Hakata Gensuke Tonkotsu Ramen

Hakata Gensuke Tonkotsu Ramen, located on Russell Street, is a cozy and vibrant Japanese restaurant best known for its rich, creamy tonkotsu pork broth and handcrafted ramen noodles, made with a secret recipe straight from Hakata, Japan. Though it’s a small place, it’s efficiently organized with counter-side seating and compact tables. One of the unique highlights is how the staff periodically chant in unison from the kitchen — a beautiful display of their lively culture that adds to the authentic experience. The restaurant operates on a walk-in only basis, and it's common to see a queue outside — but trust me, it’s worth every second of the wait. As Indian food lovers craving spice, we opted for the God Fire and Black Fire Ramen — both flavorful, spicy, and deeply satisfying. (You can even customize the spice level!) The combination of piping hot broth, perfectly cooked ramen noodles, tender pork slices, and flavorful condiments made for an unforgettable meal. We also tried the pork-filled Gyoza, which paired wonderfully with their citrus soy dipping sauce (almost like a sushi soy dip). To accompany our meal, we went with canned green tea and orange juice — refreshing choices that balanced the spice well. The staff were incredibly polite and welcoming, even taking the time amidst in the busy environment to tell us more about their food and traditions when we showed interest. They truly made the experience feel special — and we even got a photo to remember the night! If you're in Melbourne and want to taste the best ramen in town, Hakata Gensuke is a must-visit. There are plenty of other tempting dishes on the menu too, so we’re definitely going back! PS: They are predominantly a pork-based on their menu.

The Gyoza is absolutely delicious! The Ramen are also delicious but I forgot the names so just look at the photos. Thin noodles is the best for me. 0.5 spicy level is too much for my embarrassingly weak tongue, but I was still able to finish it. We were very fortunate because we didn’t have to queue for a long time. Some people had to wait outside. Other than that everything is great. Food is great. Staff great too. Not bad for my first try. Will come back again!

I got the basic pork noodles, with sliced meat. Food was simple, will recommend selecting “less salty” given the normal saltiness was unbalanced. The noodles were fresh, perfect texture, with just a little chew. Recommended for a simple meal

The ramen here was pretty good, with the creamy flavours coming through well. The gyoza was really good, with the fresh crispy crust matching well with the filling. The service was nice, with the use of an online order app. The atmosphere was nice as well.

Hakata Gensuke Ramen offers a satisfying and convenient dining experience, perfect for a quick meal before a busy schedule. The restaurant’s signature tonkotsu soup stood out with its rich, flavorful broth, which both my son and I thoroughly enjoyed. The gyoza was equally impressive, delivering a delicious and well-balanced taste that complemented the ramen perfectly. The overall atmosphere is casual and welcoming, making it an ideal spot for a simple yet authentic Japanese meal. Choosing Hakata Gensuke based on Google Maps recommendations was definitely the right decision, providing a delightful culinary stop before some of our group headed to the airport.

Absolutely delicious ramen. Authentic, asks you to specify everything upon order (noodle hardness, saltiness of soup, whether you want scallions etc ) and cooked to perfection. I ordered the black garlic soup, asked for less salty (thinking that would likely not happen) but it did!! Flavourful but not too salty. Will 101% go back

I visited Hakata Gensuke Tonkotsu Ramen and had a really great experience. We were served by Aoba, who was incredibly sweet and welcoming — he greeted us with a big smile. His warm service really stood out and set the tone for the meal. For the food, we ordered two different ramen dishes: the Black Tonkotsu and the Godfire Plus. At first glance, the Black Tonkotsu doesn’t look very appetizing because of its dark, almost black broth, but it was absolutely delicious. The broth was packed with flavor, very rich and garlicky, so I’d recommend it especially for garlic lovers. The bowl came with two big slices of pork, which were great, though in hindsight I think adding extra meat would have made it even better. The Godfire Plus, on the other hand, had a vibrant red broth and brought the spice. It was bold, flavorful, and had just the right kick without overpowering the taste. Both bowls were satisfying in their own ways, and I’d happily recommend trying them depending on your flavor preference. Overall, between Aoba’s excellent service and the delicious ramen, Hakata Gensuke is definitely worth a visit.

After having a few drinks at another place, I dropped by here for their signature ramen. In Japan, it’s pretty common to end a night out with a bowl of ramen — that’s exactly why I came. The taste was impressively close to authentic Japanese ramen, and it was served super fast.

