I know I know, I’ve blogged about ramen twice in a row. Have I gone on a ramen bend? Have I let my noodle addiction out of the bag? Have I ditched my matcha obsession for ramen? Certainly not, and you’ll see if you scroll to the end of this post that my matcha obsession is well and truly still alive.
Last ramen post was about a pretty decent and affordable ramen. This one? This is ramen royalty, Ippudo.
My love for Ippudo was first ignited many years ago when I escaped the New York City snow with my friend Ken and queued for an hour, hoping the ramen would be as good as they say, blissfully unaware of the long term, international affair I was to have with erm, noodles and broth. The affair took us across oceans to Hong Kong and down south to Sydney and to this day I’m still utterly smitten by their Akamaru Shinaji ramen, which is addictively laced with drugs fragrant garlic oil.
But this time, I didn’t get the Akamaru. Enticed by their seasonal menu, I ordered the Miso Tonkotsu with pork belly, bamboo, shallots, cabbage, bean sprouts and half nitamago (soft boiled egg seasoned with soy sauce). Rich, tasty, probably not as mind-blowingly awesome as the Akamaru but still, it hit the spot.
And because I’m stupidly greedy, I ordered the special ($24 vs the regular $17, which is down right scary compared to Wagaya’s $6.50 lunch special) with extra All Of The Toppings on the side. Which incidentally, didn’t actually all fit into the ramen bowl at the same time. I know, I tried.
Ever tempted by their a la carte menu (because yes, you can go to Ippudo and not eat ramen, but why would you?) we shared the wagyu tataki. Gorgeously tender meat with delicious ponzu dressing but also something you can get at any other decent Japanese restaurant. Stick to the ramen.
We also had the pork buns which, ho hum… I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, they ain’t got nothing on Momofuku when it comes to the pork buns. I mean just look at this:
… and then look at this. If there’s one thing I’d recommend Ippudo review, it would be the portion size of the pork they serve up because without sounding like all I care about is the pork (but really, all I care about is the pork) you guys are in the scrimp zone. For one thing, your bun actually closes on top of the pork. And secondly… no, there’s no second. Just give us more pork please.
(Incidentally if you can’t actually skip hop over to the US of A for Momofuku Noodle Bar, check out Momofuku Seiõbo at The Star in Sydney. I believe they serve the pork buns on their bar menu.)
And finally, the pièce de résistance, the Blue Moutains (shouldn’t it be green?) – matcha ice cream parfait with red beans, coconut jelly, mandarin and apricot pieces and though the menu didn’t include this, I was very pleasantly surprised by the corn flakes on the bottom of the pile. Because corn flakes and ice cream. Almost as good as French fries and ice cream.
It was so huge. We ate so much. I had a tummy ache when I got home.
So if you’ve read the whole post well thank you, but I think I can summarise it into this: AWESOME RAMEN. Don’t bother with pork buns or a la carte. Dessert’s good if you can fit it in.
By the way, the ramen love is about to grow. Queue no more (or maybe there will be two big queues now), Ippudo will be opening their second store in Sydney’s Central Park (L1, 28 Broadway, Chippendale) around mid-September. Be excited. Be very excited.
Disclaimer: I was invited to dine by Ippudo, but hand on my heart, I do adore the Akamaru to smithereens.
Ippudo Sydney
Westfield, L5
188 Pitt Street
Sydney, NSW, 2000
(02) 8078 7020
website
