Never eat at chain restaurants. Avoid food courts. Give new restaurants a few weeks to settle in and find their feet before trying them, much less writing about them. Sensible rules the lot of them, and each and every one of them broken by the Prick today. You should do likewise by visiting the brand-new Ippudo on Level 5 of the Sydney CBD Westfield. Because hey, who wants to colour inside the lines their whole life?
Yes, it is a chain: But Ippudo comes to us from Tokyo via a chain of outlets everywhere from downtown Manhattan to the Mandarin Oriental in Singapore, so the pedigree is good. It is also in the Westfield, but it has its own restaurant space (avoid the tables they are setting up outside; that would defeat the point). And yes, it is brand new. But these people seem to know what they are doing.
Because this is the real deal. To be honest I have never seen tonkatsu – the wonderful, traditional pork broth that accompanies, or should accompany, ramen noodles – like this outside the home islands. This broth is thick, opaque, redolent with melted cartilage and sinew, the opposite of what Westerners who put such a premium on clarity think of as great stock (and an excellent discussion of the difference between the two, including recipes, can be found here). But what flavour we gaijin cooks risk losing with our obsessive straining and sieving!
Get outta here with your Cup Noodles!
The first thing that hits you is the texture: unctuous and creamy, and then the porkiness. You nick a bit of red miso into the soup with the end of your chopstick and catch some in the well of your spoon. Suddenly these deep, velvety notes of umami roll in, like the basso profundo in a Bach organ fugue. You don’t even notice the noodles at first, but they are there, and perfectly al dente. So is the pork: shaved thin, not like the thick grey slabs of inferior take-aways, and it melts on your tongue. Other stuff is there too. What is that? Cabbage? Black fungi? Who cares, it’s all good. Hey, is that the garlic oil coming in over the top? Oh yes it is. You realise that even though you are normally your own worst company it is actually a good thing you have been parked in a little nook with nothing to look at and where smartphone reception is at its worst. You are barely aware of the presence of those performing their own similar rituals adjacent, not quite at prayer, but not far from it either. All you really need is water to clear the palate, and happily it is regularly and unobtrusively topped up. This is transcendent stuff.
There’s more than ramen on the menu – I had the number four, but naughty Prick that I am I forgot to write down its proper name. I will try them all, as well as the various dumplings and bar snacks, though given that the noodles are so amazing it will be hard to be tempted to go off-piste. That said, Mademoiselle Mange in Sydney has had a look at some of the other offerings. Those pork buns, perhaps a bit of a nod to Momofuku’s signature dish, look great, and might be just the thing for a happy hour snack (one also wonders if the facial hair and extra kilos on many of the Asian chefs at Ippudo have also been inspired by David Chang). The cocktails look good, and there are a few sakes, though not as many as one might like or expect and all in ambitiously large formats.
The Prick has it on good authority that there are readers of this blog who are lucky enough to work in office towers whose lifts open up practically on Ippudo’s doorstep. Even for those not so fortunate, this is worth a trip. It’s so good the Prick would even queue for this one. Damn, there’s four rules broken.
Prick With A Fork 
Hey Mr P with a Fork! The pork bun is lovely, so definitely go for it. Wouldn’t recommend the shrimp one but that said, we went on the first day, so it was a bit shaky and new! 🙂
I shall definitely be back, Mademoiselle!
nice poetic write up. do you go today? i was there for lunch around 1.15 pm. was a very nice ramen but comes at a premium price — i guess you pay for quality, the surrounds and being in Westfield with high rents.
I think we were there at the same time Simon! Given the quality and location I didn’t find the price ($16) offensive given how hard it is to find something decent in the area for much less than that. There’s the great ramen in that little Asian food court under Woolies for example, but it’s hardly as salubrious (and the broth is not on this order of greatness). Cheers!
Throughout the 80s and 90s I have always ordered Tonkatsu at japanese restaurants in Melbourne and it comes out as a pork schnitzel with plum sauce, not a soup.
Tonkotsu not Ton-kastu katsu = katsuretsu, the Japanese transliteration of the word cutlet.
Yes. Ton = pork, Kotsu = bone (which is what the soup is made from). Katsu, as Ben said, is a “cutlet” (the schnitzel stuff).
Any idea when they’re coming to Melbourne? We are the food capital of Australia, after all.
It was always spelt Tonkatsu here in Melbourne. Perhaps Macquarie dictionary can update their definitions!
Entertaining review Prick, as always. For your next tonkotsu ramen, you only need to break one of your rules (no food courts) (oh, plus your extra rule re no queuing) at Gumshara at Eating World (!) in Chinatown. Best one in town! And only $10.50 last time I visited. But venue not as salubrious as L5 Westfield.
Stan
Agreed!
My favorite dish: Akamaru Modern with the egg and pork! Best Ramen on the east coast, not to mnoeitn amazing pork buns. Ippudo NY is worth every penny! (I agree with the author arrive early if you don’t want to wait all night or get turned away.)
Garlic Tonkotsu with a seasoned egg ($16). I think I might get one tonight! 😀
Do that have a good okonomiyaki? I’ve not had one the equal of the late Daimaru’s. Sob.
My wife learned okonomiyaki making from her Japanese flatmate (now 10-year friend and bridesmaid), and it’s the good stuff; she’s from Osaka (bridesmaid, not wife).
Anyone know where you can get it in BrisVegas? (apart from our place but then you’re all not invited).
I think Melbourne’s Daimaru did it Osaka-style. Cooked a slab at a time on the griddle an inch thick.. As slices were cut off at the front, batter was added to the rear. People queued for 20 mins at lunchtime to get one. With demand like that, you’d think someone would have filled the vacuum.
Teppansan in Russell Street does a good O, but not as good as the big D’s.
ya prick
What a fantastic write up. Makes me want to to sip and slurp a bowl right now!
You have to go back and try it with the marinated soy egg. It is liquid gold!!
Thanks – I’m a recent-ish convert to that and get it all the time now. Cheers!
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Aw, this was an exceptionally nice post. Spending some time
and actual effort to produce a great article… but what can I say… I hesitate a whole lot
and don’t seem to get anything done.
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