Ippudo Ramen Sydney Westfield

Ever since finding out that Ippudo was going to open up here in Sydney I was quite excited, since my experience at their Kyoto restaurant was really good. Of course, knowing that they're opening inside Westfield would mean elevated prices I was still hopeful. Thinking that if it's anything like their Kyoto counterpart it'll be worth it. 

So today I decided to visit them during my lunch break after hearing they were finally open. I had in my mind a price of $12 thinking that would be about reasonable. But er, I was close. Basic ramen (either white or red) sets you back $13. However if you want egg it'll cost you $15 and 4 slices of roast pork brings the damage up to $17. This was the one I went for. Again, still hopeful that it'll be just like the kyoto one. And these prices are the 'take away' prices. IE, you get your ramen in a bow, on a tray and you need to fend for yourself during the lunchtime rush at the Westfield food court.

Well, the taste was pretty close. You do get a delightful broth that's thick but not too thick. The flavour is just right and you get the thin, hard ramen that's perfect for the style. They're hard, but quite chewy. But the portion? Let's just say that your average Aussie would call that portion what entrees have for entree. Really? You want $17 for this? All I can say is that it was probably a bad idea to open up inside Westfield. I mean decor wise they've done a good job but it's not really a premium ramen place. I think they deserve to succeed, and I want them to succeed but they've definitely chose the wrong place to do it. Westfield- your excessive rent charges are ruining things for people...

Having said all that, the ramen is pretty darn good. I'd say go have a look see and taste if you have a company credit card for lunch. Take your clients. There are worse places to go.

As a comparison, one portion of the ramen in Kyoto is 850 yen, and if you add both egg and pork, that brings the total to 1150 yen. (These prices are for the 'red' ramen). You might say, well, that's pretty close to AUD ain't it? What's your beef? Well, count the number of slices of pork you get in Japan, plus the portion itself is twice the size of the one you get in Sydney. Plus some things ARE more expensive in Japan... Below images are from the Ippudo ramen in Kyoto

For my own hard earned money I still can't go past Gumshara - a Tarts favourite. They're still the best ramen deal in town.  So good we've done 4 posts on them...

And if you're not in the CBD, I'd try Zenya in Eastwood.

Gumshara

Ramen Sensei Mr Akasako of Muteppou visits Gumshara

Ramen Gumshara
Eating World - Harbour Plaza
Dixon Court
25-29 Dixon St
Haymarket NSW 2000
Closed : Mondays

Ah ramen, how we love thee.

We love your progenitors in China, we love the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum, and though we have not yet made it to the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum, we shall one day visit, clutching The Ramen King and I : How the Inventor of Instant Noodles Fixed My Love Life.

A number of the Tarts love the ramen at Gumshara, though our preferences are different. I myself like the Tonkotsu (aka "the Chronic"), which hails from Kyūshū . Others prefer the Chasu (with extra egg).  Preferences aside, we are in agreement about the addictive taste of Chef Mori's famous award winning ramen.

On 5 Feb 2010 an email appeared in my in-box from Mori, teling me that his Sensei (Master), Mr Akasako of the Muteppou ramen restaurants (Kyoto, Osaka and Nara), had finally found the time to come to Australia and that he would be happy to meet with me.

I was a little excited.

Okay, maybe a lot.

I wasn't the only one though, and after a flurry of emails back and forth, we hoped that five of us would be able to be able to visit Gumshara to pay our respects to Mr Akasako, a man who has devoted two decades to perfecting ramen, of which eleven years has been devoted to his own business. Unfortunately, due to distance and related issues, only two of us made it there in the end.

Finally, the day had arrived. It was time.

The Ramen Master's card.

Onomatopia's Chasu Ramen with extra egg.

Mine - the classic. 

Mr Akasako brought along some of his brochures to give us. The pamphlet on the left opens up to show the dishes he serves at Muteppou, the flier on the right is for his latest venture - a ramen shop in Nara specialising in Tsukemen (つけ麺).

Tsukemen is a style of ramen in which the noodles are served separate from (but to be dipped into), the soup. The noodles are best served cold, though I've had some with the noodles at room temperature, whilst the soup is usually hot and contains the usual ingredients such as chasu, leeks, bamboo shoots. I've eaten tsukemen where the soup has been like a concentrated version of what it would be if the ramen was served in the soup.

As you can see below, the range of ramen available at Muteppou is a very classic selection, and one mirrored in Gumshara's menu.  The item with the question mark is the day's 'mystery ramen', which is a drawn from a limited number of possibilities.

Another fold of the pamphlet shows the locations of the various branches of Muteppou. The panel on the right indicates a takeaway option which can feed four people, with each ramen component in separate containers.

If we look at the bottom of the page, we find that Mr Akasako includes Gumshara.

The menu of the new tsukemen outlet in Nara.

Ramen Sensei Mr Akasako speaks only a little English, so it was left to Mori to be the interpreter as I told him about his protégé's Sydney fame, and how much his ramen is loved. He seemed surprised but pleased to hear that there is ramen passion in Australia.

They have been discussing ramen a lot during his Sensei's visit, and in particular a ramen trend that seems to be taking off, though at the moment I believe that it is still restricted to Tokyo. As there doesn't yet seem to be an English term for this new taste trend, I will call them "flavour balls".

When he started describing them to me, I couldn't quite get my head around it, but when they appeared, made by Sensei Akasako especially for us(!), Mori explained, and it all fell into place.

The one on the left is a fish flavoured one and the one on the right, curry. These are not flavours which are are appearing in Tokyo at the moment, those are more along the lines of chilli balls. As Mori told us, these were world firsts.

