Gumshara Tonkotsu Ramen (thick soup)
Gumshara Ramen, Sydney
Sydney is filled with eateries especially Chinatown. Urbanspoon seemed to have good reviews so here I am on a freezing cold summer night. The dish to judge ramen joints is the Tonkotsu ramen. The two critical constituents of a good ramen dish being the broth and the noodles. So many places attempt but so few places get it right. Hakataya, Brisbane, Taro’s Ramen, Brisbane (blog post pending) gets it right. Bringing me back to Kyoto, Japan.
Gumshara is located in a food court within Chinatown. Not much sign or fancy decors except for a wall of photos of each dish. There were a few people waiting in line. As the noodle enters the bowel, somebody stirs it to ensure it is well separated.
The ramen has to contain the thickest soup I have ever tasted in a ramen. It might be a bit too thick. There was plenty of pork bone flavour for sure, but it was missing something. Possibly umami. The noodle was perfectly cooked along with good quality cha shu meat. (The half cooked egg was extra). Is it good? yes. But not for ramen beginners.
Haymarket, NSW
#1 by tzu-yen on December 7, 2011 - 8:01 am
The soup is very thick. But I think it lacks finess. It’s almost a gravy. Of course, they give the option of the lighter version. I want to give that a try.
#2 by Cat on December 7, 2011 - 4:37 pm
OMG! I tried that earlier this year (after failing to have it the previous year as they were closed for the New Year hols) and after all that trekking to find it….I agree. The soup was too thick and you may be right about it lacking umami. I wasn’t blown away. Different it certainly was, but yummy-I-want-another-bowl-stat I’m not too sure.
Having said that, I saw the chef (and older man) taste every, single bowl of broth before it went out with disposable spoons. I also saw him throwing out the bowls of broth which he thought wasn’t good enough!
#3 by tzuyang on December 9, 2011 - 8:14 pm
Hi Cat, I have no doubt about the amount of effort put into each and every dish. In fact what I love about Japanese food is the obsession. Some of the greatest eateries have the simplest menus. I like that.