Tuesday, 19 February 2013

Ippodu


Just about everyone in Sydney has a favourite ramen joint. Often they are pokey, squished places filled with a chorus of slurping and sniffling. On a cold day (or a particularly trying one) nothing soothes the soul like some ramen. Even chicken soup cannot withstand the mighty awesomeness that is ramen. Recently a true force in Ramen has made it to our shores (no, not David Chang); Ippodu, the Fukuoka based ramen noodle brand whose name translates to ‘one wind hall’ (ominous) has set the local Japanese and student population abuzz. Ippodu was established in the southernmost major city in Japan in 1985 by Shigemi Kawahara, the three time TV champion Ramen Chef who has earned himself a place in the Ramen hall of Fame (I had no idea that existed either). This humble operation has spread from Japan to New York, Singapore and finally to us. Ippodu is located on the 5th floor food court area of the newly vamped Sydney City Westfield, it is the restaurant obscured by that big, thick line of people. Word has spread fast about this place. The Jet-Setter and I somehow manage to time it so that there is barely a queue; possibly it is because we are loitering around the city a little too late on a school night! The staff shout their enthusiastic ‘irasshaimase’ as we are guided past the central communal tables to a spot with plenty of elbow room along the far wall. In contrast to the many other ramen joints in Sydney there is plenty of space between the tables for gesticulation and noodle-wrangling purposes. The décor is all pine and slate, with what looks like pieces of roof tiles decorating one of the walls.

Our waiter breezes along and is so super bubbly that just having a chat to him raises the spirit of mentally drained, hungry me. We get some edamame (steamed soy beans) to start. They are lightly salted, still nice and firm; fresh. The Jet-Setter gets the famous Akamaru Tamago (tonkotsu broth) ramen with egg and I opt for a portion of Barramundi Saikyo Yaki. The Ramen is rich, garlicky, the pork tender and meaty. Oh it is ramen, the best ramen. The noodles are al dente so there is a slight bite to them. The Barramundi is miso marinated, a lovely and salty dish cut through with the sinus-clearing tang of wasabi sauce. I would recommend ordering rice on the side of this dish to bulk it out a bit. All this is washed down with two big glasses of ice-cold Asahi. Despite his best efforts the waiter can’t convince us to order desert, even though the black sesame pannacotta looks really good. And so it is off into the night, with tummies full of great Japanese food and enough money left over for some cocktails.

Westfield Sydney

Level 5

Sydney NSW 2000

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