Kokoro Ramen
157-159 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
+61 3 9650 1215
You wouldn’t expect ramen to be on your list of top things to eat in the middle of summer but when Melbourne’s weather starts playing up (WTF? Snow this weekend?), a delicious and comforting bowl of ramen would certainly not go astray – especially since a new ramen restaurant, Kokoro Ramen, opened up on Lonsdale Street only a few weeks ago. Given that both Dave and I work in the vicinity of Kokoro Ramen, we decided to try this place out after work last night.
The restaurant opens for dinner at 5pm, great for early diners like us (which is essentially another way of saying that we’re old *sob*). They have, however, decided to extend their hours to cater to the lunch time crowd so I’m guessing that those with a craving for ramen at 3:30pm would be sated.
Apparently, the ramen they serve at Kokoro is pretty close to the real thing. From the extensive menu, you can choose from a variety of flavoured tonkotsu (pork bone) bases, including miso and soy either with pre-selected toppings or you can build your own from a list of ingredients. Feeling hungry and indecisive at the same time? You can get the ramen with ‘the lot’ for $23.
After ordering at the counter (but not waiting patiently behind a pair of teenyboppers who took FOREVER to make their selections), we made our way back to our table and waited patiently for our food to come. It wasn’t long between our shared entrée of 10 gyoza ($5.50) arrived. For $5.50, the gyozas were definitely a steal. I loved their delicate yet sturdy, paper-thin skins and their ultra-crispy bottoms as well as the soy dipping sauce that had a small hint of chilli in it. What didn’t impress me as much, however, was the filling for it lacked in pork but had a motherload of cabbage and garlic.
I ordered a tonkotsu shio (pork bone and chicken base with salt) ramen with chashu ($12). In hindsight, I should have ordered a ramen with a tonkotsu shoyu (soy) base for I felt that this soup was too salty. This was surprising given how I am normally a sodium fiend. That said, I did appreciate the clarity of the soup which had very little, if any, MSG though others would probably say that it was verging on the edge of blandness – something that I would have agreed to if I was in a grumpier mood that night.
Elsewhere, the hand-made noodles were surprisingly thinner than what I’m used to. Whether they’re actually of this width in Japan, I’m not sure. They were amazingly chewy and firm, giving way to a bite that’s bigger than Bill’s from True Blood. They were also generous with the slices of chashu (roast pork) which were thick and the edges, appropriately fatty. I also give props to the tea-smoked egg which was still gooey in the middle (though it has nothing on the tea-smoked eggs that they serve in ramens at Don Too at night) and the sprinkling of roasted sesame seeds in the broth. The whole thing was light, yet filling and it would have easily been the best ramen I’ve eaten had it not been for the overly salty-slash-bland-and-omg-is-that-an-oxymoron broth which counted for, well, almost everything.
Dave chose better with his tonkotsu miso (pork bone base with soybean paste) ramen with butter and corn ($14.50). There was a civilised balance between the levels of nuttiness and spiciness which already meant that it was better than my ramen. The sweet corn kernels also brought out the beautiful flavours, and the melted slabs of butter gave the broth a slightly creamy texture. They also popped in a couple of slices of charshu in the mix, too.
I’m not sure what to think of this place. On one hand, I liked Dave’s ramen whereas mine was a bit ‘meh’ largely thanks to the broth which didn’t exactly get me as excited as seeing a photo of Tim Tebow’s shoulders. I also liked the fact that they didn’t use a lot of, if any, MSG in their broth. The problem, however, is that this made their tonkotsu shio broth almost bland. So while I’m glad that there is another ramen restaurant in Melbourne, I think that, for now, I’ll stick to Don Too or Momotaro Rahmen should I need my ramen fix.
I started off with a cocktail, an apple, mint, lime, lemonade and vodka one ($11.50), perfect on a balmy summer evening. I apologise for the fact that only a fraction of the cocktail glass appears in the frame – the only other photo of the cocktail (i.e. a FULL glass) happened to have Marty’s face in the background and he’d get sooky if I posted that pic up so unfortunately, this would have to do. Although they were a little tight on the alcohol content, my cocktail made up for it in taste. So fresh, so light and so zesty – it was the perfect drink for a balmy summer evening. I’m definitely going to be making this at home all summer long. Meanwhile, Marty ordered a one litre glass mug of Hofbräu Dunkel ($22), a dark beer which existed in Munich long before the arrival of light-coloured beers. Marty and I were just as wowed by the impressive, thick, creamy head that was formed during the pouring process as we were by the beer’s beautiful balance of spiciness, maltiness and sweetness. It was also surprisingly very light to drink, though drinking a litre of it is certainly no easy task!