Great Chicken Balls of Fire aka Chicken Karaage! Think Jerry Lee Lewis with a Foot on the Piano sweating or Lil Richard 'The Original' Rock and Roller and you may Come Close to the emotions Felt during this Dynamic Dining Delight. Ramen, the Struggling College Cuisine has been elevated To Dizzying Heights at Hakata. You are immediately transported To Japan and experience Black Belt cooking to new Degrees. Stand On Line Patiently and Prepare your tastebuds. SUBARASHIDESU.

The shop itself is a bit small but service was friendly and the food came out extremely fast! The menu is straight forward and is authentic with about 4 different noodle options! It was also recommended by many different foodie critics and I gotta say its on point. I got the god fire level 2 and it was perfect! A must try! Come at a strange hour to avoid the wait ;)

Gensuke had been on my list for some time. I was first to arrive at 11.20am for the 11.40am opening. The cafe filled very quickly after it opened and by the time I left there was a lengthy line outside. It's only a small place and doesn't seat many. You need to get here early or get lucky unless you're happy to line up for a while. I ordered the Signature Tonkotsu with spring opinions, bean shoots and cabbage and an egg. It's a delicious dish. Rich, satisfying and substantive with lovely deep flavour. It's also a very good size. I got a side of beautiful gyozas as well because other reviewers had recommended this. The gyozas were excellent but not strictly required. Service was good and quick. The business model is obviously to keep the customers ticking over. A good experience. This is a very nice ramen place.

Outstanding bowl of Hakata-style ramen. It's rich, pork-bone broth is divine and the noodle's firmness is customizable. Toppings like crushed garlic, takana, and sesame are left on the table for you to add. The spicy and black tonkotsu are also pretty great. Pass on their gyoza, not a fan, small and not very flavorful. They have a combination of tables and counter seats. If you come by yourself or as a couple, you'll often be sharing a table. A queue generate as soon as they open but it's often moves quick. I highly recommend trying!

Small ramen joint that is definitely worth queuing for. It's not a long wait (7mins) and you're provided with a menu and pen and paper to order your dish while you're in line. You have a choice of how firm you want your ramen noodles and also the level of spicyness you can take. I ordered the black tonkotsu ramen with an extra egg!. It came out in a really big bowl. I was really afraid I couldn't finish it!! But the soup and noodles was so delicious! Couldn't help but just slurp everything up! Hakata, please come to Perth!!

I don't like leaving negative reviews, I really don't, but this was one of the worst customer experiences I can remember in a restaurant. The ramen itself was OK, the broth was pretty good but the noodles were average at best. I can think of at least 5 places back home in San Diego, all within a few K's of one another, that blow this place out of the water. Maybe we're lucky in this regard but if this place was in SD, I would never eat here. Anyways, the service. We were a party of 6, which admittedly is a big group for this small, busy place. We were told that the only way to be seated would be to separate our party. Uh, OK... if that's what it takes. Well 4 people were sat at a table while 2 were put at the bar but literally 2 minutes after we were sat, 2 seats opened up at the table where the rest of our party was and the staff absolutely refused to let us join the two groups so we could sit together. There was zero logic behind the decision. When we asked "why?", we were told there were people waiting in line that needed to be seated. Yeah, well, they could sit at the bar just as easy as at the table where the rest of our party was but they wouldn't budge. Seriously ridiculous.

Great cosy ramen joint for an express bite. Had to queue in front of the restaurant but they were turning tables over quickly that it was only a 10 min wait for two. Went for their signature pork bone broth, glad I chose normal flavour as the broth was creamy and had a distinct note of umami pork flavour. Loved having my noodles cooked extra hard cause by the time I got to the end of my bowl of soup the noodles were still firm. Make sure you order a side of juicy chicken karaage and just pay the extra special toppings to get extra charsu and an egg. Definitely want to come back again to try the God of fire spicy ramen.

