hakatamon ramen

i've been here twice, both with my youngest son before a school event, who after visiting is now dedicated to ramen. this place is the most authentic i have been in sydney. handmade noodles, amazing broth and watching them prepare the ramen with attention at the bar is fantastic. in fact i have a ramen craving now as i write this so it shows how good it is.

this is one of my favourite ramen restaurant. the soup of the ramen is not too thick and oily. all elements on the bowl are well balanced and well cooked.

really enjoyed my ramen here. the soup base was quite tasty but i don't eat ramen enough to have too much for comparison. my friends who i came with however, both do and they also loved it.

good place for a fast meal when craving ramen. hakata-maru ramen isn't far from chatswood station but it's located away from most of the other restaurants. i find the meat in their ramen delicious. the broth isn't as rich or thick as i'd hoped and the noodles used feel different from the ones at gumshara and ryo's. that being said, i have found the ramen there better than the other joints i've tried so far in chatswood.

popped in for lunch today around 2pm and it wasnt as busy. order and pay at the door and then take  a seat and wait. we got served some table water as well as little bowls of garden salad. then i got my prawn tonkatsu and my partner got the pork. this place has more thinner style noodles but with a really nice broth. they had more variety when it came to what sort of meat. two new options which i have never seen is the prawn and deep fried chicken. my partners pork was the crumbed style but he enjoyed it. overall, great first visit.

the good thing about this place is the price. there is better ramen out there but this is probably one of the best at the $10 price point in the cbd / chinatown area.

i have a poor man's palate, so all the ramen stock i've tried always tastes full of flavour. i'm not big fan of the noodles they use here, i prefer the curly ones whilst here they use the "straight" and thin type, but its still good. if you feel like ramen for lunch, then this is the place to go.

had the signature raman. soup base is really nice. the egg was tasty as well. pork was not bad. the only thing i would suggest to improve is the soup was not enough. for ramen costs nearly 18 dollars, i expect a bigger bowl.
my friend ordered a curry rice dish. the food quality was definitely good. but it was way much smaller than what it looks like on the menu.
the table nested to us ordered a bun. the size is a bit bigger than a maccaroon.
i think price is reasonable and the portion is not too bad. but the pictures on menu set wrong expectation.

when i first move to chatswood, hakata-maru ramen store caught my attention as a hidden gem. it is just a small restaurant hidden away from the other restaurant on the other side of the train station.

upon entry into the busy little restaurant on a thursday night, the waitresses welcomed me and got me sitting down at a side table. i had my work bag with me and they quickly got me a basket for me to put my bag in. i suppose it is a japanese custom, as i have had that happen before a couple of times.

i got myself an appetiser of gyoza and a bowl of yummylicious hakata-maru tonkotsu.

hakata-maru tonkotsu is their signature supreme ramen. it has pretty much got all the goodness of a tonkotsu ramen. tonkotsu base, which means pork broth is full of awesome collagen which is good for the skin, one of the reasons i almost always get it when i go to a ramen store. besides that, this ramen has fried garlic and shallots, giving them a unique taste as well as a dollop of chilli. this combination makes this ramen pretty unique and i would have to say, i did not know where to start with the fear of making a mess as it looks so pretty.

best ramen we'd had in a while! the tonkotsu broth was just right and the noodles were also cooked perfectly. the service was very friendly and the prices were very reasonable given the quality of the food and drinks. a very satisfying meal!

a bit of a wait when i got there but it was worth the wait. i'm not a big fan of ramen but boy did their ramen put a smile on my face. the hakata-maru tonkotsu was a bit pricy at $17.80 but if it's your first time there, you need to try their signature dish.

hakata ramen has brought my faith back in tonkotsu after the disaster at my previous experience. the soup is rich but not just one dimensional that tends to be the case with the last few i have tried. it's a welcome relief to hear native japanese chefs in the kitchen as opposed to many korean run japanese restaurants in chatswood and the menu was spared of any invasion of kim chi!

the hakata-maru was their signature ramen and at $17.80 a bowl i asked the waitress what it consisted as their was no description on their menu. the waitress was a little vague and mentioned a few condiments but what i wanted to hear was her description of perhaps several meats to justify the price. the tonkotsu stock was complimented by a dash of black tonkotsu, chilli paste, and 5 slices of quality pork belly, 1/2 perfectly boiled egg along with the usual condiments. the ramen itself was perfectly cooked but wish there was more of it. an excellent dish worthy of their signature but the price a bit steep at $17.80. 

the spicy dan dan was well balanced without dominating the natural flavour of the soup base. 

the gyoza filling was fresh and vibrant, the pastry a little strange almost consisting of too much rice flour but still very nice. the sauce was good and the tiny dollop of citrus puree worked well with the dumplings.

the kitchen brigade worked fast but was in control the whole time taking time to pay attention to more delicate things when required. the service was rushed but i cannot hold anything against them as the single waitress was swept off her feet being the order taker, server, table cleaner and register girl all while being very pleasant and friendly.

i love this place. favourite ramen in chatswood hands down. the prices have gone up slightly but i think they are still reasonable for the quality and serving size. service is very swift and polite as is in most japanese restaurants.

the hakatu-maru and white tonkotsu are my top choices to get, but seriously any ramen here is a winner. the pork in the kakuni was insane. so tender and just melts in your mouth. and they are really generous with the pork too. i also really like the fact that they have this jar of (not really sure what it is exactly) veggies that you can add to the ramen. it's not much but being korean, i love side dishes so this was a big plus actually and not something i have seen at other ramen joints.

fantastic food quality - generous portions and one of the best ramen tastes in sydney. also, great service with very prompt and friendly staff!

been to hakata maru few times and my poison there is the hakata maru tonkotsu. the overall balance of the bowl is fantastically good. for the money, it's another level above ippudo cbd. one point to mention is the chef took the time to stir fry the cabbage & bean sprouts instead of boiling them which showed attention to details.....

however the katsu curry there is less than ordinary so unless the chef had an off day otherwise i'd steer clear and only go for the noodles.

i'm surprised why there are no queue for this shop. the ramen is fantastic and good value for money. too often ramen shops offer just the basic toppings so that they can charge you an arm and leg for additional topping but with this place, there is no need for additional toppings, unless you are a big eater. the two slices of pork belly in the kakuni tonkotsu, although they don't look much, were in fact big hearty generous slices. generous servings of wood ear mushroom and bamboo shoots too. the white and black broth were both full of flavour and the noodles were made for slurping. excellent friendly service that are typical of ramen joints staffed by japanese. i'm glad i discovered this hidden gem.