A new ramen shop has opened in the centre of the city on Lonsdale Street, close to China Town.
So….let's go check out the place!
Two of Go Go Melbourne's editors paid them a visit on the day of the soft opening, December 22nd.
It was 7pm, around dinner time when we got there and nearly all the seats were filled.
Delicious aroma was floating in the air while we looked at the menu.
There are three types of pork bone based soup – salt, soy sauce and miso. Then there is the Tokyo Ramen with chicken and seafood stock base. Lastly there is the Tantan Noodle with a soup flavour derived from the previous 3 styles.
There are 14 different toppings in total, covering a wide range of variety from flavoured eggs to roasted pork fillets to fried crabs.
You can get a bowl of ramen with simple toppings from a price of $9.50! There is also the "ALL TOPPINGS" menu for $23 for those who like a challenge!
We went to the counter after making up our minds.
Nevertheless, we changed our orders after hearing the "shop assistant's recommendation". The new orders were Grilled Pork Ramen with salty pork bone soup and Butter Corn Ramen with miso pork bone soup.
The noodle making machine used is bought directly from Japan and makes the thin noodles that are in the pork bone series. The egg noodles used in Tokyo Ramen are made on site. We couldn't hold our excitements … please hurry up!
After about 10 minutes, here they come!
"Grilled pork ramen" $14.50
"Butter corn ramen" $14.50
First, the grilled pork ramen!
The aroma of the pork bone is so tempting!
The soup tasted rich at the start but then the taste of salt came in, making it surprisingly light flavoured.
The size of the thin noodles is exactly the same as the ones you'd find in Japan. The grilled pork fillet is made from the oily pork belly. It was so soft and tender to the point that it seems to be tearing apart when poked by chopsticks.
The flavoured eggs are also very soft.
On the other hand, the butter corn ramen is made of pork bone miso and buttered corn; together the two form a rich dense soup.
For those who are looking for something stronger, this is definitely a recommendation.
The two of us finished our meal without saying a word.
We had only one thought – "Now this is ramen!"
We were very satisfied with both the size and the taste.
Editors review: KOKORO RAMEN, thank you for opening in Melbourne. Maybe we will order it with a beer next time…
The grand opening will be on the 3rd of January 2012.
Please try out for yourselves the taste of KOKORO RAMEN!
KOKORO RAMEN
Address: 157-159 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
TEL: (03) 9650 1215
HOURS: Mon-Sat 5pm-11pm (Lunch will also be available after the grand opening)
Closed on Sunday 24th December, Sunday 1st and Monday 2nd January.
Melbourne Ramen Directory
http://www.japaninmelbourne.com/ramen/
