Ryo’s Noodles is a Japanese ramen franchise that has stores in Sydney, Jakarta and Hong Kong. The latest store to open it’s doors is on Gouger Street, amongst all the other Asian eateries. According to my Japanese sources, this is the place to go for authentic Tokyo style ramen.

There are exactly 33 items on the menu, and not surprisingly, a third of the menu is made up of ramen offerings in either a pork or chicken broth. For those that don’t feel like noodles, there’s a selection of rice dishes and sides that will satisfy your hunger.

The decor of this place has nice industrial warehouse feel about it. The classic white tiles and exposed brick walls, combined with the low hanging light fittings and communal benches, give this place a cosy relaxed vibe. The ground floor area can seat approximately 50, while the upstairs area is where the noodles are made.

The main feature of this place are the light fittings that come down from the top floor ceiling into the open space below.

As an entree, I ordered the Gyoza which comes as a serving of five. This came out 10 minutes after ordering and was nicely presented on a rectangular stone dish.

The gyoza skin was nice and firm, and fried to a light golden brown. There was a fair amount of oily residue under each dumpling. The minced pork filling was well seasoned and was soft and moist.

As a main, I had the Roast Pork Ramen which comes with roast pork, shallots and sesame seeds in a pork broth.

The broth is the body and soul of the dish and was intense and full of flavour. Proper broth is slow cooked for 30 hours to bring out the flavours from the pork bones and pig feet. This was evident in their rich and milky broth.

The noodles were thin and slightly under cooked. This is done on purpose as there is additional softening that occurs when the noodles are added to the broth.

While the menu indicates roast pork, I believe I was given pork slices. The meat, however, was soft and delicate, and it married perfectly with the noodles and broth. The addition of shallots and sesame seeds simply completed the balance of textures and flavours.

The staff were friendly and the service was good. The atmosphere was vibrant with the busy lunch hour rush. The pricing is reasonable with my bowl of ramen setting me back $13 and my gyoza $7. The price range for the ramen is between $13-$15.50, while the sides go up to $8.

I can’t really comment on it’s authenticity since I haven’t been to Tokyo, but I can say it’s the best ramen I’ve had in Adelaide.

WHERE: 80 Gouger St, Adelaide