On Ramen - Haymarket, Sydney

A very nice new tiny ramen shop in Haymarket.
To be more exact, it's near capitol square - at the same block as Cyril's fine food. It's the place that used to be that Taiwanese crepe restaurant.

I love this place. And if my tastebuds are competent enough to judge, I think sooner or later the wapanese (wannabe Japanese) crowds that flock Ichiban Boshi Ramen at Galleries Victoria (making it impossible to get a table for lunch without queuing for hours) will soon move to this place, if they care to try some other ramen restaurants for a change.

It's ethnic Japanese owned-and-operated, but their place is seriously small, though. For cities like Tokyo, it's completely understandable, but for Sydney, I think the small space might be rather off-putting for some Sydneysiders. There's also a reason to rejoice in this place, because they are also one of the very few Japanese restaurants in Sydney that serve free water in full-sized tall glasses, not those painfully annoying diminutive trying-to-be-cute-or-plain-stingy SHOT GLASSES that made you embarrassed because you have to keep on asking for refills. Bah!

Tonkotsu Ramen

-> Good balance, good texture, tasty, and the toppings are generous, just the way I like it. They're really generous with the negi and menma, my favorite topping. The tea-egg is also delightful, with the fragrance of shoyu delectably infused. Mmm...

Chicken Katsu

-> Mouthwatering. It's really delicious and unique. They serve this thin and crispy katsu with two sauces, one is a unique mixture of what seemed to be light tonkatsu and lemon sauce, and the other is mayonnaise. Quite deliciously different from normal katsu.

Green Salad

-> Again, served with two sauces. A ponzu-like tangy dressing on the base, and mayonnaise on the top. Very nice.