We also decided to share an apple strudel ($12.50), just because. A generous slab of strudel arrived, surrounded by a custard-y vanilla cream and a scoop of vanilla ice cream and berries. Meanwhile, pistachio crumbs and chocolate flakes made it pretty. Although the strudel filling was delicious, the pastry lacked the required crispiness that I’m accustomed to (trust me, you have NOT tasted a good strudel if you’ve never tried a Corica apple strudel from Perth) so it wasn’t fantastic. That said, I’ve yet to come across a better-tasting strudel in Melbourne so I’ll give fair props to this one.
We decided to share three dishes. First up, a plate of pan-fried pork dumplings (12 pieces for $8.50). Each thick-skin beauty was filled with a generous glop of pork and coriander mixture which had a sweet edge to it. I don’t normally like dumplings (or any savoury dish, for that matter) which err on the sweet side but for some reason, I thought these weren’t bad at all. Plus, I had good ol’ chilli oil to diffuse some of the sweetness. Meanwhile, the skins were as thick as the cankles of this annoying lady I work with but surprisingly not soggy or overly doughy. That said, the dumplings could have done with a bit more time in the hot oil for extra crispiness.
On par with the pan-fried dumplings were the xiaolongbaos, or ‘steamed Shanghai pork dumplings,’ (7 pieces for $8). Like the pan-fried dumplings above, the fillings in these beauties were generous, however that meant that there was less breathing room for the all-important soup. Thus, the amount of soup we got in each dumpling was negligible. Oh, and the skins were perhaps a bit thicker than what I’m used to as well when it comes to eating xiaolongbaos. Sure, they were tasty enough but I’d rather my xiaolongbaos come from Hu Tong’s kitchen, thanks.
We were originally going to get one noodle dish each, but thankfully we played it safe and ordered just one to share between us for we were half-full by this stage. Although I had my eye on some dan-dan noodles, it was actually Matt who chose a bowl of beef brisket in noodle soup ($9.50) for us. And I’m glad I agreed with his choice. A surprisingly big bowl of steaming hot beef-flavoured broth filled with slippery, long hand-pulled wheat noodles arrived as we were munching on our dumplings. And although we both found the amount of beef brisket in our bowl annoyingly minuscule and the length of the noodles a pain in the arse (chipping them away with chop sticks proved to be a challenge for the two of us), we both thought this noodle soup was a winner. We both loved the stock soup that would have been slowly cooked for hours and hours, allowing the flavours of the beef bone to seep and permutate with the beautiful spices and coriander – lots of it. Oh yeah. What really made the dish a winner, however, were the noodles. The beautiful long, ribbons of slippery, un-even, chewy, gluten-y goodness. Hell yeah.This is a dish that’s definitely one to return to for winter.
We nibbled on some olives and bread while we studied the menu. Although Yak specialises in pastas (which only come in one size – they don’t come in entree/main sizes, here), there is also a small selection of non-pasta dishes such as lamb shanks, fish and veal for those who aren’t big on pasta. Bypassing the entrée menu and going straight to the mains, the two of us eventually chose two different pasta dishes – and not one of them was the famous Yak Vincigrassi. I can’t decide whether it was the offal that had put us wimps off or whether we felt that our eventual choices, at the time, sounded more appealing and ‘wow’ than the lasagne, though.
I had the bread maltagliati with prawns, fennel, saffron, tomato and white wine ($24). Maltagliati is essentially pasta sheets that have been chopped up into random shapes, or the unwanted leftover bits of pasta that usually gets discarded at the end of the pasta-making process. The lovely pieces of jaded pasta intertwined neatly with prawns so fresh that you could really taste the sea in the flesh and a subtle tomato-based sauce that was accentuated with hints of fennel, saffron and white wine. You could also tell that the sauce had been infused by prawn heads, giving it that distinctively nutty and salty edge to it. The whole thing tasted amazing, but what I really loved about the dish was the texture of the pasta – it was silky, yet coarse at the same time thanks to the breadcrumbs that were kneaded in the dough before being pressed out of the pasta machine. Delicious.
