Ramen Danbo - South Brisbane

Despite what some other bloggers may have said, I’m hardly an expert on ramen. I am however, definitely a ramen enthusiast, and having heard that Ramen Danbo, the highly acclaimed ramen store in the Gold Coast with a cult following was opening in Brisbane, I made sure to hit them up on their first day and see what all the fuss was about. Situated across the road from the convention centre on Merivale Street, it places itself in direct competition with Taros Ramen’s West End venture. Arriving somewhat late in the evening after another launch event, I was quite concerned that they would have sold out, but even at 8.30pm, the line was still out the door.

 The venue itself was fairly small, there was a considerable line to order and after ordering, there was a substantial line up to get a table afterwards.

 

We perused the menu whilst standing in line. It consisted of six variations of ramen with customisable levels of noodle softness, broth richness as well as spiciness. Having had customisable ramen before in Japan, I was definitely impressed by this option.

Water and condiments are available on a DIY basis. Of course I had garlic, and whilst this looked like a mild paste, it was extremely potent and I could feel the burn even the morning after.

Starting off our dinner, we shared a dish of Hakata one bite gyoza. I found it interesting that there was no sauce dish, which meant we had to douse the gyoza sauce directly onto the dumplings. As for the dumplings, the skin was fairly thin and had a crisp edge, but the base itself could have been crispier. The filling was fresh though and the meat juices were delicious. 

Our noodles came out as we were halfway through our gyoza.

Adam ordered the  Se Abura Ramen with firm noodles, rich soup and standard spice. By way of background, Se Abura is type of ramen in which pork back fat is cooked for a long time until it melts, and then more is sprinkled on top of the ramen, where small pieces stay afloat, to enhance the flavor of the soup. Although by definition it appears to be a very decadent dish, the fact that the soup wasn't as creamy as taros or genkotsu meant that the fatty bits struck a good balance with the soup. Adam enjoyed the firm noodles al dente and he also considered standard spicy to be quite mild.

Opting for a more classic dish, I had the Nitamago Ramen with soft noodles, light soup and no spice. For the price of $15, I found the portion to be fairly small in quantity, if we hadn't been to an event earlier, we would definitely have been a little pecklish after ramen. My soup was definitely not as rich as the Se Abura, but it was still quite salty. Again it was nowhere near as rich and creamy as other places, but it still clung onto my noodles quite well. I enjoyed my soft noodles which weren't too soggy and had a great texture. The eggs were soft boiled to a good consistency but in my opinion the yolk could have been more runny. The char siu had a melt in your mouth softness but was also a little fatter than I would have liked. 

Price Range: $15 - $25pp

Taste: 7/10
Value: 6/10
Service: 8/10
Environment: 8/10