Hammer and Tong, Fitzroy

Hammer and Tong is one of those cafes that has been on my wishlist for a long while after hearing lots of raves from fellow foodies. Owned by Dennis Ferreira and Simon Ward (formerly at Vue de Monde), it has gained attention not long after it opened with their deliciously unique brunch dishes such as their popular breakfast ramen, soft shell crab roll, ox cheek benedict and the duck egg and candied bacon waffle. And heck, who doesn't love an all day breakfast menu?  

Long black

Housed at the former spot of Brix, the venue has that minimalist decor with the use of grey as the main colour. Although we arrived quite late, the atmosphere was still busy and lively. Thankfully we got a table very quickly since we arrived past peak lunch hour (lol). By this time I was on my 3rd long black coffee of the day. Still needed more energy heh.  

Chilli Scrambled Eggs

Chilli scrambled eggs was F's dish pick due to her love of spicy food. Didn't try much but from what I can recall, it had a nice balance of flavours with the chilli sauce on the main dish and the avocado on the side to ease the heat. Not sure if this is still on the menu as of now though.

Breakfast Ramen

Both CC and I had our eyes on the ramen as well as a few other dishes. Eventually CC was the one who settled with Hammer and Tong's signature dish. This consisted of 62c hens egg, bacon, mushrooms, spring onion and bacon dashi. We enjoyed watching our waiter pouring the broth into the bowl in a timely and delicate manner. The broth itself was light and the egg was well-cooked along with the al-dente ramen noodles. Would love to come back again for this dish.  

Soft Shell Crab Burger

After spotting this in many photos about this cafe, I was equally eager to try the soft shell crab burger. It may look small but it felt quite filling. Plenty of crispy, fresh and juicy soft shell crab to enjoy packed into a fluffy and toasted brioche bun with shredded sesame slaw, coriander, spring onion and sriracha mayo. This is certainly one of the best soft shell crab burgers I've had mainly because all those ingredients worked so well together in terms of its taste.   

Out of all the cafes I've been to in Melbourne in the last 3 years, this is definitely one of my top picks of places to go. Satisfied with the food and the service seemed decent for us as well. If I ever live in Melbourne, this would be one of those cafes I would be keen to go back every now and then.

Hammer and Tong
Rear 412 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065
(03) 9041 6033
http://hammerandtong.com.au/
 

Eating Around Melbourne - The Savoury Edition

For those of you who read my last post thinking "damn she drinks alot of coffee"...well there was savoury (and sweet) food too here and there. Here's another recap of a few places I've popped by during my brief Melbourne weekend trip

CONE HEADS, MELBOURNE CBD

Chips and Gravy (R: $6.50, L: $7.90)

I arrived in Melbourne very late on Friday and the other girls wanted to get an early rest for the following day. Sadly, Huxtaburger CBD was closed and it was too cold to walk around so we stumbled upon a few fast food eateries close to our hotel and eventually settled on Cone Heads (not to be confused with that 90's comedy movie) because it's halal friendly. Sure it may not be the first thing that will pop up into your mind when you are in Melbourne but it actually has a few franchises including one that has just opened in Pakistan! It's the type of food that we can see ourselves eating after an epic night out clubbing. Despite the many layers of thick country style gravy coating the chips, it actually didn't get soggy. Was still quite crispy after we ate more of these chips back at the hotel. If you are a big fan of poutine, this is also available at Cone Heads. Perfect for a dirty, late night feed.

Cone Heads
Shop 6, 2-26 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
http://coneheadschips.com/
Sun-Thurs: 9:00am - 1:00am
Fri-Sat: 9:00am - 3:00am
 


BELLE'S HOT CHICKEN

A few week ago, I've had the pleasure of tasting Belle's Hot Chicken at Harpoon Harry's. Even though the wait a the pop up was agonising, it was worth it in the end. It was actually my second time tasting the Nashville-style hot chicken since I have also made a visit to the Fitzroy restaurant at the recent trip. The restaurant vibe had a similar noisy, pub-like vibe with a Melbourne hipster edge judging from the crowd and the atmosphere of the venue.

