RAMEN STORY SUNNYBANK HILLS

Shop 43 Pineland Plaza Shopping Centre, 663 Beenleigh Rd, Sunnybank Hills QLD 4109 

Open Mon-Sat for lunch 11am–3pm, Dinner 5-9pm, Closed Sundays

Phone: (07) 3243 7198

https://www.zomato.com/brisbane/ramen-story-springwood

I'd developed a pretty concise list of Brisbane Ramen-Ya's in my mind with intention to gradually cover on this here blog. One that I was completely unaware of though was Ramen Story in Sunnybank Hills. It's not very far from my work office so I stopped in recently after I spotted it while driving past. Turns out it also has a sister restaurant a few km's away in Underwood. I can't find any information about this shop online though, so maybe that's why I wasn't aware of it until now. Don't let the above listed street address mislead you, though the shopping centre that this place is in is listed as on Beenleigh Road, access is actually from a driveway on Pinelands Road.

There's a bit of a Korean approach at this place, most evident in the fried chicken dishes and the 'Donkatsu' Ramen option as the basic dish. Other options include a dish with extra pork, a shoyu seasoned soup, a miso soup, a Kara (spicy) soup with pork mince and a dish with extra garlic added. There's also a few side dishes including the previously mentioned fried chicken, Takoyaki, Koroke (like deep fried potato dumplings), rice dishes etc etc. No beers or alcohol on offer, just the standard options of soft drinks and bottled water. There's also a chilled water dispenser.

I rolled in just before lunch to an almost empty restaurant so my dish arrived really quickly. There was nothing much Donkatsu about it though, the pork included wasn't breaded, but just the basic charshu style shoulder. The dish was presented vey well though I must say, clean and tidy, and actually massive, possibly one of the biggest bowls that I have had as standard in Brisbane. Good value in that respect.

The broth was a bit of a let down. There was a clean pork flavour happening, but the seasoning was virtually non existent and there were no condiments anywhere in the shop for me to use to liven it up a little. It was a little thin too, not fatty enough. I think that with a few more hours over the flame and the correct tare, this thing could have been quite a bit better.

Noodles were less than average too. This would be the first time that I've run into such below par noodles in Brisbane. They were soft from over cooking, and I'm confident in saying that they just weren't very good quality examples to begin with also. The pork was nice though, held together well and maintained a bit of structure and texture. Standard inclusions were the previously discussed elements, along with sliced spring onion, HEAPS of bean sprouts, a complementary side of kimchee (more Korean) and an over cooked egg half. Bit of  shame really. I've had worse cooked eggs, but none the less, this one was virtually hard boiled, and I don't think that they had given it the Ajitsuke treatment. 

In regards to serving ware, the bowl they used was really nice. Probably the highest quality bowl  that I have seen in Brisbane; heavy, large, with wide tapered edges, a PROPER Ramen bowl, and it was perfect for direct sipping. They had slippery plastic chopsticks at each table and metal western styled spoons also. As mentioned previously, the portion was huge so value for money was all there.

The shop was clean and tidy and pretty standard. Lots of dark wood and dark bricks. The lighting via modern hanging lamps was perhaps a little too low. Only a slight view of the front of the kitchen so no idea on the cleanliness but if it was anything like the shop, I'm sure it would be fine. Payment options include cash, card or pay tap.

Would I come back here? Perhaps a little harsh, but most likely not. There's potential I guess, but there were certainly not enough redeeming factors today to draw my interest again.

HAKATAYA PACIFIC FAIR

Shop FF-1, Pacific Fair Shopping Centre, Broadbeach, QLD 4218 
Open Mon-Fri 9am–8pm, Sat-Sun 9am–7pm 
Phone: (07) 5527 6600
http://hakatayaramen.com/

An emergency work trip to the Gold Coast today got me thinking about Ramen on the glitter strip and why it hadn't come into my mind before this. Seems logical to be covering Ramen in a city less than an hour away. A quick search on my phone brought up a few options. Among them was Hakataya at the recently refurbished Pacific Shopping Centre. Hakataya is arguably the most well known Ramen-Ya in Queensland and certainly the most established with eight locations. It could be said that they preceded the current rising popularity of Ramen in Brisbane with a footprint here since 2010. 

I ordered the 'Nagahama Ramen' which is the most basic option on the menu. It's a simple tonkatsu broth with a shoyu tare. Other options include a bowl with extra pork, one with added chilli paste, one with a miso tare and one they describe as having a 'seafood' taste. I would assume they season liberally with dashi and bonito. This is a deliberately basic in & out place so options are limited beyond that. There's a gyoza dish, a rice dish and a few other side options. No booze here, but a few soft drink options. They also offer take away.

I arrived just before lunch to very quiet shop so my bowl was presented to me directly over the counter by the chef in less than 3 minutes. It was a simple looking dish, everything visible, clean and tidy. Included was the broth, sliced spring onions, noodles, what they describe as 'pork back ribs' (they must roll and truss them before cooking?), a side dish of takana (pickled mustard greens) and NOTHING ELSE (no egg!). Immediate and then lasting impression wasn't great. Their website claims that they cook their broth for 48 hours but I must say that time really wasn't reflected at all in the end product. Thin and under flavoured soup with little to no stickiness, cloudy but hardly opaque. The noodles were very nice I must say though. Firm and chewy, grabbed the broth as well as they could under the circumstances. The pork was really soft, perhaps too soft. Kept warm in a tray and added to the broth at time of serving. Fell to pieces with just a light grab with the chop sticks. Not a good sign. Perhaps the biggest faux par though- no egg or option to include egg. Really disappointing, but I guess it's a conscious decision as part of the business model for a place like this? They have a policy here of free extra noodles at quieter times and when the chef saw that I had finished my first serving he offered me another. Perhaps the most redeeming element to the entire meal.