Curiosity finally got to me. I had never read any reviews about this place but everytime I walked along Russell St and passed by Hakata Gensuke, there was always a massive queue. I was in the area at 11.45am, no queue in front so I called up a friend last minute and arranged to meet there. I thought to myself, why not go inside first and get a table, to escape from the freezing cold weather. Access denied!! The waitress said that because my friend had not arrived yet, I must wait outside. They had space for two but just didn't want me in there... for what reason, I have no idea. I don't get pissed off very often but this certainly ticked me off. Nevertheless I waited the extra 3 minutes outside and tried again once there were two of us. Once seated I quickly glanced through the menu. You can customise the noodle texture and taste which is handy. I chose the signature tonkotsu and all options 'normal'. Seasoned egg was considered an extra topping *sigh* so I went for a side order of gyoza instead just to mix things up. Good decision as it was delightful! The ramen was tasty and broth on point, but the included toppings were scarce and I was definitely peckish afterwards. I've found better in the cbd which I am now using as my benchmark, so yeah, can't see why this place is so hyped up. The service is Japanese style as all the staff (including the chefs at the back) shout out greetings and salutations when you enter and leave. But even without customers coming and going, they are constantly yelling at the top of their lungs. Makes it hard to hear whoever you're having a conversation with. I think if they toned it down a few decibels lower I wouldn't mind so much.

Busy spot that keeps things moving well. I ordered their signature black tonkatsu. Good portion size for the most part, but fairly stingy on the pork - I'd recommend you order a bit extra. Lovely, flavourful broth however and very enjoyable all around.

Pretty good and cute and fast! The pork was very delicious and tender. The broth was excellent. I'm going to three though bc of the noodles. I asked for hard but it really wasn't as chewy as I wanted it to be. I also think unfairly this place had been too hyped up so we expected more.

Pleasedon't believebadreviews aboutthisplaceonYelp I can wholeheartedly say this is one of my top 3 favourite ramen restaurants in Melbourne. Reminder~~~ It's unreasonable to book a large party for such a small specialised place considering that it was not built for that purpose. The business' foundations is based solely on experiencing just the flavour of Hakata ramen. I specify Hakata because this is not the only franchise in the world to commodify the rich umami broth and characteristic straight noodles. Ichiran Ramen where they specialise in crafting a unique culinary experience by creating individual booths along a bar, Ichiran as well serves slightly hard noddles because thatishowHakataramenismeanttobe ~ trust me. I've done lengthy exchange in Fukuoka two times already. The purpose of the slightly resistant noodles is so the customer can control how the noddles taste. Ramen was created after the Second World War for a quick, nutritious meal for the working individual in terrible time. Therefore it's only a given that ramen has evolved to be for the individual. It's really unfortunate that people miss the subtly of Japanese cuisine and write a subjective and misinformed review based on their own experiences. And of course there is no takeaway! Japan takes pride in their skill, businesses wishes to enjoy you enjoying their food! Understanding the entire history of ramen is not critical to the pleasure of eating it however having a grasp of ramen culture enables you to experience Hakata ramen on a higher level. Please take all things into consideration before going! As a whole this restaurant delivers a divine, cheap and delicious bowl of ramen. I highly recommend visiting and as well as trying other things on the menu like the fluffy fresh rice and crisp fried chicken. Hakata Gensuke stands to be a handcrafted luxury of flavours, lost in modern day where other restaurants use MSG and pre-made noodles, lacking the spirit of Japan itself. Supporting a business of artisan goods is something we must all strive to do.

It's 2:30pm and there was a queue out the door. WTF? Well, this IS currently Melbourne's favourite ramen place, would I expect any less? But sadly I had to rush home so I had to give it a miss. However the very next day I managed to get to the city relatively early, and even though the website said Hakata G is open from 12 noon I decided to try my luck. BINGO! They are actually open from 11:30am and it was only 10% full! Yes! The friendly waitresses and chefs all greeted me heartily and I was promptly given a menu and an order form. I love it how you can customize the broth, the chewiness of your noodles amount other things. I felt like something light so I ordered the shio ramen (salt based) with extra firm noodles, normal broth, extra seasoned egg (well there is none in the actual shio ramen!!) and black fungus (veg intake) When the ramen came out the first thing I remembered thinking was gosh it's so tiny!!!! The next thing I thought was can I order some sides? But no, this place is cash only and I only got $20... With the extra topping this ramen is already pushing $20.. Sigh! A quick sip of the soup revealed a very clean flavour. This is simplicity done well. The noodles are thin white ones and whilst it was al dente at first it quickly became a little bit mushy (in my standard). The pork was flavoursome but by no means melt in your mouth and while the egg looked any boiled egg of the street I did notice that it was seasoned. Or maybe it was the soup that flavoured the egg? Overall it was one of the better ramen I have eaten in Melbourne, but it's still not as good compared to what I had in Asia that's for sure. I am struggling to give this place a 4 out of 5...I know I am a fence sitter but why can't yelp do half a star?!?! Lol I wld have given 3.5 stars I walked out amoungst the boisterous goodbyes feeling ever so slightly hungry and $17 lighter.