Bourbon Iced Tea

There were heaps of choices on the beverage menu - particularly wine. However, I was intrigued by their uniquely combined Bourbon Iced Tea. While there's that alcoholic taste from the bourbon liquor, the sweet ice tea makes it drinkable like a normal ice tea if straight bourbon isn't your strength. This is perfect to wash down after devouring the fried chicken pieces.

Belle's Hot Chicken Tenders with Mixed Pickles ($16.00)

For Belle's famous chicken, you get a choice of tenders, wings or dark meat (drumstick and thigh). At $16.00, the meat menu comes with a choice of 1 side for no extra cost. Feeling a little guilty about the food I've consumed all day, I opted for mixed pickles as my side dish. While it was called "mixed pickles", it was actually a variety of veggies with a sour taste that helps with the fatty flavour from the chicken. You also get to choose the level of spice for your chicken. FYI, I tried the hot level at Harpoon Harry and my tongue was already burning from that level let alone their hottest "Really f@$*in hot" flavour. At medium, I was already getting quick a kick from the spices though I thoroughly enjoyed its crumbled skin and tender chicken meat. Definitely one of my fave eats in Melbourne for this trip.

Belle's Hot Chicken
150 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy VIC 3065
(03) 9077 0788
http://www.belleshotchicken.com/
Mon-Sun: 12:00pm - 10:00pm
 


KOKORO RAMEN

This review was mostly through the perspective of my friends T and AC who were still hungry after our visit to Supernormal. On the other hand, I was too full but went along to check it out with them. I did have a small tasting of each of the bowls and from what I can tell, they were completely satisfied with the ramen at this joint. 

Miso Ramen with Soft Shell Crab ($18.00) with extra Ajitama egg (additional $2.00)

The menu at Kokoro is 12 pages worth of food including many different types of ramen from various regions of Japan. It even gives you a bit of background history behind the origin of the ramen, which is pretty cool. There is even a ramen burger! GG. The miso ramen that T tried was based in the Sapporo region. It has a thick, tonkotsu pork broth with an additional miso paste for that tangy, slow-cooked flavour. This was served with an Ajitama egg (though T wanted more so he ordered an extra one!), bamboo shoot, spring onion, black fungi, sesame seeds and a thin, straight and firm egg noodle. Loved the colourful look of the broth and it seemed to be more flavoursome than some of the other miso ramens I've had in the past from what I've sampled. T gave this two thumbs up. 

Shio Ramen - small ($7.80) with Soft Shell Crab ($8.00)

AC got a smaller bowl of the lighter, salt-based Shio Ramen. This type of ramen was based in the Nagahama region in the southern island of Japan. The broth was clearer and not as flavoursome as the miso ramen but AC seemed to enjoy this as well. Both bowls had that irresistably gooey egg and the guys have also opted for the soft shell version, which was highly recommended at Kokoro ramen. It was crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside and seemed to stood out so well in both bowls. The pork that came with the shio ramen was on the thick side and seemed quite tender from what I've tasted. It's a shame that I was quite full to get a proper experience at Kokoro Ramen but it was good to see the mates feeling so satisfied from their time here. 

Kokoro Ramen
157 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne VIC 3000
(03) 9650 1215
http://kokororamen.com/
Mon-Fri: 11:30am - 3:00pm, 5:00pm - 10:30pm
Sat: 11:30am - 10:30pm
Sun: 11:30am - 9:00pm
 

Stay tuned for the final Melbourne recap on The Random Foodie (for now) where I explore lots and lots of sweet stores in Melbourne CBD and South Yarra.

Ramen O-San, Haymarket

It was bound to happen eventually. A ramen joint at Dixon House Food Court! With Ramen O-San opening in early February, there is now a ramen joint at every food court in the Haymarket area (Gumshara at Eating World, Ramen Ikkyu at Sussex Centre and Hakata Maru at Market City). Plenty of choices for your Japanese noodle needs especially when winter is coming...soon. While the location did bring a slight uncertainty about its future given this food court's history with closing many of their shops pre-maturely (For Lease signs can still be spotted at many of their stalls), the international award-winning Ramen O-San might be a different story altogether.

O-San Ramen is owned by Chef Kazuteru, who also opened five ramen shops in Japan and one in Cambodia. Ramen O-San specialises in Kyushu-style Tonkotsu ramen, which has won the 'Top 3 Ramen' award in Kyushu, Japan. The Sydney shop is actually the first that you would most likely to spot when you walk down the stairs from the main entrance into Dixon House Food Court. Since it's located inside a food court, don't expect any fancy setting especially when you find yourself accidentally sitting on a tray left on the chair. In terms of service, the staff seemed quite friendly and it didn't take long for the food to get ready after we made our order. 

