Kuon Tempura, Darling Square - Sydney

Join us as we journey through Chef Hidezo Fukada's 22 course tempura omakase menu at his new tempura restaurant, Kuon Tempura. More on my Youtube channel, link below:

Hakata-maru Darling Square, Haymarket

My favourite Sydney Hakata ramen shop is back in Haymarket with their range of Fukuoka inspired ramen! I was saddened when Hakata-maru closed their Market City shop a while back. Thankfully, they scored a spot across from The Exchange (on Nicole Walk) at Darling Square. 

I’ve always liked their no-nonsense approach to their ramen and the price point is probably one of the best in Sydney. The space is like a contemporary tavern. They have communal tables,
two areas of window counter seating near the kitchen and lots of outdoor tables for two.

The usual Hakata-maru ramen choices are available on the menu including the white tonkotsu ($12.50). This is a classic Hakata-style ramen that uses a shio (salt) based tare to season the pork bone (tonkotsu) broth and because of that, the broth retains its milky colour and consistency. The shio tare brings out more of the porky flavour and umami. It also has that classic thin noodles cooked katame (or al dente) and topped with chashu, kikugare, negi and nori.

From all the Hakatamaru dishes that I’ve had in the past and present, my personal favourite is the bonito shoyu tonkotsu ramen ($16.50).The noodles used are the standard curly type used by most ramen shops but cooked katame. The broth is soy based with a double soup of katsuobushi (bonito) broth and tonkotsu broth. The broth had a lot of umami and depth with some smoky notes from the bonito broth. Topping includes chashu, bean sprouts, negi, nori and half ajitamago (flavour egg).

If you want your tonkotsu ramen with depth minus the smoky fishy flavour, try their shoyu tonkotsu ramen ($16.50). It pretty much has the same toppings as the shoyu niboshi ramen but the difference is in the seasoning. As the name states, the broth is seasoned with soy tare that gives depth and complexity to the pork bone broth and with added sweet notes.

The Darling Square shop offers more than just ramen. They currently also have curry rice dishes and sides like karaage chicken and gyozas. Soon they will also have Japanese inspired gua baos like kakuni bao and karaage bao at $5.50 each.

Hakatamaru Darling Square
Nicole Walk

35 Tumbalong Boulevard

Sydney NSW 2000
Soft opening hours:
7 days 11:30 pm to 2:30pm, 5:30pm to 8:30pm

Kusuka, Haymarket - Sydney

I've never been to a Warung in Indonesia but I've read and seen good things about it. One day I plan to fly to Bali and visit a few. For now, I've got the awesome Kusuka Warung and Kopi shop to fill the void.

Tucked away in a laneaway in Haymarket is a petit cafe owned by Mario and Liz. This gem offers Indonesian inspired dishes and the usual cafe fair with a twist. I remember reading about Kusuka via the B-Kyu blog weeks ago and the idea of mi goreng based dishes served in a cafe caught my curiosity. It wasn't long after when Kusuka reached out to me and invited me to try their menu.

 You can get the usual espresso based drinks like flat whites ($3.50) and piccolo latte. The coffee is medium to dark roast type with chocolate notes with a buttery and nutty finish on the palate. The coffee bit too strong when used for a piccolo but perfect for a latte and flat white.

They also have their in-house specialty drinks. There's the heavy avocado thickshake drizzled chocolate called Hypovocado ($7.50) and the uber pretty milk based Pink latte ($4.50) with berries and watermelon.

They have a range of Warung Mie aka Fancy Mi goreng choices on the menu. The Mee Fried Chicken ($13.50) is mi goreng topped with Kusuka's fried chicken pieces, corn and taichan chilli. Add sexy melted cheese on your fried chicken for an extra $2.50. If the chicken coating were a little bit more crisped, this would be perfect! Otherwise, still a delicious dish.

The Mee pork ($12) is mi goreng topped with crispy pork belly, greens, corn and chilli matah. The pork was insanely good and the crackling was perfectly crisped. I would order this again.

You can also get the usual cafe fare like the amazing Champion ($18)! Slices of smoked wagyu on toast topped with perfectly poached egg and truffle hollandaise sauce. This was a total winner in my books! Get it??!

Last but not least is one of the best dessert drinks I've had this year: the Avogato ($8.50)! Avocado smoothie, ice cream, chocolate sprinkles and a shot of strong milk coffee or kopi susu. Love their Southeast Asian twist on a classic.

Kusuka is like a pocket rocket, small but packs a lot of punch in terms of their food and drinks. The service is also excellent. I will definitely be back.

Ramen Raff was invited as a guest of Kusuka Cafe.

Kusuka Cafe
Shop 4, Bijou Lane
107-121 Quay Street
Haymarket NSW 2000

O-San Ramen, Haymarket

Thanks Ms Spoon, Forks and Chopsticks for hand modelling this noodle-lift shot

It sounds cliché but I love ramen so much that I go bananas over them! Soon as I heard that there was a new ramen playa in town, I made plans to check them out straight away.

 O-San Ramen is the latest kid to hit the block and it's a name that many will line up for. They are hidden within the underground Dixon House Food Court, which is located in the heart of Sydney's Chinatown. They specialise in tonkotsu (pork bone) broth and other meat-based broths such as: tonkotsu with garlic oil, chicken, and a broth blend of pork & chicken. One of the things I've noticed straight away is that for a bargain price of $9.80, you get a medium-sized bowl of basic tonkotsu ramen with four generous slices of cha-shu! Here's what I got up to in my two visits:

Visit number one

On my first visit, I had lunch here with the lovely couple Ms.SpoonForkandChopsticks and Mr@Whatever_Guy.

