Noodle Lover’s Awesome Sydney Ramen Adventure – Yasaka Ramen (2/7)

Welcome back to the second part of my Awesome Sydney Ramen Adventures, and today’s store was a personal special since this was the first ever ramen store I visited in Australia.

When you think about ramen, where comes to mind? Japan? China? Wherever it originate from, as long as it’s made with the basics done right and with globalization of today’s world, ramen can be found anywhere as long as you’re willing to find one and ramen chefs love what they do to spread the love and joy.

What’s so particularly special about Sydney anyways? To me, it’s a city that holds a special place in my heart where I meet both old and new friends each visit. But that’s a story for another time because you’re here for the ramen scene in Sydney, so let’s jump right into the review.

Yasaka Ramen – A brief history

A brief history about Yasaka Ramen; opening their doors in 2014, they are famously known around the Sydney ramen scene with their dedication of their tonkotsu ramen. 2024 marks their tenth year in the business and with the store celebrating this milestone last month, I can only wish them all the best that their next ten years will shine as bright as their first ten.

The first time I ever had Yasaka Ramen was when a friend of mind brought me to the store for lunch back then, when I was fresh into the city in 2018. I was initially skeptical whether if the ramen scene in Australia could hold a candle to Japan’s (coming from someone who has Japan in their bucket list but hasn’t step foot in the country. Yet.). At a time when I still held a full-time job, it’s easy to be wide-eyed and keep an open mind to any possibilities.

Without hesitation, I stepped into the store with my friend, and the first thing that greeted me was the enthusiasm and the pride from all the staff into crafting every single bowl they served with love and dedication. That was the moment I knew that this place takes ramen seriously (helps that their slogan is No Ramen, No Life) and I’m going to enjoy every strand of noodles in every bowl I have here.

To play it safe, I chose the tonkotsu shoyu ramen to go with it and in my subsequent visits to Sydney, I always returned to this place at least once to try out the rest of their menu to have a good sensing of what they have to offer as a ramen store.

Into Yasaka Ramen

It’s 2024 now and once again, I’m back in Sydney, this time unsure what life has in store. Oh, how time flies.

By the time I got to my place of lodging earlier than the expected check-in time, the staff were kind enough to allow me to place my luggage into their luggage room before I made my way to the streets and get some noods for lunch. After all, I was served supper and breakfast on the plane, barely anything satisfying but only the necessary nutrients to keep me surviving onboard.

By the time I landed, I was in urgent need for some sustenance to keep me going after not getting much sleep on the red eye flight, thanks to evil babies that conspired with one another prior to boarding the plane to keep everyone else from getting quality rest delicate infants onboard that had a hard time on enclosed spaces and high altitudes, so they’re kinda unpredictable that way.

I already had my first bowl of tsukemen at Ramen Zundo, which I have already covered in a previous post, so Yasaka for dinner it is.

By dinner time, I entered the restaurant once again. The moment I stepped inside, I felt that they were always waiting for me to return. Everything was still the same as I remembered.

Taste Test #1 – Yasaka Ramen, Tonkotsu Miso

For me, I prefer thicker noodles when it comes to ramen as I like taking my time chewing the noods rather than slurping the noodles and call it a day. Its slightly rough texture, thanks to the use of wholewheat flour in their noodles, clings the soup pretty well.

As tonkotsu soup base goes, it’s thick as standard goes, though it could use a bit more salt to make the dish stand out. Miso soup bases in Australian ramen joints are usually of the sweeter and milder sort, so for anyone who prefers saltier palates, I’d suggest going for the shio (salt) or the shoyu (soy sauce) soup base. The slightly charred chashu slices were soft and melts in your mouth, so no complaints there.

The corn, on the other hand, didn’t really do wonders for me. Unlike the rest of the bowl, they were cold when my teeth sunk into them so it’s rather forgettable and didn’t add much to the whole dish.

Not helped by exhaustion due to jet lag, Yasaka Ramen’s flagship dish didn’t made a strong first impression for me. But knowing that they have the credentials in being in business since 2014, I visited Yasaka again on two separate occasions before returning to Singapore.

I’m someone who likes giving stores with potential a second chance, so I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt to prove itself with other items on their menu, mainly the tsukemen (picking the tonkotsu shoyu this time) and their Black Garlic Ramen. And boy, was I not disappointed with my second and third attempts at Yasaka.

Taste Test #2 – Tsukemen with tonkotsu shoyu broth

I returned to Yasaka a second time for lunch after attending Smash, an annual anime convention based in Sydney over the span of a weekend. After spending my entire morning at the convention center, I decided to get some tsukemen, a deconstructed ramen dish that can also be found in Singapore but underappreciated compared to ramen. After waiting for at least ten to fifteen minutes for it, both bowls of concentrated broth and noodles finally arrived on my counter and boy, Yasaka served a good one this time.

By squeezing some lime onto the noodles, it gave the noodles a zestier flavor even when eaten by itself before dipping the noodles into the broth. It does make a small, but noticeable difference where the lime juice in the noodles elevated the meal from amazing to excellent, adding more punch to the meal in general and blended well with everything else. Don’t skimp on the citrus juices in tsukemen if you’re offered a slice of lemon or lime, ladies and gentlemen.

Taste Test #3 – Black Garlic Ramen

For my third and final visit, I decided to give their regular ramen a second shot, this time with a noticeably different profile than the last two.

I’ve tried spaghetti with squid ink sauce before and it tasted sweet rather than umami, so when I saw in Yasaka’s menu that they were using squid ink for their black garlic ramen, it made me a little hesitant whether if it blends well with the tonkotsu and garlic base, moreover with a different kind of noodle.

I was quickly proven wrong the moment I took my first sip into the soup. The garlic taste was the main star of the bowl, but it didn’t overpower the other ingredients. Finishing this bowl of black garlic ramen left me an extremely happy person by the time I left, forgetting that I even had a sore throat in the first place.

If I were to choose a dish to order once more in my next visit, I’ll choose the black garlic ramen in a heartbeat.

---

Location of Yasaka Ramen (CBD)