally nourishing alternative.
Pro tip: Order the house-made chilli oil (rayuu) for an extra kick and finish your bowl to reveal Ako’s own calligraphy at the bottom.
368 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, instagram.com/ramenakosfitzroy
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