Tonkotsu ramen

Ms. SpoonForkandChopsticks had the basic tonkotsu ramen ($9.80), which consisted of tonkotsu broth, ramen noodles, four slices of cha-shu, diced spring onions and cloud ear mushrooms.

Tonkotsu ramen with extras (Pork kakuni, nori seaweed, bamboo shoots)

I got the same ramen but with extras (pork belly or kakuni for $1.50, nori seaweed for $1.59, and bamboo shoots for $2.50) or super-sized tonkotsu ramen as Ms. SpoonForkandChopsticks called it. We both agreed that the cha-shu is probably one of the best we've had in Sydney as it was tender like most but very flavoursome. It may have something to do with the caramelisation around the edges of the fat. The pork kakuni was tender as expected with a nice sweet barbecue-ish flavour. The noodles were cooked al-dente. But it was the rich potent pork-flavoured broth that held it all together. The consistency was close to being gravy-like (yes, almost like Gumshara's broth consistency but not quite) that when you lift the noodles you could see some broth hug each strand.  It was love at first sip! The green onion's zingy flavour was good for cutting through the rich broth.

Black garlic tonkotsu ramen

Mr. Whatever_Guy opted for the black garlic tonkotsu ramen ($10.80). It had tonkotsu broth, ramen noodles, slices of chashu, spring onion, bean sprouts and cloud ear mushrooms. He said that the broth wasn't too garlicky and that he liked it.

We were a little bit sad that their egg wasn't available at that time. But nevertheless, we still enjoyed our ramens!

Visit number two:

I returned during dinner time on the same day to try their sumo ramen ($12.80). This time I was lucky to score their Ajitsuke Tamago (Marinated soft boiled egg)! The sumo ramen was larger than their bowl of tonkotsu ramen! It had generous servings of cabbage and bean sprouts, thicker ramen noodles (normally used for tsukemen), two pieces of pork kakuni, diced fresh garlic and pork & chicken blend broth. There was a lot of crunch from the generous amounts of veggies but the broth was the star of this bowl. It was lighter than the tonkotsu broth with more emphasis on the chicken flavour. The fresh garlic didn't make sense at first but it lifted the flavours in the broth and added extra sweetness.

By the way, the Ajitsuke Tamago ($1.50) was perfect! Sweet with soft whites and runny egg yolk!

O-San's ramen game is strong and tight. In my opinion, they definitely belong up there amongst the other big boys of Sydney's ramen scene.

O-San Ramen, Japanese Noodle Bar

Shop B1, Dixon House Food Court

Little Hay Street

Haymarket NSW

Website: http://sendachi.net/o-san/

Opening  hours

Monday: 11:00am - 8:30pm

Tuesday: Closed

Wednesday to Sunday: 11:00am - 8:30pm

Hawker - Malaysian Street Food, Sydney

Mamak Restaurant of Sydney needs no introduction. Many of Sydney's food enthusiasts highly rate this establishment as one of the most favourite Asian restaurants in this city. The amount of awards that they have received throughout the years since opening in 2008 is a sign of their success and excellence. There are also the queues of customers that continuously form every lunch and dinner time outside their venue to prove that.    

Aside from their other branches in Chatswood and Melbourne, the team behind Mamak recently opened a new venture in the form of Hawker. It focuses more on popular Malaysian-Chinese dishes like curry laksa, popiah, and an all-time favourite of mine, char koay teow. The interior fit out has a studio gallery-like look and vibe. There are sittings for 2 and for groups of 4 or more. I was so pumped up when I heard that Team Mamak was about to open this place. I went to check them out on their second week of opening. 

Kat chai suen mui ($4) - Calamansi lime and preserved sour plum on ice

Assam laksa

The first thing we ordered was their assam laksa ($12) as I heard great things about it. It did not disappoint at all! It was pretty mind blowing. It's a rice noodle dish with tamarind fish-based broth that also contains shredded fish, cucumber, mint, pineapple, and lettuce. Firstly, my sense of sight feasted on how nice it looked and it was shortly followed by the fragrant smell of mint. The sweet, fruity and sour flavours from the tamarind and other components in broth was well-balanced and addictive. It was also spicy with hints of briney fish flavour. I would definitely come back for this dish again.

Char koay teow

They also make an amazing char koay teow ($14) which most of us also refers to as CKT. It had rice noodles, prawns, egg, beans sprouts, lap cheong and stir fried in a soy-based blend sauce. First of all, it had a lot of wok hei, which is one of the crucial parts of an excellent CKT. The smoky and sweet flavours were so distinct and everything in it was cooked perfectly in my opinion. I loved that it had a lot of lap cheong too!

Apam balik

Last but not least, we had the apam balik ($6), which is a crispy turnover pancake with crushed peanuts, butter and creamed corn. The pancake part is a wafer-like crispy crepe. The crushed peanuts, butter and creamed corn worked so well together with the pancake. It was buttery and sweet on the inside.

Hawker is nothing short of excellent. The staffs were friendly and attentive whilst the food was very delicious. I can't wait to return to try their other dishes like the Ikan Bakar and Curry Laksa. 

Hawker - Malaysian Street Food

Shop G.02

345B-353 Sussex Street

Sydney NSW 2000

Phone: 02 9264 9315

Trading hours:

Monday-Sunday 

Lunch 11:30 am to 2:30pm

Dinner 5:30pm to 10:00pm