Despite many visits, I’m surprised that I haven’t written about the venerable Momotaro Rahmen until now.  It’s the place that probably kicked it off for specialty ramen joints in Melbourne, boasting hand-made noodles and authentic flavour.  As I am ever on [...]]]> 392 Bridge Road, Richmond (map)
Phone 03 9421 1661

Despite many visits, I’m surprised that I haven’t written about the venerable Momotaro Rahmen until now.  It’s the place that probably kicked it off for specialty ramen joints in Melbourne, boasting hand-made noodles and authentic flavour.  As I am ever on the quest to find the best ramen in Australia, it would have been remiss not to include Momotaro on the list.  So we decided to check it out one afternoon after an intense ramen craving brought on by a viewing of Chef of the South Pole and Jeroxie’s tweets about going to Momotaro the night before.

Located on a street best known for cheap fashion rather than noodles, Momotaro is a small cafe that can be a bit hard to spot from the road (just look out for the awning in Mandarina Duck yellow).  Not quite the greasey spoon vibe of some of Japan’s ramenya’s, it’s a neat little space with cafe -style tables and chairs indoors and out; you can also perch on a benchtop next to the window.

The menu is of course geared towards ramen, and selections include shoyu (soya sauce), shio (salt), miso and tonkotsu (pork) broths, with toppings of either charshu (pork), seafood (my Dad’s favourite), wakame (seaweed), and yasai (vegetables).  Prices are very reasonable but be warned: servings are HUGE.  They also do other fare like gyoza and rice dishes, but trust me: stick with the ramen.

I almost always go for the shoyu ramen wih extra charshu, and this time was no exception   This beast of a bowl came chock full of beautifully tender charshu pork slices, dried seaweed, half a hard boil egg and plenty of veg including corn, mushroom, and spring onion.  It’s certainly not the usual shoyu ramen, but the broth has wonderful depth of flavour and the hand-made noodles were very tasty and eminently slurppable.  It certainly satisfied my ramen craving!

Mellie had the veg yasai ramen, which was similar to mine but with no meat and the addition of more greens like carrot and broccoli, all in a light flavoursome vegetable broth.  Vegetarians should rejoice in this one, and it’s pleasing to know that a ramen joint has such a fantastic meat-free option, as normally the chances of finding such an option in a similar noodle place is, let me see, zero.

We also tried the veggie gyoza.  They were filled with garlicky chives and were OK, but I much prefer the pork version.

So, is this the best ramen in Melbourne?  It is certainly an extremely good bowl of noodles but, if compared with the ones served in Japan, it’s sadly not the same.  But, I can categorically say that it’s probably the healthiest bowl of ramen in Melbourne, and one of the best value.  And the regular Japanese patrons don’t seem to mind that it’ s not 100% like in Japan.  Highly recommended!

I may be a little late to the party, but this is the first time I’ve been to Flavours of Lakhoum, despite being impressed when reading about their artistic portrait coffees, generous Middle Eastern inspired salads and  easybeat bohemian atmosphere. It [...]]]> 175 Swan Street, Richmond
Phone 03 9425 9805

I may be a little late to the party, but this is the first time I’ve been to Flavours of Lakhoum, despite being impressed when reading about their artistic portrait coffees, generous Middle Eastern inspired salads and  easybeat bohemian atmosphere. It had been on my “list” of places to go to for a very long time, and in the end it was pure chance that had us walking through their door.  After a fossick through Dimmeys, we had worked up a suitable appetite to find somewhere to eat, and voila, my synapses fired on Lakhoum.

The place is just oozing atmosphere, and to be honest we felt like we had been transported to some exotic cafe hidden in the souks of Marrakech. There is colour, texture, smells, sounds – the vibrancy of the joint just rocks.  Also, I spotted a familiar face – the ex-owner of Lebanese House on Russell Street, which sadly closed in March 2008, is now giving lip and a bit of banter just like in his old place. Love it.

I decide to go a lightish route, and had the zucchini fritter with a generous dollop of hummus. Two salads came on the side; chickpea and tomato dressed with tart yoghurt, and a lemony tomato, onion and parsley salad (kind of like tabouli without the bulgur).  Mmm.  To keep the tarty citrussy thing going, I also had one of their magnificent home-made lemon squashes.

Dan went with the chicken shish, all wrapped up in a pita bread.  It was so good, he devoured it in about two mouthfuls.

To finish, Dan had a the refreshing Moroccan Mint Tea, made with both fresh and dried mint. I choose a traditional Turkish Coffee, thick with coffee grounds. And we both couldn’t resist the Turkish Delight.