Best ramen that I have ever had in Australia. Especially the black garlic broth. So rich in flavor and staffs were friendly. Waited for a table for about 20 minutes but it was all worth it.

Not worth the wait. I always walked past and amazed at how long the queue is. Tonight I decided to give it a try with four other friends. The waitress first approached me when I was queuing outside, asking me which type of noodles I would opt for- the dipping one or the the normal one(FYI they offer the dipping one starting at 6pm). Being really confused and not knowing what the dipping one means, I said I'd go for the normal one. About 10 mins later when my other friends arrived (we were still lining up outside), there were two of my friends wanted to order the dipping ramen, the waitress then said "No. The minimum is three bowls for you guys to go upstairs". I know she probably didn't want to be rude but the sentence actually sounded pretty harsh. It was like "order at least 3 or you don't get to eat". We eventually decided to have the normal ramen cos we didn't want to wait any longer. So after settling at a table of 5, we quickly ordered and patiently waited for the ramen. And guess what.. I. WAS. UNIMPRESSED. I ordered the spicy ramen- the broth was just normal pork bone based broth that you get to have at any ramen places, and the noodles texture was harder than I would prefer( I ordered normal). The price is slightly expensive than the other ramen places too- priced at $14 you have only noodles broth and charsu( you have to pay extra $2 for seaweed or egg) I will never go back to the place again.

I thoroughly enjoyed the food here! There was a small line up for a weekday lunch, but our group of 4 didn't have to wait long while we were given menus and an order form to look through. I ordered the Signature Tonkotsu and a flavoured egg as an add on is a must! The broth was flavourful and the pork slice was almost melting through the broth. Along with some pint-sized gyoza, the meal was very filling and I struggled to finish it all. I will definitely come back to try the rest!

This is another great spot in Melbourne where you'll have to queue for your meal. These guys are truly ramen professionals - the stock is rich and porky and the noodles were delicious and cooked perfectly. My husband had the signature tonkotsu ramen and I tried the God Fire at Level 2 heat. (The Koreans next to us had Level 3 which I think would have been more to my taste.) We also tried the fried chicken which was very tasty and succulent, and the gyoza which were delicious. It was very nice but a little bit pricey once we had added in the extras (egg, chashu and veg).

A decent Japanese ramen place we could hardly find in Melbourne city. Try their signature ramen before you other ramens! Hot rich pork bone soup to heat up the winter. Expect to queue during busy hours sometimes.

One of the best ramen places I have been to! If you come be prepared to wait for 30 minutes and pay at least $15.00 per person without apps or drinks and cash only. If you've ever had ramen you know there is a cult following for that sticky broth that only hours of cooking can produce. They do the broth very well here and they don't skimp. We ordered the regular tonkotsu and the god fire #2 and we thought the level 2 is plenty spicy. Order it with the egg because the yolk ads another dimension. We also tried the karage which is deep fried dark meet chicken with a little spice. Even with a wait we will be back. This place is too good to miss.

Totally worth the wait. I was also only 1 of 3 non Japanese in the place - which if the lines out front didn't give it away, this should have. I had the black tonkotsu, (soooo tasty and plenty of garlic to keep any colds away), and karaage chicken - some of the best I've had. $19.50 for both, less than a 10 minute wait at midday on a Saturday, but I'd wait longer. Just do it. Fun Fact - they'll give you an order sheet to fill in whilst you're waiting in line so they can keep you moving quickly once inside.

I love this place. Japanese Ramen made with an impressive obsession to detail. What blows me away is that when I was a kid, my dad used to bring me to this totally authentic, don't try to order unless you speak Chinese, Won Ton Noodle restaurant called the Wong Shing Kee at this very address. They had the best Short Soup (Won Ton soup) you could find in Melbourne at the time. It's very fitting that this is the home for arguably the best long noodles, Japanese ramen in Melbourne.

This is the real deal. Not trendy ramen for white people (btw I'm also white) but Japanese ramen like you'd get on the streets of Tokyo or Sapporo. The broth is thick, the toppings are flavorful, traditional and legit, and the noodles excellent - plus you can order the noodles soft, regular, hard or very hard. There are The other usual items like gyoza and Karaage but you and everyone else comes for the ramen, which is offered in four core fundamental varieties, no weird hipster anything. The staff sings out the traditional greetings in Japanese when you enter and when you order and again when you pay and leave. It's bustling and cramped and has loud Japanese pop blaring. You are (and should be) in and out in 20 min. In short it is 110% ramen perfection.

