hakatamon ramen

hakata-maru ramen is a popular japanese ramen bar in chatswood which offers a variety of broth and other side dishes. the casual restaurant features a mixture of bar seats and proper low tables and the open kitchen allows me to peek at the young chefs preparing my meal.

i ordered their signature black tonkotsu and kakuni bun. the braised pork belly and pork slices were overcooked and hard. and i feel the restaurant could do more to avoid the boar taint. otherwise, the broth was savoury and delicious although it was marginally too oily for my preference.

this place is one of my favourite ramen restaurants in sydney! it is slightly hidden away on the quiet side of chatswood, so it might be a little bit hard to find. their 'black tonkotsu' (black garlic) is absolutely delicious and cannot be missed. the flavours are so strong, amazing broth and noodles are cooked perfectly! i have also tried their 'shoyu' ramen, which is also very tasty. if you're after a small dish to share, gyoza is always a good choice.all of their prices are very reasonable which is a bonus!

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i love asian noodle soup but most of them are loaded with msg! i hate the dry mouth and thirsty feeling all day long afterwards.

i had their hakata-maru's signature tonkatsu, it come with black sesame oil and a soup spoonful of red chilli paste. to me, it wasn't very spicy but add to a great balance of flavours. the tonkatsu broth was not heavy. it has a clean taste and did not smell "porky"!

the only downsides for me is that the charsu they used was quite fatty! and at $17.80 it was quite expensive!

it's so great to find hakata-maru's broth has minimum amount of msg. if you also have low msg tolerance, i highly recommend this little gem.

our favourites are the karaage chicken rice bowl and white tonkotsu ramen, these are the top two on the list and they always hit the spot, so good!

it's still a cold raining night...

so to break the hot pot routine time for a hearty ramen to shake off all that misery....

i knew the name was familiar, think i've seen this place in china town somewhere...couldn't put my finger on it but oh well we were in chatswood and we wanted ramen so wah la!

okay the miso tonkatsu ramen! noodles very elastic...or in chinese we call it "teeth bouncing" who invented this phrase and how high were they...? topping wise, id say okay bit stingy...i mean i've seen other places be more generous in regards to bamboo shoots and corn; oh and not a slice of chashu but hey the scattered traces of diced braised pork belly was different - id say an acceptable. after all ramen is about the noodles, soup and bamboo shoots; yes the one topping i care about...now the soup! are you being sly and putting butter in your miso soup hakata...! honestly i can't even quite remember how long ago i've seen butter as a topping but recollection wise, i do recall the best miso ramen i've had in japan was topped with a thick slice of butter - so you win childhood memory points...side note*** if you didn't actually put butter then kuddos to you for making me taste butter!

the other was the signature hakata ramen, dangerous times, when i see "signature" on the menu cause your almost setting yourself up to fail...or artificially giving yourself a higher bar to jump over! with the utmost courtesy and i believe she did a great job was the waitress who i inquisitively asked what was the difference between the signature and the regular tonkatsu soup which she replied with it's the black garlic ramen with more topping to which i say i appreciate your honesty!

so anyways...yeah just a black garlic tonkatsu ramen with more toppings! i wouldn't say it's "signature" as there's nothing that really differentiates it from the regular soup; however it did come with the straight noodles "which id simply call egg-less noodles" are they better than egg ramen noodles, nada but "authenticity" yes!

so on the soups! wonderful, magical and i wouldn't ask for anything else on a night like this. egg noodles great lovely cooked to that al dente state. egg-less straight noodles, cooked very well too but it's just inferior to egg noodles in terms of taste...i mean the best ramen noodles used duck egg...maybe that's my biased to egg noodles?

many many criticism, but look i certainly feel like
you surpassed my expectations or maybe it was just the right weather but i may have to come again to do quality control...?

we wanted ramen and figured that we'd try here for a change instead of going to ippudo all the time. the place is nice and cosy, small but enough tables inside that it's not too busy if you come during a weekday lunch.

we ordered the black garlic ramen and the karaage curry (both $12.80). the ramen was super tasty, i really enjoyed the tonkotsu soup and the garlic flavour. the curry was delicious, a bit thinner than i would've liked but it was a good portion and the karaage was great. fast service and good prices, definitely will be back more often!

