Saturday 31 May 2008

Barrel o' ramen at Momotaro Rahmen

Momotaro Rahmen
392 Bridge Road, Richmond (map)
9421 1661


Momotaro Rahmen

Earlier this year I had a sensational bowl of ramen at Ramen Kan in Sydney. Strangely enough, there don't seem to be many eateries in Melbourne dedicated to ramen. Stickyfingers suggested that I try Momotaro Rahmen which is located, conveniently enough, just around the corner from me on Bridge Road. As I commented to Sticky, I'd walked past it a million times (and smiled at its cute angry mascot* with his tiny, tiny genitals) but had never tried it, so I decided to check it out sometime soon.

As it happens, I only just got around to trying it last week when I popped in there on a cold night with my sister Birdie.

Gyoza at Momotaro

We shared some gyoza ($6) to start off. They were quite crispy, but very juicy and tasty.

Ramen at Momotaro

I went for ramen. There are several different varieties of soup to choose from - I was in the mood for something a little spicy, so I selected the negi-miso rahmen ($11) which features leeks with hot chilli and roast pork in a soy bean soup.

The serving was monstrously large (more like a barrel or a vat than a bowl!) and I was unable to finish it. The ramen tasted fresh and the broth was full of flavour, but even though I enjoyed it somehow my dish lacked the 'wow' factor of the ramen I tasted up in Sydney (maybe my expectations were too high?).

Chicken teriyaki at Momotaro

Birdie, who doesn't like soups much, went for the teriyaki chicken ($13), which was also an extremely generous serving. I had a taste: the chicken was lovely and tender, and the salad on the side had a really yummy dressing. Bird loved it.

Momotaro Rahmen is a great little cafe - if only it were open on Sunday nights!

* For a quick overview of the story of Momotaro, the peach boy, read Sarah's post. :)

6 comments:

Sarah said...

Yum!! I find myself down Bridge rd way quite a lot these days. And the weather is just right for a big bowl of noodles!

Did you know there's a momotaro song? Apparently all the Japanese kids know it. My cousin sings it to me whenever I mention Momotaro ramen.

something something... dango wo kudasai na!... kudasai na!!!!

xox Sarah

stickyfingers said...

I've heard that they're the only place in Melbourne that makes their own noodles fresh in the morning every day. They also don't use commercial soups like many others but spend hours making their own.

claire said...

Nice, Sarah! I'll ask my friend Mai to sing it for me next time I see her.
:)

From the sounds of things, Sticky, they're the best ramen Melbourne has on offer. It pains me to say it as a proud Melbournian, but I still liked the Sydney ones better!

Unknown said...

I ordered the tonkotsu ramen while i was there two weeks ago... cold wintry melbourne evening, i thought a nice hot bowl of ramen would hit the spot. Unfortunately the ramen was kinda soft and soggy, not al-dente like the ramen i have had in tokyo. The broth tasted exactly like the Nissin Instant Tonkotsu flavoured Noodles, except it was a little more bland.

The serving was REALLY generous and I struggled a little to finish it (I usually have no problems eating two portions!). The meat was fresh and the hard boiled egg wasnt rubbery, so it was okay.

If they can make the ramen a little less soft/soggy, it would improve the overall experience by heaps.

Overall it's okay, I still think Ajisen Ramen is better, the intensity of the broth and 'crunch'
of the noodle at Ajisen is far closer to a real "Japanese ramen" experience.

claire said...

Hmm, thanks for your comments Oliver. Will give Ajisen a try to compare and contrast. Thanks for the tip!

Elliott Small said...

Living in Japan for a year meant I got to scour the streets of Osaka and Kyoto in search for undiscovered Restaurants of my favourite food... RAMEN!
Now back home and living in Melbourne :( I have been on the prowl for Japanese Ramen. If you find yourself near Box Hill, I definitely encourage you to head into the Station's mall and search around the Asian Groceries section until you stumble upon a restaurant called Ra Ramen, although this is Chinese Ramen it is absolutely delicious. Being Chinese Ramen the stock is more subtle than that of Japanese but the meats, vegetables and noodles are soooo fresh, you can see the man making the noodles behind the counter. I suggest the five spiced beef flour noodle soup, though the pork flour noodle soup is a little more like Japanese ramen, including the egg and circular strips of pork Check it out oishii yo! :)