hakatamon ramen

i enjoyed their black tonkotsuramen- the broth was thick in consistency and an explosion of flavour. theirramenwas a bit on the hard side. their chashu pork was 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.

ramen is tops! but calamari tempura is a no go. definitely be back for theramenthough!

ordered:
1. black garlicramen- average to good (3.5/5), i do like their egg which is not too raw and full of flavour. however, this dish did not give me the wow i can’t wait to be back and order it again feeling
2. japanese red bean waffle - way too oily and did not taste good at all (1/5), do not order this

will i go back: yes

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

ramen broth is quite salty but the pork is 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-maderamenis stored inside a wooden box, waiting to be boiled and served to customers. even ryo's just stores theirramenin large plastic boxes outside their kitchen. also, their pork cutlets 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 tonkatsuramen(be careful, it's spicy) , chasu shoyuramenand some gyozas. the pork chasu 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...

one of my favoriteramenplaces in sydney, never disappoint. to me this is a cheaper and better version of ippudo. love their spicy veggie pickle! extremely friendly service too.

greatramenand very good customer service. highly recommend. 👌🏼

bestrameni have ever had (but the gyoza and bao were very average). i will just order theramenand salad when i come back

if you’re looking for an authentic japanese restaurant which makes delicious ramen, this is the place for you. all of their dishes were amazing but theramenwas a stand out. great service as well.

signatureramenand braised pork (kakuni) taste different than usual and the portion of braised pork now full of fat, usually proportional in perfect cut and also didn’t well marinate.

it's not the usual tonkotsu broth, its made with bonito 👍 interesting flavor! and theramenactually goes with the green vege 😋

i went to eat here recently with high expectations and having raved to my dad about how good theramenis and was quite disappointed with the $18ramenthat 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 oframento be up to standard.
i've never had a issue in the 4-5 times i've eaten here however the pork that i was served in myramenwas so poor quality i was shocked.. i've been to those fast-foodramenrestaurants like tenkomori in the city where the dishes are half the price of thisramenat a "well rated restaurant" and have never gotten such fatty pork slices which were 80% fat and 20% actual meat. usually the pork is 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 betterramenplaces......

hands down. the bestramenin sydney.

i had signatureramen& bonito shoyu. hakatamaruramenis tasty but look different from picture of menu which is a bit surprised. the soup is yummy and kotteri style. staff seemes a bit careless, split soup on my jeans...i know it's busying but should be more carefully.