Excellent food, reasonable price and good customizability for the ramen. The atmosphere is excellent for enjoying the food, there are no large tables, largest they can accommodate is 6 I believe, focusing on enjoying the food. Improvements: staff should reduce their volume, they are constantly yelling in Japanese and it disturbs the customers trying to enjoy their food. Good location, good food and reasonable prices. 5/5 stars

The ramen is very authentic and flavoursome. However, the staff are rude and choose to meaningless rules. A couple beside us order their ramen but had come in with a bubble tea and coffee. The staff informed them cutely and rudely, after they ordered and the girl took a sip, they couldn't drink that in the establishment. No eye contact, just a rude walk by tell off. The place can get very crowded and loud as the staff call from one end of the ramen shop to the other.

BEST RAMEN PLACE IN THE AUSTRALIA. Actually I was really surprised that I could have really good Real Japanese Ramen in the Australia. Here's Ramen is just same as that of we can have in Japan. Also service is the perfect. But one thing I want to say as weakness of here is, quite expensive for just one Ramen for Japanese people. Anyway, It is worth paying that money for this Ramen though. I will never hesitate to recommend this place for everyone who is in the Melbourne.

Came by right after my flight into Melbourne in the morning with about 10 mins to spare for 11:30 opening. About 10 people ahead of me and my 2 friends but was able to be seated during the first wave of guests. But be prepared to share tables as the location is quite small. We also probably slowed traffic flow to the point that the staff asked to move some of our bags to the front and away from the main area. Ordered the black tonkotsu ($15) with extra toppings (egg, seaweed, cha shiu, $8), extra noodles ($2), and 5 pc gyoza ($5). The broth was rich with black sesame, and the cha shiu was fatty - great for ramen! Nothing too special to note about the noodles and gyozas in my opinion as I would probably opt out of the gyozas in a future visit. If you're hungry, I would definitely go for the extra noodles though! Recommend trying the original tonkotsu as a first visit as more of the pork flavour is able to come out and shine. I've heard of queues building up during the day so be sure to pick your times carefully to visit. On the other hand, the fast service and order times helps to go against this issue.

The ramen is pretty good but not that amazing really. I'd recommend the black ramen or regular one. It's okay price, 13 bucks for a bowl of ramen with 3 thin slices of meat which you'll devour in half a second. The place is definitely a terrible idea for groups. They're just not designed for groups at all, I think they prefer express finishing. The supervisor, Maki, was incredibly rude person and arrogant. No customer service or whatsoever. She is probably the worst person I've ever encounter in the history of eating out and I'm not even joking. Anyway, eating is here feel just really 'rushy' and I hate their staff. So I don't recommend queuing up for an hour for a ramen. Let it shrink, A RAMEN with an hour queue. No thank you, bye.

This is the best ramen I've had since I visited japan. Be prepared to wait a long time but trust me it is totally worth the wait. God Fire was my favorite dish.

Best ramen I've had in Melbourne thus far. We had avoided going for so long due to the long lines wrapped around the store front, but one day we noticed that the line was only about 10 people deep - it was time. We got to peruse the menu while in line, and also got to write down our orders on slips before going in to sit. D got the tonkotsu ramen, I got the black garlic. So fantastic, both of them. The broth was thick, full of flavor and rich. I loved the simplicity of the menu. No frills. I wish the ramen came with egg, but my egg add-on was worth it. The noodles weren't too soft, weren't too stiff, just done perfectly. The karaage can be skipped. I didn't think it was all that good or necessary. Can't wait to come back! Prices are reasonable.

