Gumshara Ramen Haymarket is well known in Sydney for its authentic Tonkotsu ramen, which has a broth that consists of pork bones that are cooked for several hours to release all of the flavour, marrow, collagen and gelatinous goodness.
There’s no stand alone shop, rather Gumshara is part of a food hall that looks like something straight out of Sinagpore or Hong Kong. There were a variety of places that were selling food from all over Asia but my wife and I were here on a mission, and headed straight to shop 211 towards the back.
It’s all very simple, with a range of ramen dishes and a few other things on offer, and a variety of condiments to add extra flavour and kick to your ramen if you desire.
One thing that’s very important to keep in mind is that the thick soup Tonkotsu ramen is not available between 3:00pm – 5:00pm as during this time the the bones are taken out of the broth and replaced with new bones. Unfortunately my wife and I weren’t aware of this when we arrived at around 4:00pm so we ordered a thick soup miso ramen and a Tonkotsu tomato ramen with light soup.
Tonkotsu Tomato Ramen ($12.00)
I’ve never been to Japan (something I will be rectifying in April of 2014!), however I’ve seen tomato ramen appear on a few menus in both Australia and Asia. It’s not a traditional ramen but I have heard that it is quite popular in Japan. It has a strong tomato soup flavour which tends to divide diners and the tomato ramen from Gumshara was no different. A friend of mine and my wife were not fans at all but I thought it was very tasty, especially after adding some chilli flakes.
Miso Ramen ($12.00)
There was no doubt in any of our minds that the miso ramen was the winner out of the two that we tried. A thick broth which was miso rather than pork bone based, the miso ramen had a great taste to it and the thick broth was luxuriously silky. The fat of the meat melted in our mouths and the noodles were nice and chewy.
I must admit that I’m a lightweight when it comes to the ramen stakes. I’ve tried a few in my time but wouldn’t consider myself an expert. Is the ramen that I ate at Gumshara the best that I have had? Probably not. Is the ramen at Gumshara very tasty, filling and worth eating? Definitely.
Any ramen purists care to throw their hats in the ring?
Gumshara Ramen
Shop 211, 25-29 Dixon Street
Haymarket
New South Wales 2000
Australia
Telephone: 0410 253 180
Email: n/a
Website: n/a
Open
Sun – Mon: 11:30am to 8:30pm
Tue – Sat: 11:30am to 9:00pm