Dave had the tagliatelle with veal, mortadella and eggplant involtini poached in pomodoro ($24). For some reason, I sensed a bit of Wiener schnitzel action happening, I dunno why given that the lovely piece of veal was slow-cooked rather than crumbed. Man, I’m weird sometimes. But anyway, Dave’s dish was just as delicious as mine – the meat was so tender and buttery thanks to the slow-cooking process and the tomato sauce in which it was cooked in (why couldn’t they just say tomato instead of trying to be all fancy by saying ‘pomodoro’?! pfft) held the slippery ribbons of pasta, the mortadella and the eggplant involtini together brilliant. Effortlessly smooth.
We were pretty much full at this stage and thankful that we didn’t order an entrée each. Strangely enough, however, we both had just enough room for a dessert to share so we ordered a serving of Italian donuts stuffed with pistachio ice cream and served with baked blood orange ($12.50). I’ve never had Italian donuts, known as bomboloni, before but I guessed that they’d be similar to the Greek loukamades or the Turkish delight donuts that are famous at Maha. They were very similar to the aforementioned donuts, but not as crunchy on the outside. Nevertheless, they tasted great with the pistachio ice cream, all gritty and delicious, contrasting very nicely with the slightly sour baked blood orange .
If you’ve never heard of Oddfellows, don’t feel too bad. Its unfortunate location on the other end of the city (relative to where I work) means that I probably would have never heard of its existence if it weren’t for the e-mail, which claimed that Oddfellows boasted ‘THE best artisan pizzas in Melbourne.’ Mmmm, big call. Secondly, it’s located just off Lt Lonsdale Street so while it’s only a hop and a jump away from the ever-popular Madame Brussels bar, it’s a bit hard to find. Once you arrive, however, you are greeted by the warm smiles of the owner, Angelo, who, during our meal, continued to provide friendly and efficient service. The menu itself is pretty pub food-ish, with a few modern tweaks to appease food snobs. Think The Metropolitan on William Street, which used to be a regular trivia joint for me and my colleagues (funnily enough, I’ve never written a review of that place – that’s on my ‘to do’ list), but with less diners, even on a Tuesday night.
Given that Oddfellows is all about the pizzas, Mitch and I decided to go with two pizzas to share. First up, the norcina ($17). This pizza was chosen because the e-mail claimed it to be a staff favourite and on paper, I can see why. Topped with pork and fennel sausages, caramelised onion, mozzarella and Napoli sauce, the combination sounded very tempting indeed. Combine that with a dough that’s been mixed in with beer to give it a malty flavour, you can also see why I had somewhat high expectations. Unfortunately, it didn’t really induce a helluva lot of ‘foodgasms’ on our end – the whole thing was perhaps a little bit flat (I wonder what beer they used in the dough…), and the caramelised onions were a bit too acidic and sour for our tastes – this brought down what could have been a ‘yeah, not bad, hey?’ pizza. Having said that, though, at least they weren’t as bland as the pizzas they serve at The Metro.’
We both, however, thought the saporita was good ($17). Slices of mushrooms and salami shared a mixed tomato-bechamel base with a winning cheese duo of parmesan and mozzarella. Again, the foodgasms never arrived but we were both satisfied with our choice – the pizza didn’t have the oomph that Ladro’s awesome flat pizzas will ever have but for a dime-a-dozen CBD pub-type pizza, it was decent. Way better than The Metro.’
Oxford Scholar’s chicken parma isn’t the best, but it’s not the worst I’ve had. It wasn’t overly big compared to others I’ve had, but the fact that there was no sign of dry breast meat (a cardinal sin) made up for it. Taste-wise, I felt that the Napoli sauce could have done with a bit more flavour (you know when there’s something not quite right when the flavour is coming from the Virginian ham, and not the sauce) and the chips, which weren’t overly crunchy, were cooked in very old tallow which gave them a slightly nasty smell. That said, I ate it all (mostly because I was so friggin’ hungry) and it wasn’t overly expensive anyway.
One of my favourite rooftop bars is Siglo, another player in restaurateur and bar-dude-king-person Con Christopoulos’ empire that spans several corners of the city. On Spring Street alone, he’s got The European, City Wine Shop and Melbourne Supper Club covered but it’s Siglo that post-theatre patrons, lovebirds and after-work drinkers like to talk about. Yes, the jewel in Christopoulos’ empire that shines as brightly as the illuminated Parliament House across the road does when the sun goes down. It was a favourite drinking hole of mine last summer and it’ll definitely be a place that I’ll frequent this summer, when I’m not flying to Queensland, frantically studying for my supplementary exam or cheering the Aussies on at the Boxing Day Test.
