Ajisen Ramen

Ajisen Ramen

130 Bourke St, Melbourne

(Ph) 9662 1100

We were going out for dinner in the city with some friends - didn't really have anywhere in mind so flipped through the Entertainment Book and found 25% off Ajisen Ramen =) Ajisen Ramen is a Japanese chain store serving obviously ramen and other Japanese goodies. I had been to Ajisen in Hong Kong before but never in Australia - figured it can't be too bad since it was a chain store right? P always likes ramen and since he didn't get to come to Ramen Ya last time, thought it be a good idea to try this one =)

The Ajisen girl greets you at the door with her bowl of ramen =)

I got the Tonkatsu Ramen - Ramen served with Deep Fried Bread Crumbed Pork, Egg and Vegetables $11. I asked them to serve the Tonkatsu separately so it wouldn't get soggy in the soup =)

Tonkatsu Ramen

In the picture, the pork looked so much more substantial - thicker and bigger piece =( The ramen was quite good - not too chewy but not too soft either! <3 the soft boiled egg! Too bad they gave us so much of the seaweed stuff and spring onion - was a bit of overload! You don't get to choose the soup base here unlike Ramen Ya but it was very tasty I drank all of it =P

P ordered the Ajisen Ramen - Original Ramen from Kumamoto, Japan served with Chasyu, Egg & Vegetables $9

Ajisen Ramen

They were pretty lousy with their toppings - should have ordered the Chasyu Ramen instead for $11 - gives you "extra chasyu" although I doubt it'd be more than 2 extra slices =P They're always very stingy with their chasyu slices like at Ramen Ya =( And they didn't give him any vegetables (cabbage) - not that he likes cabbage anyway but they jipped him!

P also ordered a Gyu Takaki - lightly seared Beef served in Ponzu Sauce $8 - which was lucky or he would have starved of lack of meat =P

Ponzu sauce is like a vinegary soy sauce commonly used for dipping things in Japanese cuisine. The beef was quite tasty with a bit of spring onion and a bit of garlic in each mouthful. This had a Chef's Recommendation star next to it and it was indeed quite good =)

I gave P some of my ramen so he was full at the end - but the meals are quite small in general. But then again, you can't expect to be massively full on ramen so it's not their fault =P You can add extra ramen for $1 but I'm not sure how much they'd give you, and it'd be quite bland eating more ramen with no meat/toppings to go with it.

Food~
6/10 - ramen and soup were quite good but could have been more generous on the toppings, or at least more realistic like in the pictures =P


Atmosphere~
2/5 - seats are stools with no backs but quite a nice restaurant


Service~
3/5 - food came super fast and cleared quickly too

C.
xo

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16/06/12

A new Ajisen Ramen opened at Melbourne Central! I don't remember what was there before... was it some other restaurant? It feels more spacious compared to the Bourke St one =)

After much dilemma-ing, I decided to not get a ramen this time but to try a Bento box! This menu highlights chef's recommendations and top 3 most popular of each type of dish - I don't remember if they had it on the menu at Bourke St... I got the 2nd most popular Bento box which was also a chef's recommendation =)


Beef Bento - sliced beef with yakitori, wafu salad, seaweed salad, gyoza & rice.

It came very quickly - much quicker than E's ramen (which took surprisingly long to come =/) I enjoyed this bento box very much, got a bit of everything =) Though the gyoza weren't very crunchy and weren't hot - think they were fried already and had been sitting there for a while =( The yakitori was tasty and I liked the 2 types of salads - many different flavours in the box =) Would recommend the bento box if you don't feel like ramen here! Though why would you come to a ramen shop if you don't feel like ramen, right? =P