I make no effort to disguise my love of ramen so as soon as I came to Wellington, the hunt for my go-to ramen store began. We decided to combine this with a date night and visited The Ramen Shop in Newtown. The restaurant is in tune with it’s Japanese roots and is decorated simply with lanterns and wooden tables. We decided to order some steamed buns to start, pork belly with BBQ sauce for me and a tofu version for Liam. The buns were outstanding. It was soft and fluffy and the pork was rich and tender with a nice crunch from the cucumber and sweetness from the BBQ sauce. The tofu was also apparently a hit (which must be true as Liam devoured the lot before I could try any).
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After such a hit with the buns, our expectations were set high as we waited in anticipation for our ramen. I ordered the Tonkotsu Shio (Pork belly, fried onion, pickled cucumber, beansprouts and seaweed) and Liam had the Shoyu Shiitake (same as before but with pickled shiitake instead of pork belly and a vegetable broth). We both had the slow cooked egg as extras. Although the noodles were nice, I was disappointed by the soup which didn’t really taste of much. Liam’s on the other hand was delicious. He really enjoyed it and I was also impressed by the flavour of the broth, especially as it was vegetarian. I think the main difference was that mine was shio based (salt based). I expect a soy based soup would’ve been richer and deeper (Liam’s veggie one was) so I was determined to return and try that instead.
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So as planned, the next time we visited, I ordered the tonkotsu shio which was a lot more tasty and flavoursome than the shio version. So next time, always pick soy! I also tried the dashi waffle with chicken karaage, okonomiyaki sauce and pickled ginger which was yum! Definitely recommended! That, along with the steamed buns, were my favourites and is worth going for them alone.
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