Similar to Gumshara, the pork bone broth in the tonkotsu ramen is MSG-free. Although our ramen came with pork cha-siu, spring onions and mushroom (depending what ramen you order), we had to order egg and nori separately at $1.50 extra. We both learnt it the hard way when I forgot my nori while KT forgot the egg. Oops...

Tonkotsu Ramen ($9.80) with Nori Seaweed ($1.50)

The original Tonkotsu (pork base) soup had a slightly similar texture to Gumshara's ramen broth. The pork bones were simmered for more than 10 hours so it was no surprise that there was that thick, creamy, collagen-like richness as you dig into the broth. However, it didn't have the same intense richness as Gumshara's so it was easier to finish in comparison. Plus the noodles were relatively thinner. While I didn't try much of it, KT commented that it was one of the more delicious ramens he has tried in Sydney so far. 

Black Garlic Tonkotsu Ramen ($10.80) with Marinated Boiled Egg ($1.50)

The above could also be said for my black garlic Tonkotsu ramen. Was a bit bummed at my lack of nori so I got a piece from KT's bowl (seriously it's just not the same without the nori!). The broth was flavoursome though the garlic was not very strong compared to the Sumo Ramen that is also on the menu (yet to try at time of writing this review). Loved the thin and springy noodles and the thick slices of pork cha-siu in my bowl which worked well with the ramen broth. Gotta love that gooeyness from the egg yolk too.

There were many other dishes that we haven't tried at this joint including the intensely garlicky Sumo Ramen, Spicy Ramen, Chicken Soy Ramen and Seafood Tsuke-men so will certainly be making more visits in the near future. Compared to a few of the other ramen shops in the city, the prices were actually on the cheaper end even when you order the extra egg and nori. However if you can only handle light-broth ramen similar to Ippudo, this might not be the ideal place for you. Hopefully this joint will stay as long as possible to bring that much needed spark and even a bit of cheeky ramen competition back into Dixon House Food Court along with its old school charm.

DISCLAIMER: The Random Foodie dined as a guest of Ramen O-San, courtesy of SD Marketing and Washoku Lovers. Opinions are however, my own.

Ramen O-San
Shop B01, Dixon House Food Court
Cnr Dixon Street and Little Hay Street, Haymarket NSW 2000
Wed-Mon: 11:00am - 8:30pm
http://www.o-san.com/index.html

Ippudo Central Park, Chippendale

By now you may or may not have heard that the worldwide famed Ippudo was in the process of opening their second Sydney branch at the newly developed Central Plaza across the street from good ol' UTS. Well the wait is over because this hotly anticipated restaurant will be opening its doors on 2nd October 2014 (WHICH IS TOMORROW YOU GUYS!!!). With branches all over the world, it's no wonder that Ippudo has been going strength to strength in Sydney.

Thanks to Sana from SD Marketing, I was invited to the soft opening of Ippudo Central Park before the official opening. This branch is situated in the dining district at the outdoor courtyard next to the likes of Max Brenners, Coco Cubano, Rib and Burgers, and Autolyse. While the two branches share the same name, that familiar greeting as you stepped inside the premises and the ramen, there's a decent array of entree dishes that are available exclusively to the Central Park branch. This includes the Ippudo Chasu Croquette ($8.00), Tomato Pickles ($8.00), and the Ippudo Fish and Chips ($14.00). Yup you read that right.

House-made Lemon Lime Bitters ($5.00)

At the time of our visit, alcoholic beverages and the pork buns were sadly unavailable but still, at least there's more room to try other dishes. The lemon lime bitter was so refreshing to have that I forgot to take a pic till I already drank half of it! Whoops...

Seared Salmon Sushi ($13.00) 

We were initially indecisive about what we should get for our entree to share. After much time spent on looking at the menu, we settled on sushi since we were curious on how Ippudo compares to the traditional sushi joints. Gotta say that we were surprised on how much we enjoyed this dish. The temari salmon tasted fresh while the rice had a nice, balanced texture. However, the mentai mayo and avocado added loads of zesty flavour with a slightly creamy texture that actually worked well with the sushi. Wouldn't mind ordering more if I can.

