The food scene has become so multicultural in Australia. There are plenty of different cuisines, different ingredients that are now available in Melbourne. People are trying out food from different cultures and talking about it. The path to world peace may some day be achieved through the shared love of food. On second thoughts, and my mind flashes back to Rendangate, maybe not.
Rendangate refers to the incident at MasterChef UK where a judge criticised a contestant's rendang chicken dish for being inedible because the chicken skin was not crispy. It provoked the outrage of people in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei as the people who actually know what a rendang is, knows that chicken rendang is a braised dish so how can it have crispy skin? The incident certainly united the South Eastern region to talk about the food dear to their hearts.
As I'd said, it's great to exchange ideas and recommendations about food. For without this exchange, I would not have tried out this place at a hidden laneway called Mugen Ramen. One of my non-Asian work colleagues suggested this place. It is open until 10pm so it's suitable for anyone who loves their supper. Or for drinkers. It is affiliated with Robot Bar opposite the restaurant on the same lane, which is a Japanese theme drinking bar. Mugen Ramen also has its own drinks and cocktails list but as the name suggests, it is better known for its ramen, and most interestingly Dipping Ramen.
Because of the hours of cooking pork bones and fat until almost everything has dissolved, ramen broths are very creamy and rich. So I think it is a good idea to have a Dipping Ramen option for people who cannot stomach the richness but still want a taste of it.
None of us on our table ordered the Dipping Ramen because we're all rich people (ahem) but it basically works like this: The broth is provided in a separate small bowl. The ramen is cooked separately with all the trimmings (like egg, bamboo shoots, chashu, seaweed) and you can then dip your ramen into the bowl to get the broth. It is up to you how much broth you want, it is all within your control unlike the conventional ramen where everything is immersed in the broth.
I ordered the Miso Ramen which came with bamboo shoots, half egg, chashu (pork), seaweed in miso tinged broth. It came in two sizes $17 for small and $19 for large. The only difference is in the weight of the noodles: 200g for small and 350g for large size.
The broth was good but the real hero of this dish is the noodles. It has a good bite to it, and is just delicious. Now I know why they charge more for the noodles. Good as it was, I don't think I can finish the 350g portion, so the small size is good enough for me.
The place is small - a few stools at the bar at the ground floor, and a few more tables in the basement level, and very dark. They were going for the modern, minimalist industrial look so I think it succeeded. And dirt spots are less conspicuous in the dark (no problems with cleanliness here, the bowls and utensils are spotless, as far as I can see in the dark). There is a projector in the basement running old Japanese samurai movies but without sound for the modern Japanesey ambience. I think it would be perfect with a few vials of sake and small dishes.
Mugen has a wide selection of small dishes which are perfect for the late nighters, but we did not try it on this occasion.
No comments:
Post a Comment