i went to hakata-maru around 5:45 pm. at the beginning, the waitress with semi-blonde/black long hair treat me respectively and conducted me to the big table (could seat 8-10 people). at that time there were only five customers in the restaurant and i did not want to seat closely to a lady. so i moved one seat further in order to get more space. then the semi-blonde/black kong hair waitress used her index finger point to the menu (on the table ) and said: " this is your seat and you can't seat here !". i asked her why and she replied:"more customers will come later and you are affect my arrangement !".  "there are too many seats available now and even if there is a large group of customer come in they can seat other large tables" i replied. she insisted that i have to sit what she told me without any respect and i followed.  i ordered the shoyu chashu ramen and tasted nothing special than any food court ramen. one big thing i need to mention is they use something called "bone powder" with hot water to create their ramen broth rather than using real bones cooking for hours to minimize their cost. they should feel disgraceful about cheating on customers. i really have no idea guys says" this is the best ramen i have ever had etc." probably they have never been to japan and eat real ramen. i would recommend manpuku chatswood, ryo's north sydney and yasaka cbd if you guys wanna try good quality ramen. overall, this is a place waitress does not know how to treat customers respectively with fake ramen broth.

amazing ramen with fresh ingredients and tasty tonkotsu broth, prepared with passion and good service. their various ramen options are well flavoured and authentic

i visited sydney 3 time in last 9 months on business. i am put up at the meriton and office is 799 pacific highway, so it's quite close. but never got a chance to go here. then one day when there was no one to accompany for lunch, i went here. i didn't know what to order as we don't have a lot of asian cuisine in india.
i ordered the tonkatsu. it was very good - the soup as well as pork. only thing i don't like about all asian restaurants is that the portion size is too big. i have never seen anyone finish the whole thing. i hate wastage of food more than my money going waste.

i was devastated when hakata-maru haymarket closed down, however happy to hear that the chatswood branch was still running so i could get my ramen mix. this is definitely my favourite ramen in sydney, the black garlic tonkotsu broth is my go-to, and it's very reasonably priced too!

updated(nov 2018)

we went this store occasionally, and felt the soup is getting weaker.
our last visit, we felt the same. moreover, the soup wasn't hot enough. water and spoons weren't on the table (all gone) and they didn't fill again.

we are over with this outlet. we will try the other one in north sydney shop, but not in chatswood.

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hakata maru in market city in china town was my favourite one. unfortunately it has been closed due to building redevelopment. so, i tried hakatamaru in chatswood if they are good as market city.

the price for white tonkotsu is $1 more than market city but still reasonable. however, the soup was better at market city one, which was more creamy, thick and strong flavour. the two shops in different places serve slightly different flavour is kinda disappointing, but i'll still try another bowl at chatswood, as soup would change (slightly) time to time due to ingredients quality and season.

the table i say is sticky, it's needed throughly cleaning i suppose....

at this stage, i may prefer to have marukame udon (sister shop) if i'm going to quick meal in chatswood...

the best ramen in sydney.

first off, the noodles had a good thickness and a bouncy bite. most places can't seem to get it right, it's either too hard or too soft. next is the broth, their tonkotsu is mind blowing! nice, thick and flavoursome.  the chashu was super tender and tasty. and lastly, it was great value for money. would definitely recommend it for anyone wishing to have good ramen.

this place is great. it has a buzzing atmosphere and the ramen is incredibly tasty.
i had the hakata-maru tonkotsu - it was rich and nutty and just the right level of spiciness. i thought the price at $17.80 seemed a bit steep, but it was a generous portion or pork and other extras like the seasoned egg.

my pick of the ramen offers in chatswood (including the more famed ippudo). i love the different style of noodles they offer, and both the tonkotsu & spicy dan dan broth. this time i got the dan dan, when it came out all you can see is a blob of spicy miso on top of a sea of red soup, but once you dig through the sea of red, there's a good mix of char shu, mushroom, bamboo shoots, fungus, corn & noodles. the soup was a good spicy, not extreme so you can still taste the food. also got a side of karage chicken, which was juicy but not too oily. they do a lunch deal for the weekday work crowd, but i went on the weekend this time, but it's still worth paying the full price for.

i ordered the basic white pork broth ramen and as usual, i loved it.

the broth was rich and creamy without being overly thick or oily. it's a real trick to get the broth right in ramen. it's half the battle and i tip my hat to hakata-maru for getting as close as they have to winning it.

the toppings were basic but enjoyable. the crispiness of the wood ear mushroom and the bamboo shoots with their customary crunch are a pleasant balancer as they cut through the broth. the slices of pork could have been a tad more tender but that is probably just me being fussy. 

i also ordered a soft-boiled egg to go with my ramen and suffice as to say, it was perfect. the eruption of the yolk as it joined forces with the broth was divine. i suspect my wife may have been looking at me funny as we were eating....

the noodles, the other half of the ramen challenge, didn't disappoint. i prefer my noodles to be straight and slightly firm. no soft noodles for me, al dente all the way thank you very much. i greedily ordered two second servings which left me bursting. i think that i will go for civility next time and just order the one.

at $10.50 for the basic tonkotsu dish, the price is extremely reasonable. the all-japanese staff have always offered me an authentically professional service which i very much appreciate.

conveniently located close to chatswood station, this little gem of a place has become my go to spot for a good ramen lunch in sydney.