Ichiban Boshi: Handmade Japanese Ramen
Lovers of ramen (noodle soup) will tell you that Ichiban Boshi is one of Sydney’s premier ramen destinations. Ichiban Boshi is an authentic Japanese fast food noodle bar experience, where the ramen is hot, huge, nourishing and no dearer than your average junk food dinner.
There are actually two Ichiban Boshis. The one in the city and has a slightly larger menu, but both the CBD and the original Bondi outlet have a suitably huge selection of ramen dishes to choose from.
The dining room is bright and basic, looking in on the semi-open kitchen, and there are umbrella covered outdoor tables spilling out on to the bustle of Oxford Street Mall. Orders are taken at the counter, positioned in front of a giant laminate menu posted to the wall.
There are two entree choices available for the hungriest of diners (the ramen servings are quite massive), gyoza and chashu rice. The gyoza dumplings are steamed and fried have a deliciously porky, gingery hot filling. The chashu rice is a tasty little mound of Chinese-inspired roast pork in a bowl of fluffy rice.
Ramen choices include geki-kara ramen (very spicy ramen), crimson red with fiery chilli, and the aburi chashu ramen, a strong, tasty soy based soup with seaweed and heavenly chunks of tender flame grilled chashu pork. The ramen noodles are made in-house, sticking to strict standards in which temperature and humidity determine the ratio of wheat flour to purified water. Yep, the Japanese take their ramen very seriously.
It’s not all soup and noodles at Ichiban, however. There’s also a good choice of choice of rice meals including ebi don (crumbed fried prawns topped with egg), pork katsu curry and beef sukiyaki, all served with a side of wholesome miso soup.
Posted by Fiona Davies
