This was an atrocious ramen. Ramen Ako is a newly opened Japanese restaurant in Fitzroy, with claims that it was better than Michelin-starred Mensho Tokyo Ramen (LINK). They also only serve “100 bowls a day” which is bullshit – it’s a marketing tactic. This didn’t even taste like ramen.
This was their chicken shio ramen with thicker soup broth, and the only dish that night that tasted somewhat of ramen.
They cheated the ingredients, using egg noodles instead of ramen noodles so after 5 minutes, the broth began tasting like blanched noodle water. They achieved the “thicker” broth by cheating again, with chicken feet to give it a gelatinous mouth feel.
The ramen was served warm so it cooled down really fast after 2 slurps. The char siu pieces were simply sliced pork belly with a quick flame grill – not rolled up, marinated then sliced char siu like a traditional Japanese method. This bowl was $21.50, a dollar more than their Signature. You really think for $1 more they did anything spectacular other than the cheated chicken-feet method? Exactly.
They also cheated and used fish sauce instead of a true dashi broth for umami.
They cheated the ingredients, using egg noodles instead of ramen noodles so after 5 minutes, the broth began tasting like blanched noodle water. They achieved the “thicker” broth by cheating again, with chicken feet to give it a gelatinous mouth feel.
The ramen was served warm so it cooled down really fast after 2 slurps. The char siu pieces were simply sliced pork belly with a quick flame grill – not rolled up, marinated then sliced char siu like a traditional Japanese method. This bowl was $21.50, a dollar more than their Signature. You really think for $1 more they did anything spectacular other than the cheated chicken-feet method? Exactly.
They also cheated and used fish sauce instead of a true dashi broth for umami.
This was their signature chicken shio ramen and without the extra gelatinous chicken feet, the blanched egg noodle water became prominent. Added on the amount of sliced green onions and the cheated fish sauce method, this dish began tasting like a Vietnamese hu tieu and was only missing dried shallots to complete the dish. Did we walk into a Viet restaurant or a Japanese one?
The extras on the side for $10. Rip off.
Service
The service was atrocious too. Sure, they just opened but there was no waiting system or list to put our names down. It relied solely on the server’s memory and she forgot who came first – to be honest, she was even racist allowing any white / asian couple to sit because she based it on ethnicity rather than actually remembering their faces.
The cook time was terrible too – 20 minutes for these cheated bowls.
The cook time was terrible too – 20 minutes for these cheated bowls.
Review
It looks like they delete all their bad Google reviews so there’s no point even leaving a negative one on there. Be warned, this place is a scam. Don’t waste your money here.
Thanks for reading. Happy eating!
Thanks for reading. Happy eating!