The only time I bothered to take photos at this place was when I organised The Bar Crawl To End All Bar Crawls with the boys sometime in February this year. After already having been to three bars, we went to Siglo as clouds started to form and rain started to threaten on an already humid evening. Thankfully, the rain held off the entire time we were sitting on the rooftop that was only flimsily sheltered by table umbrellas. To start, the boys had various beers of various origins and descriptors while I opted for a glass of Brown Magpie 2006 Pinot Noir ($10), a rich red from Geelong with a seductive mocha and spiced maraschino cherry taste, and one of the few local ones amidst an extensive list of Tuscan and French wines.
We nibbled on some party pies (three for $8.50) which were apparently home-made, but they were 
Far better (and thankfully so) were the Ćevapi sausage rolls (three for $9), a flavoursome Balkan twist on the children’s party classic. I loved the flaky and oh-so-buttery pastry skins as much as I loved the rustic pork fillings that were sinfully full of flavour thanks to the all the paprika and garlic that mixed in well with the pork mince. This is another one to add to my ever-growing list of Things That I will Attempt To Make On My Own One Day.
I also liked the croquettes (three for $12) that came with a tart mustard aioli. Perfectly-formed oval discs covered in panko crumbs encased a lusciously velvety filling of smoked eel, jamon and cheese – they were delicious despite the fact that I could barely taste the smokiness amongst all the saltiness. Yep, they were a little on the salty side but thank goodness for the wedge of lemon that was provided to cut through the sodium onslaught.
Ugh, cropping fail.
Our meals took a while to arrive – I remembered more than 30 minutes had passed between us ordering our food and our dishes arriving at our table because Dave kept anxiously looking at his watch as he had to return to work. Granted, it was a busy Friday lunchtime trade so I guess it was to be expected. But still. Anyway, Dave had ordered the orecchiette with pancetta, mushroom, broccoli, chilli and marsala ($20.50) the last time he ate here and highly recommended it, so that’s what I ended up with. Orecchiette, in Italian, means ‘small ears’ and each little pasta piece was painstakingly cut into shape and twisted to form a lovely ear lobe-like shape that was perfectly al dente. The sauce itself was brilliant – the crispy, salty pieces of pancetta beautifully meshed well with the earthy wild mushrooms while the chilli provided a kick, and the marsala added a sweet edge to the dish. I can certainly see why this is a staple dish on the ever-changing menu.
Marty decided to go for a pasta with a richer sauce. The oxtail ragu originally came with penne ($19.50) but he decided to be difficult by requesting orecchiette instead of penne (presumably they charged an extra dollar for the swap, but I can’t be too sure). The sauce in that pic looks a little shiny partly as a result of slow-cooking and the lovely gelatine oozing from the oxtail and into the ragu, and partly because my photo-taking skills leave much to be desired these days. Despite it, however, it was a fantastic dish. It was so wonderfully rich, tasty and intoxicating that Marty couldn’t get enough of it – in fact, he insisted that we returned to The Mess Hall a couple of days later just so he could have this dish again. Yep, that good. It’s a shame that this dish is only a seasonal dish – understandably so, it IS very rich – because I can still see Marty ordering it on a 40 degree day…
Dave decided to shy away from pasta this time. He ordered the pork belly with cauliflower couscous and pickled beetroot ($27.50). The pork may look a tad dry in the photo, but trust me when I say that it was one tender piece of fatty Babe with a tidy layer of crispy skin. The pickled beetroot pieces and the accompanying vinaigrette accentuated the sweetness of the juicy pork meat while the cauliflower couscous was hidden safely under the piece of pork (and subsequently, I didn’t get a chance to try it). It was a decent dish, but given how good the two pasta dishes were, eating the pork belly was underwhelming (and unfairly so, I might add).
Even though the pork belly was more than filling enough, Dave also ordered a side of polenta chips with aioli ($9.50) to share between us. I’m can’t remember what the boys thought of the polenta chips (from memory, it was Dave’s first time eating them) but I thought those perfectly-formed Jenga blocks of polenta-y goodness were perfectly cooked – crunchy to begin with, but super-soft on the inside. Unfortunately, the three of us struggled to finish them off because we were too full but they would definitely be something we’d order should we return here for pre-dinner wines and nibbles or something.
