Thursday, July 4, 2013

Ramen Ikkyu, Haymarket


At long last! Chef Haru Inukai (ex-head chef of Blancharu) has finally landed in Chinatown with his ramen bar, Ramen Ikkyu. Many of you have probably read my review of his ramen back when he did ramen lunch specials at Blancharu. Not only is he known for his French and Japanese fusion dishes, but his ramen has been highly praised by the likes of Chef Dan Hong.
Chef Haru Inukai - super excited for Ramen Ikkyu's opening day



Ramen Ikkyu's touch pad ordering system


Ramen Ikkyu is located at the Sussex Centre Food Court, Haymarket. This humble ramen bar aims to produce around 150 bowls of ramen a day.  The ordering system starts with a touch screen pad where one chooses his/her choice of ramen. Then options of extras and sides like black fungus, chashu, egg etc. is also available to add with your order of ramen.
 
Ikkyu (shio) ramen
The Ikkyu (shio) ramen ($10.50) has a paitan broth base with salt to give extra flavour to the broth. Ikkyu's paitan broth is made from boiling chicken and pork bones. It has more of a chicken and light ginger-like taste, followed by subtle pork flavour. It has a similar consistency to tonkotsu broth but not as thick. The pork chashu is very tender with a slightly sweet roast flavour. I love the bouncy type egg noodles (made by Chef Haru himself) that they use. The flavoured soft-boiled egg, black fungus and a sweet-ish bamboo shoots complete this excellent bowl of ramen.
 
extra black fungus ($1.50)


Ikkyu (shoyu) ramen

The Ikkyu (shoyu) ramen ($10.50) has a paitan broth with a touch of soy. It has the same toppings as the shio ramen but the soy sauce used gives the broth a deeper flavour. I personally prefer this over the ikkyu shio ramen.
 
Team Ramen Ikkyu


Traces of Chef Haru’s French cuisine training and Japanese cooking roots are very noticeable on how the broths are executed and the toppings (such as the pork) are cooked. Ramen Ikkyu is definitely one of my top favourite places for amazing ramen in Sydney!

Ramen Ikkyu
Shop F1A, Sussex Centre Food Court
401 Sussex Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Trading hours:
Monday to Sunday 12pm - 8:30 (at present, subject to change)
Ramen Ikkyu on Urbanspoon

28 comments:

  1. Love how you got the first scoop - well done!
    The ramen looks amazing, particularly the noodles. Very impressive that he makes it all himself.
    Can't wait to try this place out!

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  2. Yum! I had the salt based ramen loved it, especially the pork and ultra tasty bamboo

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  3. Woot! Can't wait to try this place out

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  4. looking forward to trying this ramen place :). i like the food court setting as well!

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  5. I remember you posting about the Blancharu ramen but never found the time to try it - this place is much more convenient and looks really good!

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  6. Nice shot of Chef Haru. Looks like it was a fun opening day :)

    Looking forward to trying his ramen there soon.

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  7. hehe Chef Haru reminds me of Mario in that first pic lol. Can't wait to try cause I never got to make it to Blancharu for lunch to try!

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  8. oh oh and my mum makes paitan broth when she makes ramen at home!! never knew it was called something, just thought she made it up lol

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  9. Ohh I just want to give Chef Haru a hug - can i? Read this last night and dreamt about Ramen.. If its as good as the Blancharu ramen then I'm gonna like it. Thanks for sharing so quickly.

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  10. Can't wait to try this place out! It's making me hungry just looking at the photos hehe

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  11. Can't wait either. I'm not fond of this food court but there's now a great reason to visit.

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  12. Dude, it was soooo good! Can't wait to go again!

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  13. I can't wait to try it! Would you know what the difference between the Ikkyu Shoyu Ramen and the Tokyo Shoyu Ramen is..? Thank you :)
    Sandra / FW

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    1. The Tokyo shoyu ramen broth is lighter than the broth used for the Ikkyu shoyu ramen :)

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  14. Looks awesome! Definitely on my 'to eat' list. Never got to try the ramen at Blancharu

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  15. i want to eat ALL the ramen! teehee that pic of Chef Haru is so cute!

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  16. AH fuck got a stomach ache after eating the pork ramen 10.50 thingie. I had to go to the toilet for the whole day

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  17. Got to try!What a cool ordering system! :D

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  18. blancharu ramen has been on my list forever but the timing just didnt work for me, it is so much more accesible now! cant wait to try it. thx for the review!

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  19. Can't wait to try this! Lucky that this is just down the road :)

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  20. Dropped by and ate a bowl. This was great. Delicious and cheap. They might have possibly sold themselves short selling the Ramen for $10.50. I'd have paid more.

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  21. buhahahah! love the photo of Chef Haru Inukai's grin!

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  22. was the worst ramen ever. you guys really think this is good? sigh...

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  23. Can't wait to try Ramen Ikkyu though I am a little gutted that Chef Haru Inukai has left my hood!

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Let me know what ya think, aight! Would love to hear from ya.