Gumshara , Sydney – Review

Ramen is something that is quite easy to make, but takes years of dedication to master – as someone who loves ramen and would travel over an hour every time I am in Japan just to get access to some good ramen, it’s quite sad that I live in Hong Kong where many “popular” stores serves up the sorry excuse that they call ramen. What is even more sad is the fact that leaving Sydney to work in Hong Kong meant that I left one of the better ramen places I’ve been to globally – Gumshara.

Gumshara is situated is located in a food court near Chinatown in Sydney, the foodcourt itself is quite rough looking and serves up Asian food from all regions – but for me, only one store is worth visiting and that is Gumshara – which almost always have a line.

In terms of the menu on offer, there’s a massive banner and essentially, you just give the counter the number you want – for those who loves a good spicy bowl of ramen, I recommend paying up for the additional chilli bomb – which meat mince that is mixed with a good dose of chilli.

Like any regular foodcourt, you get a ticket after ordering and then you wait for your ticket to be called. The bad thing about this food court is that it does get a bit crowded, so be prepared to share a table with someone else who is less passionate towards ramen than you.

For this visit, Ms. Buddha ordered her long time favourite of tomato and tonkatsu ramen, and for me, I just went with the regular with the chilli bomb – plus also a side of Gyoza (because I am just that hungry). Another warning for people first starting with ramen is that Tonkatsu is essentially pork bone soup ramen, which means that the ramen master boils hundreds of kilos of pork bone until they melt and turn into soup, the result is a very thick and collagen filled soup base – and Gumshara is known for their thick soup!
The flavour is intense and after a couple of spoonfuls, your lips will begin to get sticky – which to mean is just evidence of how much preparation goes each bowl of ramen. The noodles are on the firmer side, and the chilli bomb has a decent punch to it, which is why I have fallen in love with it. Ever since the first time of coming here with Ms. Buddha, she’s never ordered anything apart from the Tomato Tonkatsu – and ever ytime she looks completely satisfied afterwards, which is quite difficult.