Wednesday, 25 April 2012

Menya Noodle Bar


Right; I love ramen. As in I have been to Japan twice mainly just to eat Ramen. When the weather in Australia turns cold I can’t help but get a little excited; it is ramen season!
I have been a loyal customer of Ramen Kan (Bondi and China Town http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/70/751830/restaurant/Sydney/Chinatown/Ramen-Kan-Haymarket) even since I stumbled across it on the way to a Prodigy concert in 2005. The train of thought went: concert, lots of dancing, need energy, ooooh carbs, mmmmm ramen. But tonight I feel like a change. The internet informs me that Menya Noodle Bar in China Town does a good noodle soup.  
The Socialite joins me in trying to find Menya. According to my phone it is just around the corner from the UTS library, but we loop around the block once without spotting it. Finally we realise it is on the ground floor of a tall, skinny complex full of restaurants. We push past all the hawkers for the scattering of Chinese restaurants surrounding Menya and gawk at the large menu of the wall for a while. All the different Ramen, noodles and rice dishes look and sound divine. I am tempted by the ramen with extra pork (ton-toro ramen) but I finally settle for teriyaki beef soba noodles. The socialite goes for the Ramen with Karage chicken (Tori kara-age ramen).
We find ourselves a spot at the long communal table running down the centre of the restaurant and watch the staff chat with two police officers. Looks like something ‘went down’ during the day. So dinner and show, brilliant. When the noodle soups arrive they are everything we want. The stocks are rich and meaty and all meat is cooked to perfection. Needless to say both are soon devoured. Looks like I now have two Ramen restaurants in which to practice my proper Japanese noodle slurping etiquette  

http://menya.com.au/

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