Second dinner out in Melbourne for a work trip and I was struck by a bout of ramen cravings. Having heard of the insanely popular Hakata Gensuke, I made my way through to Russell Street after work to get myself a bowl. Unfortunately the shop was closed for urgent repairs that day. Having to fall back on a backup immediately, I wandered through the labyrinth that is QV Melbourne and found myself outside of another branch of Hakata Gensuke, their chicken store.
Despite the rain, the line was fairly long, probably a few of those patrons were also ones who had come from the Russell Street store.
As alluded to, this store focuses on chicken, with all both bases made from chicken stock, and meat slices in the noodles were of course, also chicken. Other than this, everything was largely the same as their main store.
When we were near the door, we were provided with order forms. I was of course, drawn to the customisability of each bowl, as I prefer my noodles to be softer rather than the usual al dente. Ordering via the form also means less chance for miscommunication, a win win if you ask me.
We were lucky enough to get a bench seat inside and was able to watch the chefs perform their art as we awaited our meal.
Condiments, pickles and copious amounts of garlic were readily available in front of us, always a win in my books.
We tried out some Japanese Highballs, including a tangy lemon drink and a sweet fragrant peach. I preferred the citrusy lemon.
Food came out fairly promptly as you would expect in a ramen restaurant with such a high volume and turnover.
My companion had the God Fire Tori at level two spice. He enjoyed the firm bite of the noodles and the creamy chicken broth. However level two spice was fairly strong and in such a rushed environment he wasn't able to fully enjoy the depth of the soup which would have required a bit more time to sit and thoroughly enjoy the slow burn.
Opting for a safer avenue, I had the Black Tori Ramen, which I proceeded to load up with garlic. I loved the double hit of black garlic oil on the soup and the fresh zing of chopped garlic, no doubt the smell will follow me for some time yet. Noodles were just the right amount of softness as I had requested. Soup was definitely strong in chicken flavour but lacked the signature creaminess that one often finds in pork tonkotsu broth. I guess I'll definitely have to go back for the original at a later date.
We also got a side serve of gyoza. These came out slightly overdone but had a fairly thin skin and a crispy bottom. Would have liked if the fillings were juicier, but this was still a pretty enjoyable dumpling. Also noted though the lack of gyoza sauce despite the plate indentation.
Taste: 7/10
Value: 7/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10
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