Sydneysiders queue along a busy street in the winter cold for a chance to try an “amazing” bowl of ramen.
Hatena Group, owners of Nomidokoro Indigo, Darlinghurst and Nakano Darling, have brought Ramen Auru to the already bustling Japanese food scene at Crows Nest.
A discreet staircase that faces the street begins to fill with expectant diners long before 7:00 p.m., opening time.
They are waiting patiently to be ushered into a Tokyo-style ‘ramen parlor’, where they will remove their shoes and be served steaming bowls of the ‘best ramen ever’ on traditional low-style tatami mats.
But first you’ll have to place your order through a ticket machine, which will offer those who have been a tourist in Tokyo a flash of déjà vu.
Sydneysiders queue along a busy street in the winter cold for a chance to try an “amazing” bowl of ramen
Pictured: Ebi ramen with miso broth and French bisque and fresh red prawns.
With delicious tangles of perfectly textured ramen noodles on offer, you simply select from three bases and then choose your toppings.
The basic bowls before the toppings are reasonably priced, $19 to $24.
There’s the rich, heady classic pork tonkatsu to which you can add any number of toppings, a lighter and fragrantly “delicious” yuzu chicken (yuzu shio ramen), and the popular shrimp Ebi soup, a fiery bowl of deep, oily broth with Shades of orange and red.
Made with a base of miso, a deliciously oily French soup and studded with fresh prawns, Ebi ramen has been praised as “exceptionally creamy”, “rich and perfectly balanced”, earning a solid “10/10” from lovers of the food.
The classic ‘mild’ tonkatsu ramen loaded with egg, shallot and bamboo shoots
Ramen Hall in Crows Nest, Sydney, has been praised for its ‘Tokyo vibes’
Customers have raved about the “Tokyo vibes” and the service, calling the entire experience “authentically Japanese.”
Even a wait of over an hour to get a table couldn’t deter diners from “highly” recommending the experience.
Wait times are typically an hour or two, but diners promise service will be fast once you get inside.
Beyond ramen, you can expect fried rice, karaage chicken, gyoza, a Chinese-inspired pork liver and chive stir-fry, and spicy mapo tofu.
Ramen Auru is walk-in only.
It is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and is open from 7 pm until late the rest of the week.
It is also currently a cash-only location.