Two days later, Marty and I were back. While Marty ordered his oxtail ragu again, I opted for a sausage pizza ($19.50). A crispy flat base housed a generous sprinkling of Italian pork sausages accompanied by broccoli, tomato, chilli and provolone cheese. I can’t say that it was the best pizza I’ve ever had – the base lacked crunch, while the tomato-based sauce was weak. The combination of toppings seemed to blend well together, however, I felt that if they had used a better quality pork sausage (i.e. one with a bit more flavour), then the pizza would have tasted a LOT better. I should have made like Marty and ordered another pasta this time around but oh well, there’s always next time…
The first time I visited, I ordered the Gammodoki tofu vegie burger ($9), a dish that was bestowed the honour of being the best vegetarian dish of 2011 by The Age Cheap Eats Guide. I’m not usually one to order vegetarian dishes when I eat out, but I decided to give it a go. A Turkish bread roll enveloped the tofu pattie, which consisted of a lovely mixture of tofu, beans, carrot, onion, oats, egg, sake, sesame and ginger, some mixed salad greens and a generous splash of teriyaki sauce and Japanese mayonnaise. I actually had it sit in my shopping bag for at least an hour before devouring it so you’d think that the bun would turn into a soggy mess but no, the bread remained chewy, the tofu stayed crispy while the flavours worked their magic.
Delicious.
I also love the tsuke don ($10.90), a warm rice dish that I’ve ordered on several occasions. Traditionally comprising of huge chunks of raw tuna on top of a dome of rice, this version was slightly tweaked to make it look prettier. Instead of tuna, we got small cubes of fresh salmon sashimi marinated in mirin, sake, soy and sesame which mingled effortlessly with cubes of pickled daikon, cucumber and onions and a sprinkle of seaweed salad to counter-balance the vinegared rice. It might look like a light dish but it was surprisingly very filling (though I shouldn’t really be surprised because, well, rice equals carbs, duh) – filling enough for me to eat late in the afternoon and not have dinner afterwards. Yeah.
For something lighter, I implore you to try the prawn salad ($9.50). On a hot day, nothing beats a handful of organic soba noodles, five fresh prawns (big ones, too!), inari tofu skin strips and crispy vegies (sliced avocado, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, Spanish onion, salad greens) and shredded nori all held together seamlessly by a creamy sesame dressing, with chilli on the side for those who like it hot. Light, fresh and delicious – you’d be hard-pressed to find anything within a 50 metre radius that tastes as good as this.
How did this All You Can Eat thing work? Basically, they plonk a bunch of ubiquitous Korean side dishes in front of you (bean shoots, spicy cucumber, kim chi, cold noodles etc) and of course, they refill whatever you want more of. Some places usually offer a second refill for free before they start charging you for subsequent refills while others are happy to keep churning out those small bowls of kim chi etc for free – Seoul House happen to be in the latter group. I was impressed with the service at Seoul House on the night we went – the waiters who served us were never without a smile on their face (even after Aaron requested, like, the 5 billionth serving of beef bulgogi) and our water glasses were always refilled promptly.
We also got spring rolls and fried Korean dumplings (mandu). The spring rolls tasted like the frozen variety while the dumplings were not the best I’ve ever had. We didn’t bother with refills.
We had meat. Lots of it! From bulgogi beef to BBQ spare ribs to spicy pork BBQ (which tasted strangely identical to the spicy chicken BBQ – not even kidding, couldn’t even distinguish between the two meats!). It wasn’t the best quality meat I’ve had (it was obvious that they used the cheapest quality they could get) but hey, a good marinade can make even the poorest quality meat taste halfway decent. Plus, you’re here for quantity over quality and that’s what we got – countless top-ups of meat, particularly the bulgogi and the spicy chicken which would have upped Aaron’s and my protein count to gazillion grams for the day (not so much Cathy’s though – she’s sensible).
We were also given squid, octopus and mushrooms to barbecue. It was Aaron’s first time eating octopus and although he was initially reluctant (he was never a big seafood fan, you see), Cathy forced him to take a nibble. He hated it. Oh well.
A hot pot of soy bean soup also came with the banquet, but it mostly remained untouched. Not that there was anything wrong with it (well, it wasn’t OMG fantastic either) – it was just that we would rather eat the meats, hah!
