I first discovered Ippudo when I was wandering around the streets of Ginza, Tokyo #Japan after a late night flight.
This late night eatery came recommended by the hotel staff, so on their suggestion I headed down some nearby alleyways until I happened across this welcoming little ramen shop that served me a nice steaming hot bowl of #ramen on this cold Tokyo night.
I came to learn that Ippudo has a chain of restaurants not only across Japan but also around the world. Sydney has been blessed with stores for some time now and finally #MelbourneCity has one too.
So I decided to pay a visit and over the course of a few weeks, I tried a variety of dishes on their menu. Here are some of the highlights:
The first thing I couldn't wait to try was their signature tonkotsu ramen. There are three versions to choose from, differing in their garnishes and with the cut of pork chashu used but all were based around a tonkotsu broth. Whilst the broth was tasty I did feel it was a little watered down in comparison to the version I had in Ginza. The Tokyo one was much more creamier and had more depth of flavour as well as leaving a nicer, smoother feel on the palate. Having said that though it was still enjoyable.
Ippudo also have an extensive a la carte menu filled with all your classic japanese favourites alongside some modern inclusions.
For an entree alternative make sure you try the crunchy yam fries seasoned with seaweed salt and a dipping sauce of soy sesame mayo. It's hard to stop at just one.
Or dive into the nasu dengaku, a dish of lightly deep fried eggplant smothered in a sweet miso sauce. And of course there's always gyoza but the standout on the plate is not the dumplings itself but the small dollop of yuzu kosho (a green japanese citrus and pepper condiment) on the side. It works remarkably well with the gyoza and is a nice change from the usual soy vinegar sauce. It was so good it inspired me to pick up a bottle from the asian supermarket and I have been using it in my cooking ever since.
Another firm favourite is the grilled unagi don. Thinly cut slices of sweet sticky glazed marinated eel atop a bed of rice with shredded seaweed strips, mushrooms and pickled cucumber. Yum! The one thing that usually irks me about many japanese rice bowl dishes is that there's always a huge amount of rice compared to the topping. Fortunately at Ippudo this is not the case. Their ratio of toppings to rice is spot on.
Representing the modern choices there is beef sagari yaki, a dish of tender meticulously cut and grilled Angus beef strips in a tasty ponzu type vinegar dressing. The hero for me though was the to-die-for crispy enoki mushrooms.
Such a wonderful addition I thought. I also recommend ordering a side of rice to soak up all that beautiful generous sauce.
And for dessert you really need to try their smooth matcha cheesecake with a coconut biscuit base. The texture of the cheesecake was creamy and smooth with a subtle green tea flavour. Being a lover of bold flavours, I would have preferred a stronger matcha taste but it was still delicious and I would not hesitate to order it again.
With a spoonful of chocolate ice cream and an interesting kokuto (Okinawan brown sugar) coated almonds on the side, it was altogether a lovely dessert.
On a more fruity note, the aptly named mango tango dessert came in the form of a mango puree with little diced mango pieces throughout hiding what was meant to be pavlova underneath but was more like a vanilla custard pudding with not a meringue in sight! All was forgiven however with one bite of the white sesame seed caramel tuiles which were delicious. They had a nice snap and reminded me of a lighter and more buttery version of the sesame seed bars you can buy at the supermarket.
My verdict of this popular chain?
If you enjoy good quality, tasty japanese cooking, then Ippudo #MelbourneRestaurants will surely delight.
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