Serving ware was appropriate. A simple white bowl with printed emblem on the inside with heavy spoon and disposable chop sticks. The bowl was shaped fine for direct sipping. Side sauces and seasonings including chilli, mirin and soy were available at a few locations along the benches.

Price was very cheap at $11.50 to start, though with the exclusions of some of the Ramen must-haves, maybe the value isn't so great. Again, they clearly have a business model established here, but with the growing popularity of this cuisine in Queensland, they could easily charge two extra bucks and include a half egg.

The layout of the shop was very nice, new and modern, being an island type kiosk with the kitchen in the middle, surrounded by benches facing inwards. The kitchen itself was very tidy and clean. Payment options are cash, card and pay tap. Parking options are many as it's in one of the biggest shopping centres in the state.

I suppose a shop like this has it's purpose. It's in the middle of a busy shopping complex, so they're clearly attempting to charge low and pump out as much as they can. I'm sure it would suit the type whom doesn't really value Ramen culture and whom wants a quick simple meal, but it's hard to think about coming back here when there's more and more options popping up at the moment with much better offerings. Multiple cooking pots on show in the kitchen indicate to me that they cook on site, which leads me to believe (and hope) that not all broths across each shop are created equal. I will certainly visit more of these shops with time, but I would have no reason to ever come back here.

TARO'S RAMEN QUEEN STREET

480 Queen Street, Brisbane City QLD 4000 
Open every day for Lunch 11:30am–3pm, Dinner 5:30–9pm 
Phone: (07) 3839 4840
http://www.taros.com.au

For my second post I had planned to visit a store other than Taro's but when the idea came up for a Ramen lunch with some colleagues today and they suggested the Queen Street store, I couldn't really say no.

All of the options available at the Ascot store are available here in the city, including Tonkatsu on it's own, or with either a medium chilli paste or hot chilli paste added, a veg and chicken based broth with either shio, shoyu or miso seasoning, a single or double portion in tsukamen style, and a couple of vegetarian noodle dishes. All of the same sides are available too from what I can see along with the same alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks including genuine imported Japanese beers (including tapped Suntory), sake, plum wine etc. There's also a chilled water dispenser here too.

I have noted previously that for the purpose of neutrality, I will keep my ordering to the basics, but as today I visited Taro's for the second time in a row, I opted for the popular 'Fire Tonkatsu" which is essentially just the base soup with a double serving of chilli paste heaped on top to which I added my preferred harder noodles. I should note that all of the soup adding options available at the Ascot store are also on the menu here, though of note- they don't have an iPad set up here, just laminated menus that you order from at the counter. You also pay when you order instead of after you eat, which I prefer. 

We visited during the middle of lunch so they were really quite busy, but the bowl landed within about 10 minutes. Once again, a pretty little presentation, though I do note that a lot of the contents had either sunken under the surface of the broth or were hidden by the generous splash of chilli paste (not a bad thing). Inclusions were the broth, one half egg, noodles, soft Bangalow rolled pork shoulder, a square of nori, sliced spring onions, chilli paste, Korean style chilli threads and toasted whole white sesame seeds. They omit the black garlic oil on this one but one of my dining partners had the regular broth and I can confirm that it's a standard on that dish. I could note all of the same qualities in this broth as the one of the previous post. It's immaculately 'clean' with a gloriously pure pork taste, fatty and rich and seasoned with not much more that salt. I am not the biggest chilli fan so was a little nervous leading up to the meal, but considering the volume of paste that they add to the bowl, it's really not that hot at all, adding a very slight hum and a nice chilli flavour. The egg was cooked perfectly again, the noodles were appropriately chewy, the charshu pork melted in the mouth. Again, they could have added a little more of it to make me happier.

Today's bowl was again a proper lipped, more traditional style, which was ideal of sipping and obviously preferred. Chop sticks were the wooden disposable variety. The soup spoon was again a heavy, deep ceramic number, though with my growing confidence in sipping direct from the bowl, I didn't even touch it today. I probably embarrassed my dining partners, we are still in Brisbane... whatever. 

Cost here mirrors that of the the Ascot store, $15 for the basic and then up from there, so nothing to complain about from me. Customer service was on point for such a busy lunch service. This place sits on the ground floor of a newish corporate business high rise in the middle of the city so the bulk of their business comes from suits during this mad lunch rush Monday-Friday. They're obviously on top of the craft as everyone seemed pleased with how it was rolling for such a busy period.

Vibe here is better. As described, the shop is in the middle of a relatively new high rise development so the fact that Taro essentially just filled a pre determined space is a little obvious. The front of the shop presents as an all glass affair with a basic sign in Japanese and English above the door. Inside offers a little more, nice tungsten lighting, wood panelled walls, matte concrete tiled floors, some hanging plants and clean wooden furniture with individual and communal, bench style tables. It's all very clean and tidy considering how busy it is, and a slight glimpse of the kitchen that is offered behind where you order suggests a pretty hygienic environment. I think it's all enhanced by the relaxed, communal feel created by a full room of contended diners. Payment options are cash, card or pay wave. If you know the city, then you know that parking can be a nightmare, so again, do your best to find anything within at least a 10-15 minute walk radius and you should count yourself lucky. There are parking garage options closer but you'll pay more to use them that you will for your meal.

Thoroughly impressed as always. Next time I'll need to get to a different Ramen-Ya.