Platter of Additional Ramen Toppings

Since both CC and I ordered a Special version of the ramen of our choice, we received a platter of extra toppings including flavoured egg, simmered pork belly, roasted seaweed, black mushrooms, bamboo shoots and spring onions. I haven't tried the special version at the other branch to see if they also serve the extra toppings separately but I thought this was a good idea so you can decide how much you want to eat with your bowl instead of eating everything inside.

Tori Shoyu Ramen Special ($21.00) 

I wasn't feeling too well in terms of the stomach so I went with something a bit lighter that I haven't tried at Ippudo before, which was the Tori Shoyu Ramen Special. This type of ramen uses a chicken broth blended with special bonito extract, served with medium wavy noodles and topped with original chicken chasu, menna, leek and naruto. While the broth was lighter, it was full of flavour from all the ingredients even when I added most of the extras into the bowl. It was also fascinating digging into tender chicken and pork belly pieces in one go as your slurp up the contents. Very generous serving size especially with the additional toppings.

The finished dish with the extra special toppings

Akamaru Special ($24.00)

CC went along with her favourite Ippudo ramen, which was the Akamaru Shinaji (mine too) but decided to go up a notch and order the Akamaru Special. This was basically the Akamaru Shinaji (tonkotsu broth with miso paste and garlic oil with thin noodles, pork belly, black mushrooms and spring onion) with the platter of additional toppings as mentioned previously. Always enjoyed blending the miso paste with the tonkotsu broth just to see the beautiful result. 

Both CC and I were very pleased with what Ippudo Central Park has offered. We were even more excited about the new dishes that we could only get at this branch. While the prices are more expensive for the uni students in the area, Ippudo is definitely worth it for the deliciously unique dishes, spaced out and spotless decor and the welcoming and friendly service from the staff. Very keen to go back again to try the Miso Tonkotsu Ramen, the Ippudo Fish and Chips, and the Chasu Croquette on my next visit. With so many restaurants opening around Chippendale these days, it is no surprise that this quiet suburb will become one of the next upcoming food hub spot in Sydney. 



Disclaimer: The Random Foodie dined as a guest of Ippudo Sydney Central Park, courtesy of Sana from SD Marketing. Opinions are however, my own.

Ippudo Sydney Central Park
Level 1 RB07, 28 Broadway, Chippendale NSW 2008
(02) 8078 7020
http://www.ippudo.com.au/
Opening Date: 2nd October 2014

Hakata-Maru Ramen, Haymarket

Yes I admit it. This winter, I'm addicted to ramen. There I've said it. Can't be helped when quite a few ramen joints have opened up within a short space of time. Hakata-Maru Ramen at Market City Food Court opened about a couple of weeks after the opening of Sussex Centre Food Court's Ramen Ikkyu. While there was so much hype and countless reviews (and criticisms) about the latter, you don't really hear much about Hakata-Maru Ramen unless you are in the area. It was heartwarming to see this opening at Market City as it used to be an old regular spot back in my uni days.

Hakata-Maru Ramen is the first store to open in Australia under Toridoll Corporation, which has more than 800 stores worldwide including Japan, China, Korea, America, Thailand and Russia to name a few. 

On this occasion, I was kindly invited by Hidetoshi from Toridoll to sample the dishes that Hakata-Maru Ramen has to offer. The menu was quite limited but it is the quality that matters. As the name indicates, the primary focus is hakata-style tonkotsu ramen with thin and straight noodles - similar to Ippudo but with cheaper prices.

We were invited by Hide into the kitchen to see what happens behind the scenes at this ramen joint. The ramen itself was made in-house at the premises with the tonkotsu broth cooking inside the massive pots. 

We also got a glimpse of the thin and straight Hataka-style noodles stored in a chiller where the temperature and humidity can be controlled to an optimum level. The hardness of the noodles depends on how long it was boiled though it generally takes about 40 seconds to cook till it has that bitey texture due to a low-moisture content. 

Those noodles!

