Hakoya Ramen has been open in the city for a few months now and they’re making their mark with an awesome selection of ramen. They have the hakoya tonkotso, tantanmen, mazemen (soupless), hiyashi ramen (served cold) and for the vegetarians a vege ramen with miso and veg broth. They don’t only do ramen, they also have sides and donburi bowls. Complete your meal with some Japanese beer, sake or tea and you’ll be happy that you did.
It’s cute inside.
We started with some sides. The karaage chicken was juicy and had a crunch on the outside.
The gyoza was tasty, the skin was super soft with crisp pan-fried edges.
We tried the signature Hakoya tonkotsu ramen and we loved it. The noodles were good, the soup was full of flavour, the charsui pork was tender and the spring onions and black fungus added freshness and some texture. It went well with a glass of Sapporo (Japanese beer).
The mazemen was something I hadn’t tried before and now I’ll probably order it all the time. It was a dry bowl of ramen, like without the soup. The noodles were in the bottom of the bowl with the toppings placed on top (kind of looked like a noodle version of bibimbap). Since this was my first time eating this Taiwanese-inspired dish, thankfully there were instructions on the menu on how to eat it. First you break the yolk and mix it all together with the toppings, the noodles and the sauce underneath. You eat one third of the noodles like this, dry and fried.
Secondly you pour the vinegar in and mix through again, this loosens up the rest of the noodles and livens the flavour. Once all of the noodles are consumed there will be sauce and some toppings remaining in the bowl. You pour the steamed rice in to soak up the sauce and eat with whatever is left. This three-hit-combo is fun and super delicious.
I heart Hakoya Ramen!
Olives x
Hakoya Ramen
Address: 609 Lonsdale St, Melbourne VIC 3000
Website: https://www.facebook.com/hakoyaramen/
Trading Hours: Mon-Sun: 11.30am-10pm