Ippudo, CBD

Panting after long walks, 30 + degree temperatures, these are not the situations you want to go to have a bowl of hot steaming ramen and yet that hasn't stopped the droves queuing up these past few days outside the newly opened Ippudo. Famous in Japan as a chain restaurant, it has made its way to the land down under in Pitt St Mall.

What can I say... It gets loud. It gets really loud. On top of the music, the acoustics of the area and the constant 'Irrashaimase!' chorus by the staff every time someone comes in, there's not much room for conversation to be had. That Irrashaimase really gets on your nerves but I suppose it does to contribute to the restaurant's atmosphere.

Tempura Camembert 8

I was crazy enough to order their deep fried camembert. Oddly, it wasn't that crazy at all. I don't know, I guess the idea seemed ridiculous to me at the start. It's a comforting level of rich without being overly so and it was well fried without all the cheese melting out.

Ippudo Pork Bun 4

Their famous pork bun was next, a creamy concoction of braised pork, lettuce, a touch of mayo and soft bun. It's incredibly delicious with simple contrasts and it shows; nearly every other table had one sitting in the middle as well.

Shiromaru Tamago 17

Their Shiromaru Motoaji, which is their original ramen soup, comes from a 25 year recipe where the soup base is made from simmering pork bones. It arrives garnished with pieces of pork loin, kikurage mushrooms, cabbage and scallions. It's a thick soup base, rich and potent with good flavour that oddly doesn't leave you feeling grotty afterwards. The option to pick your noodle toughness is nice although we didn't take full advantage of that and choose normal.

Ippudo Karage Men 17

Their Ippudo Karaka Men was no where near as hot as I thought it was. It comes with pieces of pork loin and ground pork along with scallions and cabbage and packing good a depth of flavour. There's a bit of heat but not mind blowingly so but it packs full of spices with enough potential to clear a block nose. It's a warm comfort that's seriously going to be addictive.

Everyone will have qualms with the price. It's no where near as cheap as some of the others around Chinatown and you have to pay for garnishes on top of that. Restaurant location really does lead to premium prices I guess. Their service, despite being warm, is poorly co-ordinated and was often a haphazard of confusion. I think there was a 3 minute period where I was asked at least 5 times whether I was done with my quarter full bowl to only be repeatedly said no to. That aside, Ippudo was enjoyable, the atmosphere you can get used to and it eventually becomes quite fun and ramen is great.


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Posted in: japanese, ramen, Westfields