You get a choice of the following ramens:
- White Tonkotsu
- Black Tonkotsu
- Red Tonkotsu
- Chasu (white tonkotsu broth with extra pork)
- Prawn and Vegetable (unfortunately not recommended for vegetarians and those on strict religious diets because they still use a pork broth)

When you order your choice of ramen and toppings, you can add as much as you want from the bowls of white sesame, red ginger and spicy takana at the front counter. 

Complimentary toppings: White sesame, Red Ginger, Spicy Takana

How crystal clear does this bowl looks? The broth was clean, slightly creamy and just simply light in its basic form. The pork was reasonably tender and the egg was full of oozy goodness. It's super cheap too! The servings sizes were slightly smaller and there wasn't as many toppings in my bowl compared to other ramen joints (unless you want to order more toppings for an additional price) but they still got me full in the end. CC absolutely loved how thin the broths really were since she's generally not a fan of thick and rich broths.

White Tonkotsu ($7.80)

If you like a bit of spice with your ramen then the Red Tonkotsu is the ideal option for you. It uses a spicy miso ball that you mix with the tonkotsu broth to add some fiery zing to your ramen. Personally I thought that it wasn't too spicy and CC was able to handle decent amounts of it. Perfect winter warmer to have on a cold day.

Red Tonkotsu ($8.80)

Out of the ramens I've had at this store, the black tonkotsu is my personal favourite (though they are all amazing). The tonkotsu broth was topped with a smear of garlic oil and a sprinkle of garlic flakes. I loved the extra punch that the garlic oil adds to the broth to give off an incredibly flavoursome, fragrant and slightly richer broth that complemented well with the toppings including the slices of pork shoulder and the crunchy black fungus. 

Black tonkotsu ($8.80)

Personally, I've never tried a vegetable ramen but hey there's always a first time for everything. Interestingly, this was the most expensive of all the other ramen dishes at $11.80 (I'm guessing it's because of the prawns?). By this point, we were incredibly stuffed and could barely try this bowl. From what we tried, we really enjoyed it. We did notice the slight difference in the broth. While it does use a tonkotsu broth, there is also soy sauce added to this dish along with stir-fried prawns and veggies to deliver one of the most interesting and delicious ramen dishes we've tried. There is also a generous amount of toppings compared to the other ramen dishes at this eatery. If we weren't so full, we would gladly slurp up the entire bowl.

Prawn and vegetable ramen ($11.80)

You can also get an extra bowl of noodles/kaedama for $1 extra which you can order separately or at the same time as your ramen. The idea of the kaedama is to add them to the broth and eat it soon after so you can taste the bitey texture of the noodles. If it didn't get full so easily these days, I would make the most of the kaedama. 

Kaedama ($1.00)

The chicken wing karaage was sold out when we were there but we were getting full from trying all of the ramen so we ended up sharing a small set of gyoza dumplings. The skin was crispy to our liking while the filling inside was piping hot. These dumplings are great to have for a side dish though I will certainly try out the chicken wings next time after hearing so much on how good they were.

Gyoza dumplings ($2.00)

While it is located inside a food court, you can still hear the staff chanting noisily like the staff at Ippudo. The interior decor stand out above the other stalls with its colourful appearance. While it does get busy at times, the service is quick so you wouldn't have to wait too long for the food. I'm sure lots of people will be checking out Hakata-Maru Ramen for the unbelievably cheap and yummy feed that will satisfy your hunger and won't blow your budget.

Disclaimer: The Random Foodie and co dined as guests of Hakata-Maru Ramen, courtesy of Hidetoshi Tsuboi and team. Thank you so much for the wonderful evening! Opinions are personal.

Hakata-Maru Ramen
Market City, Level 3 Foodcourt,
9-13 Hay Street, Haymarket NSW 2000
(02) 9281 6648
https://www.facebook.com/Hakatamaru

Ramen Ikkyu, Haymarket

If you have been looking up my instagram lately, you may know that I've been eating waaaay too much ramen. One of those ramen eateries where I've been having my regular fix was the newly opened Ramen Ikkyu. By now, everyone in the food scene would have at least heard about Ramen Ikkyu from the fact that Chef Haru Inukai (formerly of BlancHaru) is at the helm of this ramen joint to the excessive lines to the knowledge that they apparently serve a maximum of 150 bowls of ramen each day. A fact that I find hard to believe with those lines. Especially since I was able to order a bowl of ramen at 7pm on a Thursday and Friday night in recent weeks. Maybe it's 150 bowls for each ramen type? Or maybe it's just my luck since I've heard a few other people saying that everything was sold out by the end of lunch time on a weekend.

