hakatamon ramen

i enjoyed their black tonkotsu ramen - the broth was thick in consistency and an explosion of flavour. their ramen was a bit on the hard side. their chashuporkwas very tender but there were only 2 small pieces. i added an egg, which was $2.50. i was rather disappointed that it wasn't a runny egg :(
i also ordered their karaage chicken, which was juicy and tender with a thin layer of batter, freshly deep fried and well drained of oil. however, i thought it was a bit pricy for the 4 small pieces of chicken.

best ramen in chatswood!!
around 55$ for two people
the dim sum starter is full of filling.

ramen broth is quite salty but theporkis amazing.
definitely come back!

to be honest, when i first came to visit hakata-maru ramen, i got lost. this inconspicuous restaurant is not visible from chatswood station and you would be lucky to notice it if you caught a bus from the bus interchange directly outside or opposite the restaurant....

this is probably one of the more authentic japanese restaurants that i have been to - pre-made ramen is stored inside a wooden box, waiting to be boiled and served to customers. even ryo's just stores their ramen in large plastic boxes outside their kitchen. also, theirporkcutlets and karaage chicken appeared to be double-fried - i.e. pre-fried once beforehand, and left in a pile in front of the deep fryer until ordered, at which point the pork/chicken is deep-fried again to give it a crispy coating...

arrive early to avoid office lunch time rush. the place is quite nice and cosy. we tried the special hakata tonkatsu ramen (be careful, it's spicy) , chasu shoyu ramen and some gyozas. theporkchasu was so soft, nicely flavoured and had nice seared taste. the gyozas are small and not what you normally see in restaurants but they were juicy and nice with quite a bit of veggies inside. i think they are made in store. will come back to try other dishes.

"the soup reminds me of when i was in japan, the lovely street food experience." was what my partner said.

it would be better experience if our tea was brewed in a small pot instead of the japanese cups. the cups held the heat too much and were already super hot before the tea was done and they didn't cool down quickly (we couldn't hold the cup at all and had to wait for the cups to coold down) . our tea cooled down so much by the time we can hold our cups...

signature ramen and braisedpork(kakuni) taste different than usual and the portion of braisedporknow full of fat, usually proportional in perfect cut and also didn’t well marinate.

i went to eat here recently with high expectations and having raved to my dad about how good the ramen is and was quite disappointed with the $18 ramen that i ordered (the signature ramen) as well as the karaage chicken we ordered.

i think at the price point and rating of this restaurant, it is reasonable to have high expectations for every component (all of which are equally important) of a bowl of ramen to be up to standard.
i've never had a issue in the 4-5 times i've eaten here however theporkthat i was served in my ramen was so poor quality i was shocked.. i've been to those fast-food ramen restaurants like tenkomori in the city where the dishes are half the price of this ramen at a "well rated restaurant" and have never gotten such fattyporkslices which were 80% fat and 20% actual meat. usually theporkis in a good ratio/assorted strips of fat and meat but what i was served was mostly just fat and was disgusting. i nibbled off the small portion of actual meat and threw away the rest. the photo i took doesn’t really show what a thick slice of mostly fat my chashu was.

i usually also quite enjoy the tonkotsu broth but it seemed less flavourful and thin compared to previous visits. from memory, i really enjoyed how the broth was a good balance between not too thick or thin and full of flavour.

similar i've had no complains about the karaage chicken in previous visits however this time the batter (karaage should only have a light coating that is thin when cooked and provides a light crunch) was thick,oily and bland.

my conclusion is that they must have changed their chef or cut costs in the months between my most recent and the previous visit... disappointing and i don't think i'll be going back.

time to move on to better ramen places......

the ramen here was yummy as were the steamed baos, especially the kimchi chicken bao. i ordered the chashu shoyu ramen which came withporkbelly slices, seaweed, egg, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts and corn.

service was fast and portions were of average size.

we were told that the shoyu ramen comes with 2 slices ofporkand a seasoned egg. the egg never came. and they said later that it doesn’t come with an egg. misleading customers!

tucked away near chatswood station, there is something about hakata-maru ramen’s noodles that make them absolutely simply sensational. it might be the delicious perfectly balanced rich, milkyporkbroth, or the thin straight noodles, or the gooey egg, but hakata maru is my favourite place in sydney for a bowl of ramen. 

for only $11.80 you can get a white tonkotsu and add $2.90 for a seasoned egg. compared to other upper market ramen, this is very reasonable and i would 100% recommend this place for hakata ramen (ramen which originates from the hakata district of fukuoka city in kyushu, has a milky tonkotsu broth and rather thin, resilient noodles). yarm!!!

we live no where near this place and come to chatswood just for the ramen.

i normally order theporkramen with black garlic . it’s super delicious and warms the heart each time . the broth is delicious , not too salty or thick . you can ask for the noodles to come harder too. the service is very sweet and you can make alterations to your liking .

the only disappointment is the accompanying menu items like the bau ‘s and gyozas. we no longer order these and go straight for a good hearty bowl of ramen!

ordered the signature hakata-maru ramen, theporkwas a bit dry and chewy, and the broth was oily, but at least it wasn’t too salty which was good.
the karage was very small pieces.
overal, it was over priced.
dinning area was clean and tidy.

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 braisedporkbelly andporkslices 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.

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 braisedporkbelly 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...?

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 orporkand other extras like the seasoned egg.

i ordered the basic whiteporkbroth 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 ofporkcould 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.