Mr. Ramen San
Midcity Arcade, 208-210 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
03 9042 1588
Japanese, Ramen
$
Food
- Charsu Tokotsu Ramen
- Charsu Spicy Tonkotsu Ramen
The Good
The ramen noodles were cooked just right. Soft, with a slight chewiness and just so delicate and silky smooth. According to Mr. Ramen San, the included 150g of noodle is “a lot”, which we found to be rather cute as these were devoured within just a few mouthfuls. However, you can ask for extra noodles at no extra charge, which is of course a bonus!
The highlight though must be the Charsu, which was absolutely delicious. With the perfect combination of lean and fatty bits and lightly charred, the tender slices of pork were aromatic and full of flavour. Coupled with a perfectly cooked half-boiled egg with a still-runny yolk, the toppings on our ramen were definitely the best part of our meal.
The Mediocre
Both the broth of the Tonkotsu and Spicy Tonkotsu didn’t impress. With a preference for a thick and hearty broth, this fell miserably short on expectations. The soup felt thin and one dimensional, lacking in depth of pork flavour and simply wasn’t flavourful enough.
The Spicy Tonkotsu packed plenty of heat, though the lack of bold porky flavour made this rather lacklustre.
The Bad
Nothing.
The Verdict
We visited Mr. Ramen San based on the recommendations of many foodies as their favourite Ramen joint in Melbourne.
Unfortunately the broth here definitely didn’t live up to our expectations, and made for a pretty mediocre meal overall.
Would Penguin Eat Again?
Honestly, we’d rather just head back to our reigning favourite – Hakata Gensuke.