MELBOURNE | Melburnians are well acquainted with ramen these days, but there’s a particular style, aburasoba, that’s hard to find here. Kajiken, a noodle chain that originated in Nagoya, Japan in 2010, wants to change that. They recently opened their first Melbourne location in Southern Cross Station, which I visited for What’s on Melbourne.
Aburasoba, also known as maze soba, is believed to have originated in Tokyo in the 1950s. It’s a dry noodle dish, made with a sauce of soy sauce and (traditionally) lard. At Kajiken, a variety of oils are used to form the base, to which an assortment of toppings are added.
There’s 11 options on the menu, to which you can add or subtract toppings. The original bowl is topped with pork chashu, bamboo shoots, green onion, and nori. My favourite is the homura. It’s a medium spicy aburasoba, topped with minced pork, nori, bamboo shoots, green onion, chives, niboshi (fish powder), and an egg yolk.
Extra toppings include things like egg, mentaiko (cod roe), nori, chashu, and extra noodles. For your egg, you can choose from raw egg yolk, lightly poached onsen egg, and ajitama, a seasoned boiled egg. When your bowl arrives at the table, mix it immediately (the noodles cool down and stick together fast if you don’t), add any extra condiments, and enjoy. Each table comes with a selection of chilli oil, rice wine vinegar, sesame seeds and crushed garlic chips.
Aburasoba is the star a Kajiken, but there are a few other options on the menu too. Things like donburi, karaage, takoyaki, and edamame. At lunch, you can make your meal a set by adding miso soup, salad, and a serve of gyoza or takoyaki for $6.50.
To drink, it’s soft drink, Japanese tea and sodas, and hot genmaicha.
Kajiken
Shop 11, Southern Cross Station
Melbourne
Victoria 3000
Australia
Telephone: 0402 391 788
E-mail: n/a
Website
Open
Sun – Sat: 11:30am to 9:30pm