Those damn lines...

Like Wagaya and Mizuya, Ramen Ikkyu has adopted the 21st Century way of ordering your food using the touchscreen Ipad. The friendly staff at the counter takes your order and prepares your food while you wait. Along with your choice of ramen, you can also order additional ramen toppings such as an extra egg, slices of cha-shu or even pork rib! While the line where you wait to order your food on the ipad was fairly quick, the time to wait for your food to get ready was much longer especially with so much recent hype.
 

What makes Ramen Ikkyu unique to other ramen joints is the Paitan soup that they use in the Ikkyu ramen broth. This is a white broth made from a mixture of chicken and pork bones and boiled for several hours. This makes the broth to be fairly rich but not to the extent of Gumshara Ramen.

Ramen condiments including garlic, ginger and chilli flakes

I've overheard many people around me recommending the Ikkyu (shoyu) ramen/no.3 ramen so why not? The shoyu (or soy) base delivers a reasonably thick and rich broth full of flavour. While I really enjoyed this ramen, CC thought it was too thick to handle and struggled to finish. I especially loved the touch of soy used in this bowl for that extra depth in flavour. The 3 thick slices of cha-shu (pork) were somewhat sweet and incredibly tender to the point that it melts in your mouth. It was well roasted and smoked with an equal balance of pork meat and fat. It is also topped with crunchy bamboo shoots, egg, shallots, bean sprouts, seaweed and black fungus which deliver diverse layers of texture to your ramen bowl. These toppings are certainly one of the qualities that makes Ramen Ikkyu stand out over the other ramen joints. I especially loved that the soft-boiled egg (well one half of it) is already in the ramen when I order the ramen as I always forget to order it in the past. Oozy stuff! 

Ikkyu (shoyu) Ramen ($10.50)  

That oozy egg!

If you prefer thinner broths, then the Tokyo (shoyu) ramen is the one for you. Ramen Ikkyu uses a chicken stock in this type of ramen to make it thin though the soy enhances the overall light flavour. In addition, the noodles were springy and bouncy on this occasion. It was actually quite popular on the night I tried this dish since it was listed as sold out just after I made my order. CC tried a bit from this bowl and really loved it for its lightness. Very delicious!

Tokyo (shoyo) Ramen ($10.50)

On another visit, I tried the Ikkyu (miso) Ramen which is incredibly flavoursome but thicker and richer than the Ikkyu shoyu ramen thanks to the pork stock mixed with the miso. The toppings differ from the other types of ramen with lots of veggies to enjoy including carrots, corn, onions and cabbage. It was also a tad more salty than the other ramen bowls but the broth was still quite flavoursome and colourful. Plus eating the cha-shu in chopped up pieces made it much easier (and less embarrassing) to eat when you're with your mates or even your date.

 

Ikkyu (miso) Ramen ($10.50)

While the noodles do have a bitey, al-dente texture (Chef Haru makes his own noodles), they do get softer fairly soon but never fear! One of the amazing things about Ramen Ikkyu is that you can get an extra bowl of noodles if you present your receipt to the counter staff before you finish your soup. For free!

Freeeeeee noodles!

The food court is certainly an interesting setting which echoes the likes of Gumshara Ramen at Eating World across the street. It should be interesting to see how the crowds for Ramen Ikkyu will effect the other longstanding stalls in the same food court. I hope that this means more exposure for those shops as well. The prices are cheap for those on a budget with most of the ramen bowls costing at $10.50 with the veggie ramen being the most expensive at $12.50. The bowls will get you full so it's certainly great value for money. Best ramen in Sydney? I wouldn't say yes but it is different to the usual ramen joints. And the staff seemed friendly despite the queues. Even spotted Chef Haru chatting to some of the customers. Will be coming here more regularly for a cheap eat and to try one of the salt-based (shio) ramen bowls as well as the chilli oil ramen. Hopefully, the queues decrease once the hype slows down over time.

Ramen Ikkyu
Shop F1A Sussex Centre Food Court,
401 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000
(02) 9281 0998
http://menikkyu.com.au/