Cafe Ogawa is a small Japanese restaurant in Ascot Vale, serving authentic Yokohama-style iekei and tonkotsu ramen. There are no bookings. We went on a Wednesday at 5pm (opening) and noticed they were completely full by 5:50pm, with the queue starting from 6pm so if you plan to visit, avoid peak dining times.
Food
There was an array of condiments for our liking. We ordered the chicken karaage, 6 pieces for $14. These were super crispy with a good amount of juicy meat. They were sprinkled with a bit of msg. The mayo was in-house kewpie mayo.
This was the speciala iekei for $29.50. It had 2 slices of pork belly chashu, ajitama egg, 3 slices of nori seaweed, leek, spinach, chicken oil in a soy sauce based pork broth. Mick added an extra egg for $3.
This was a really rich chicken broth, with a strong umami and depth of flavour (than the next bowl). The chicken oil added a viscous texture that combined nicely with the creamy taste, and surprisingly it was not overwhelmingly milky or sickening. The chashu was tender, the noodles were soft, the eggs were well marinated, and the veggies added a balanced earthy taste to the bite.
Overall it was sooo delicious and definitely the best ramen we’ve had in Melbourne.
This was a really rich chicken broth, with a strong umami and depth of flavour (than the next bowl). The chicken oil added a viscous texture that combined nicely with the creamy taste, and surprisingly it was not overwhelmingly milky or sickening. The chashu was tender, the noodles were soft, the eggs were well marinated, and the veggies added a balanced earthy taste to the bite.
Overall it was sooo delicious and definitely the best ramen we’ve had in Melbourne.
This was the special tonkotsu for $27.50. There was two slices of pork belly chashu, 1 ajitama egg, 3 pieces of nori seaweed and spring onion in this pork-based broth.
It was very similar to the iekei, but lacked the umami and wow-factor when comparing the two bowls side by side. The broth was still very flavourful and clean on its own, with all components of this bowl being as delicious as the iekei. If you arrived and only ordered this bowl, you would still have a delicious time.
It was very similar to the iekei, but lacked the umami and wow-factor when comparing the two bowls side by side. The broth was still very flavourful and clean on its own, with all components of this bowl being as delicious as the iekei. If you arrived and only ordered this bowl, you would still have a delicious time.
Drinks
There are no alcoholic drinks here.
Service
The cafe vibes are ramen, coffee and jazz music. When seated at the counter, we were able to peer into the music station.
Review
We have been to 7 ramen joints in our one year in Melbourne and Cafe Ogawa is the only one that has come close to satisfying that Japanese itch. We will definitely return.
Thanks for reading. Happy eating!
Thanks for reading. Happy eating!