How do you tell if you've just stepped into a great resty? When there's a massive line of potential customers patiently waiting outside in the cold. This ramen place seems to be the talk of the city recently and it's easy to see why. The staff are super cheerful and friendly (every time a new customer walks in, they are greeted by pretty much by all the wait staff and kitchen staff). The shop is bright, clean and very inviting. Oh, and the ramen is delicious. One thing unique from my perspective is the ordering process. You're given a piece of paper with a variety of options to select, the main ones being type of ramen, noodle hardness, whether spring onions are ok, spiciness (where applicable) and a range of sides, and just circle whatever you want. We ordered the Black Tonkotsu (essentially the broth is black due to the black sesame seeds) and the God Fire (spicy Level 2). The Black Tonkotsu broth was tasty, fairly thick and just delicious. The noodles were cooked to the right point (I ordered normal hardness) and the egg (which is an extra) still had an oozing yolk). Unfortunately the piece of pork seemed a bit dry and overdone. The God Fire definitely lived up to its name: it was hot! But it was still delicious, I could still taste the lovely broth and thoroughly enjoyed it (even though spicy Level 1 would've sufficed). If you're after a tranquil, quiet little place to have a lovely bowl of ramen, hakata gensuke is not the place to be. But if you're looking for great ramen with friendly, efficient service and nice atmosphere, then this is the place to be.

Feels like Japan! Once I was lining up outside, I definitely felt like I was back in Japan. Japanese people love lines! Once entering, I felt so nostalgic! I fell in love with this place because it was an authentic type fast food Japanese restaurant. Many people dine alone which is normal. We were greeted politely by the hostess in Japanese which set off the whole staff of the restaurant to greet us as well. Efficiency at it's best. We had ticked off what we wanted on the ordering paper and next thing you know it's in front of us. The ramen is as good as Japan, so flavoursome, added an egg, probably needed another slice of meat but it didn't matter. Got a serve of gyoza's and wow, so delicious! $15, worth it! Once we finished, everyone said 'Arigatou gozaimasu'. I should have read the Yelp tips but it is CASH ONLY! Do it!

If you've had tonkotsu ramen in Japan - the stalls with endless lines - you know the limitations of the Melbourne ramen scene in recreating those lofty, bone-broth heights. I've tried many & sadly nothing comes close (perhaps one of the few things that Sydney has over us - gasp!). Then along comes this place - well worth the 30min wait. I had the classic tonkotsu with egg & extra charsiu. The broth at first sip is like falling in love. It is spectacular, rich and aromatic and singing with that pork bone depth with just the right about of fat glistening on top. The egg is gooey and the noodles have a nice bite to them. the only let down is the charsiu, which is more lean meat than fat which I'm not much of a fan of. nonetheless the broth steals the show. I'm really really happy that Melbourne finally has some legit tonkotsu for all you ramen lovers out there.

The noodles texture was perfect, but the real genius I feel is in the exceptional pork broth. It is all at once light and yet dense. So luxurious!! Chef Tanaka would envy!

The line is out the door! This place won't let you in until your whole party arrives so be careful when you hold spots for people. I was very lucky and went after 9pm which got us in the door after a 5 minute wait. With a simple menu consisting mainly of ramen, chicken karaage and gyoza, you fill in an order form for each person which makes it handy if you wish to pay separately at the end. Service is quick and efficient though don't expect long chats with service staff as they are busy running around bring steaming hot bowls of ramen to hungry customers! For the price and amount of food, I will be back! I got the spicy ramen (level 2) and added an egg which was perfectly ooey and gooey. You can also add extra noodles and items such as seaweed and more char-shu meat. For those who are a tad hungrier you can also get gyoza (a bit small for my liking) and karaage which was so juicy and perfectly DEEP FRIED.

Rich tonkotsu stock, bite-y noodles, gooey egg, and melt-in-mouth pork. Hands down the best tonkotsu ramen in Melbourne. Expect long lines and to hand over $20 once the necessary extras (egg, bamboo shoots, etc) are added to the base ramen. Soup also has a spicy (peppery?) note to it - which to my traditionalist surprise, worked well. Watch out Sydney, Melbourne is punching back in the ramen game!

It was delicious. I had the god fire level 3 spice, had I been hungrier it would have been great with more noodles. To really enjoy it though and to finish the broth I would go with level 2 spice

They had 50% off all prices on the menu for grand opening. Me and boyfriend queueing for 1.5 hr cos we both love ramen and looking at the queue make us moreee curious. Thank goodness its well worthed. We had Tonkotsu Ramen and Black Ramen. Yes it's Black ramen soup, it has black sesame in it. Both were great, the soup was thick and foamy just the way I like my ramen soup to be. and those all you can have pickled veggie wassss awesome!! Best for giving a little spiciness on your ramen.

Full disclosure: I have lived in japan for many years and have loved tonkotsu ramen for decades. This place is fine but just basic and standard so I find it hard to pay x2 the Japanese price. Certainly not excellent. For those who don't know excellent ramen, you'll be happy. Asking every Japanese person I know, basically there is no great ramen in Melbourne, sorry!

