Ajisen Ramen

130 Bourke Street
Melbourne 3000
9662 1100

After suffering Melbourne's hottest night, none of us felt like cooking and with the cool change having just arrived in the CBD it was perfect weather for ramen. We were at Ajisen Ramen only last week but did not have time to blog, so after two visits we feel it's a good time to write about it.

Ajisen not only do ramen, they offer a nice range of bento meals, rice dishes and mains. We thought we would stick with their popular ramens, their self named Ajisen Ramen was chosen as well as Yasai Ramen (basically Ajisen but with extra vegetables). The broth was very tasty and unlike some broths in the city not salty or with added MSG (a good way of telling is whether after the meal you feel thirsty). The dish consisted of Chasyu (3 slices of pork), half an egg, vegetables and lots of ramen. You can order a Chasyu Ramen which is served with extra Chasyu, we highly recommend this as the Chasyu is cut quite thinly. They are, however, very tender and tasty with just a hint of fatty goodness.

Ajisen Ramen

Chasyu Ramen (extra meat)

Some nice side dishes include salmon sashimi, this was great value with 6 thick pieces for $7. The Gyu Tataki ($8) photo on the menu enticed us to order it, sadly this was a disappointment, it was tasteless and a little tough.

We also ordered the Geso Karaage $6.50 (deep fried octopus tentacles with aioli), this was much tastier than the beef and would really go well with beer.

Seafood Yaki Ramen ($12) consisted of a selection of fresh seafood, calamari, fish, prawns and strangely massive mussels stir fried with ramen. The ramen was cooked well, not too sure what sauce they use for this, if anyone knows please let me know?

Ajisen Ramen is a great little place to visit as not many places in the city do any nice japanese noodles (udon, soba or ramen etc.) It's cheap and cheerful and service is quick and efficient. We have been told about Ramen Ya at GPO and it will be on our to do list.