Bianca: It was a chilly Thursday eve when Madre and I made a beeline for Ippudo in the city CBD. This was our second visit, the first being for mum’s birthday last year. Now it’s become somewhat of a celebratory place/meal. I bought a bra in David Jones earlier…..so I guess we were celebrating that?
No meal at Ippudo should be without their famous ‘Pork Buns’ – steamed buns with braised pork and ippudo original sauce. $4 each. These were a bit of a let-down this time around, the pork was dry and slightly rubbery. Nothing like the pillowy, soft, melt in your mouth pork last time. Very disappointing, not to mention they were a little rough around the edges and quite fugly but I’m always amused by the token lettuce slice. We also shared one ‘Ippudo Shrimp Bun’ – A steamed bun with deep fried shrimp and Ippudo’s original sauce. Each bite was virtually an explosion of flavours, with the crunchy fried prawns contrasting so nicely against the bun.
We like to keep things simple because we’re fairly new to the ramen scene. Once I’m on to a good thing it’s hard for me to change it up. I HATE change. So I stuck with my favourite, the ‘Karaka Men Chashu’ – With the original Ippudo Tonkotsu broth with spicy miso and ground pork. $22. I opted for the chashu because, hey, more pork. I’m no ramen expert so it’s a little hard for me to describe flavours but I loved the punchiness of the spicy miso, slurping away with the rest of the restaurant I couldn’t help but get slightly teary eyed. From the chilli, I swear.
Mum decided to change it up, moving away from the Karaka Men went with the ‘Tori Shoyu Chashu’ –with chicken, menma, leeks, Naruto and nori. $20. The chicken was deliciously moist, the broth itself was rather subtle – with gentle background flavours.
Ippudo’s my general go to for a quick, heart-warming (pricey) bowl of ramen.
So after dinner I spent a good few minutes steering madre away from Becasse Bakery namely the enchanting sweets on display. Lo and behold where do we then find ourselves standing…? Just in front of ‘Yogurt World’. I never got swept up in the frozen yogurt scene, I like my ice-cream too much. We ummed and ahhhed, then saw the Nutella flavour. SOLD! We each grabbed a cup and went nuts. I got a combination of apple pie, Nutella, salted caramel and chocolate. With a ridiculous amount of toppings the colour of the rainbow. And what did this concoction cost me? $10+. Great flavours, toppings were fresh, the fit out was trendy and young (I sound like a Nanna) but ultimately very very pricey.
We then made the slow slow trek with a belly full of ramen and frozen yogurt back to my car in Surry Hills.
Bianca
V.B.A
I don’t know about you, but I always think that buying a bra is a good reason for celebration – a good one is hard to find! Ippudo is a great way to celebrate. 🙂
Buying a bra? Or taking it off? It’s the highlight of my day hahaha..
Bianca
I’ll use anything as a reason to celebrate! A shame about the pork buns. I wonder what happened? A bad night in the kitchen?
Agreed, having been to Ippudo countless times, one downer is that their buns aren’t consistent in quality. A bit of luck playing into it here.
Did you prefer the pork bun, or the shrimp one?
The Pork Bun on my first visit was delicious but if I had to choose solely on my second visit I would say the Shrimp. And I generally don’t love seafood!
Wow! I was curious about that – the shrimp bun must have been really good that night (and/or the pork bun bad), as you’re the first to prefer the shrimp.
A pity they can’t be more consistent.
pork bun here is a must, sad they arent consistent!
The tonkotsu ramen here is really nice but super expensive. You can get the same quality or better elsewhere for way less the price. I haven’t been lately but many months ago when I visited, the pork buns where amazing! That’s unfortuante to hear that it’s not as good as it used to be.
mmm perfect weather for ramen!