I agree that this place deserves 4 stars as their soup is OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! If you like ramen and you enjoy the soup the most: Then the crazy queue will be worth it for you!!! I bit the bullet and lined up 45 mins and the service was super fast (10 mins) + I was famished so I ate it in (10 mins). Fantastic, creamy, well-balanced soup that was clearly created with much attention, history, and quality. I was seriously blown away. Also, I was seriously disappointed how pricey it was for ramen. 1 piece of pork, barely any toppings and not really a large portion. I had the gyozas too and while they were nice, they were small... about 50-60% of normal sizes. So, overall value is low but was really worth trying it once for that soup.

No take-away? Smh. I'm just trying to get my sick boyfriend some ramen, who knew it would be so hard.

Gyoza was nice, but ramen broth soup was probably full of MSG. Had to wake up all night to drink water...

original location. need to add toppings since only comes with black fungus. nice porky broth medium thickness, tasty firm noodles is chosen that way, good char siu, egg could be more flavored. just a solid bowl overall and can see why this is the best place. black sesame also good.

Food is fine but staff are rude. Don't recommend for groups of more than two or three people because the chances of you getting a table together is extremely low. Based on the poor service and rude staff, along with the quantity of delicious & fast restaurants in the area, I would not recommend this restaurant and would not encourage others to visit in the future.

Seating arrangements for large groups are absolutely horrendous. As per another review they are inflexible with moving table arrangements despite vacant seats, their explanation - "sorry this is our restaurant it's our rules"

So the ever popular Ramen joint still has queue out the door. 6 pm on a relatively warm Monday night, you can still expect to wait. A big reason for this is that the ramen is delicious, I wouldn't say it's the best ramen around but it sure beats the bland version you get at some other places. Their broth is really flavoursome and hearty. There's four broth bases to choose from. Each diner gets their own order sheet to choose their base, preferences and sides. Tonight we tried the traditional and the black, the black is really quite special. Another reason for the queue is also this place is very very small, and very very loud. The warm hospitality of the staff is one of the main reason it is very loud, as you are greeted warmly and loudly as you come and leave the restaurant. Someone mentioned this is definitely not the place for a big group or a leisurely dinner and I thoroughly agree. I probably wouldn't rush to go back but I glad to have tried it. If you have serious ramen craving tho, then this is the place to go.

this is probably one of the best ramen I've had. ordered the black tonkatsu and karaage as a side. the ramen was delicious and fragrant, while the karaage was juicy and crispy. only part lacking is the flavoured egg wasn't flavoured enough in my opinion. worth coming for any ramen lover in melbourne

Excellent food, service is a bit hurried, and seating may not be as comfortable as you hope, but the ramen makes up for it. Reasonably priced, too!

Black sesame ramen was delicious and the atmosphere felt like a traditional ramen house. My only complaint is that the toppings are sparse, designed to get you to add on and pay nearly $20 for a bowl of ramen. I think there are better places for quality ramen at an affordable price like the Little Ramen Shop. If you are willing to splurge then try it here once but arrive early as they get crowded.

I've been to Hakata maybe four times, once 5 minutes before opening because it is so good. The chilli, tonkutsu and sesame broths are all extremely wonderful, the service is lightning fast, and the even the condiments are top notch. A warm greeting and you are minutes from pouring hot firm noodles into your mouth. If there are issues, I'd say the floor could be cleaner and I wouldn't mind if it were a smidge less expensive but maybe that is the price to pay.

Went for the 1st anniversary of their first store opening in Melbourne and everything on the menu was half price! Our party of four got there around 4.40pm and waited in line for about 40 minutes. And it was every bit worth the wait! I wanted to try the Tsukemen (dipping noodles) but was informed by the staff there that at least half of our party had to order that dish in order for us to get it. I'm not sure if this was the case in general or if it was because of the store being extra busy today. So being the only one that wanted it, I instead opted for my usual black tonkotsu and chicken karaage (best I've ever had so far!). You have to fill out a form/menu by ticking which ramen you want and if you want to get any extra toppings/sides/drinks (see picture). Food came out pretty fast, and the service there was warm and welcoming as usual. You also get to pick a raffle ticket when you leave resulting in a mystery thank you gift - depending on the colour of the raffle ticket you pick!