The idea of these "flavour balls" is to add some interest and variety to a bowl of ramen. You consume some of your (in this case) tonkotsu based ramen, and then pop your flavour ball into the soup.

The ball is broken up and combined into the soup.  I had the curry ball above. A combination of pork mince, curry powder and other secret ingredients, once this was added the ramen completely changed and became a light curry flavour. The underlying richness and depth of the soup was still there, but with this new added curry layer turning it into a completely different dish. 

I have to confess that it was a lot of fun, like getting two bowls of ramen in one.  Onomatopia had the fish one, from which I tried a mouthful, and like mine, the whole nature of his ramen was completely altered.  The components of the fish flavour ball were elusive, and the only thing that we managed to ascertain was the use of fish powder; what powder we did not find out.

At any rate, we finished our ramen.

my bowl

Onomatopia's bowl

The best is saved for last, of course. Here are Gumshara's Chef Mori and his Sensei, an easygoing humble man with a great love of ramen and a desire, along with Mori, to continue to work and develop their dishes. 

Gumshara will introduce these flavour balls soon, so keep an eye out for them when you next visit Gumshara for your fix.

Arigato gozaimasu! ありがとうございます

[AP]

Gumshara

Ramen Gumshara
Eating World
Harbour Plaza
Dixon Court
25-29 Dixon St
Haymarket
NSW 2000

Closed : Mondays


22 July 2009

I love "Chronic" Ramen .

I am a Gumshara Tonkotsu Ramen junkie. It was twice a week in the beginning but nowadays it seems to be just once a week. The soup is very porky and dense and not for the faint of heart, but you can ask the Tonkotsu master to make your broth less salty etc. If I am in the vicinity of Haymarket during lunchtime I always seem to end up at Gumshara.

As I previously blogged, it takes seven days to make the stock, which consists of only three ingredients – bones, water, and soy. They use a truly astonishing 120kg of pork bones every day. The denseness of the soup fluctuates a little; at its most intense it is almost like gravy.

Today was the day of my weekly fix.

There are only so many photos one can take of the same thing, and I’d been dying to see the tonkotsu soup pot which the Gumshara Tonkotsu ramen master is constantly stirring behind the curtains so I asked him if I could one day take some photos of him at work in the kitchen. He kindly assented and said that I could go in any time.

Now?

Sure!

Boxes of pork.

More pork.


Packets of ramen.


Bench with the various condiments and additions and the area in which each bowl of ramen is put together.


Baskets of ramen being cooked.



The famous Tonkotsu soup. Full of pork & collagen goodness.



Ramen master Hiro's assistant.


And finally, Gumshara Tonkotsu master Mori..

 

An unexpected surprise was meeting Helen of Grab Your Fork there.

[AP]

Chronic vs. Pork Spare Rib Noodle

Ramen Gumshara
Eating World
Harbour Plaza
Dixon Court
25-29 Dixon St
Haymarket
Sydney NSW 2000

Closed : Mondays

Lunch : 2 July 2009.

Watch folks can sometimes get excited by limited edition (LE) and limited production watches, but limited production ramen? Apparently it is not uncommon in Japan but news of it at Gumshara set my tastebuds wondering.

It would be my first step beyond the Chronic, and given that there are only 10 made per day, I wasn't fancying my chances at being able to get a Pork Spare Rib Noodle ($13) after 1pm.

Perhaps my consumption levels have been a little high, as I was recognised both by the woman who takes the orders, and the Tonkotsu master himself. 

There is a new apprentice. Does this mean that there has been a rush and they need more staff?

Perhaps I looked a little too happy when told that yes there was still some of the limited production ramen available. Warned about its stickiness, I armed myself with extra tissues and napkins. I mean there's going to be a bone, isn't there? It's a rib after all.

The broth was very intense today. It has been exceptionally so on my last two visits, so I'm wondering whether it is simply going to be like this from now on.

The verdict? The meat was very fatty and tender and fell apart at the touch of my chopsticks. It would have been more-ish, and taken over as a personal preference from the Chronic, if it had been less salty. I like salty foods but the (boneless) rib just tipped over for me. Whether this is the norm or an aberration I don't know, so I will give it another shot (and also try the tomato soup version) before deciding whether to go back to the original. [AP]

Gumshara

Ramen Gumshara
Eating World
Harbour Plaza
Dixon Court
25-29 Dixon St,
Haymarket
Closed : Mondays

Little did I know that this simple tweet :

Tonkotsu ramen at eating world again...it is the most chronic ramen in sydney... not for the faint hearted

https://twitter.com/Dan_Hong/status/1954895778

by Dan Hong on May 29 would lead to half a dozen ramens eaten in a fortnight.

“Chronic”? What is “chronic ramen?” If it’s not for the fainthearted, consider me in.

So off I went to Ramen Gumshara to understood the true meaning of “chronic”. They warn you, the ramen masters at Gumshara.

All the ramen is made with the same broth. Dan Hong subsequently discovered that it takes seven days to make the chronic stock, which consists of only three ingredients – bones, water and soy. They use a truly astonishing 120kg of pork bones every day.

I ordered the tonkotsu ramen in its unadulterated glory. No extra eggs, no extra anything.

Well. The soup is absolutely "chronic". Dense, meaty, full to the gills of flavour. Not a soup to be wasted. On each of my return visits, every last drop has been finished, of course.

On my most recent trip, when I brought two others along, the soup proved too much for the one person I’d have thought would have relished its chronicness (or is that “chronicicity”?). On that occasion, there a serving of gyoza was ordered.

I love gyoza and these were fine examples indeed, but my heart belongs to the (original?) Chinese version, I am afraid.