4 January 2010

Ramen Kan, Haymarket



Ramen Kan is a little Japanese restaurant tucked away upstairs, accessed by a dodgy looking lift on Hay Street next to Cold Rock. Yes, the lift is a bit dirty-looking and extremely slow and probably needs replacing but don't be put off! Once those lift doors open you will be rewarded with a dining area complete with decorative touches like bamboo and pebbles, and of course fantastic Japanese food.


Soft shell crab salad - $8.90

Ramen Kan offers lunch specials so we opted to have both of those as well as two entrees to share. The first dish to arrive was the soft shell crab salad which had four soft shell crab halves (2 whole crabs) sitting on top of a bountiful cabbage salad with a tangy dressing. The freshly fried crabs had a light batter with a resounding crunch when bitten into.


Salmon salad - $6.90


We also ordered a salmon salad which was similar to the soft shell crab salad except the crab was replaced by slices of raw salmon covered in lashings of Japanese mayonnaise. I felt like they were a little stingey on the salmon since there were only 4 thin slices and the majority of the bowl was full of cabbage so I'm not sure if I would order this again.


Ramen (part of ramen and donburi set)

The parentals shared the ramen and donburi set ($14.90) which includes a bowl of ramen noodles and your choice of 4 small rice bowls (eel, raw tuna and salmon, chicken karaage and teriyaki chicken). The ramen noodles retained their chewiness and the soup base (which I think was miso) was flavoursome.


Kaisen don (part of ramen and donburi set)

The kaisen don which came with the set had chunks of raw tuna and salmon marinated in a sweet soy sauce accompanied by more mayonnaise, sitting on a bed of rice. The serving of fish in this was much more generous than on the salmon salad. Although with some rice bowls you end up with a lot of leftover rice because there isn't enough topping to go with the rice, this wasn't the case here and there was plenty of tuna and salmon to accompany the rice underneath.


Special lunch box (L-R, T-B: potato croquette, gyoza, agedashi tofu, chicken karaage, rice; miso soup not pictured) - $13.50

Charm and I went with the second lunch special which was the special lunch box, including a choice of a main (chicken nanban, chicken karaage, teriyaki chicken or teriyaki salmon) which came in a bento box that also had more cabbage salad, potato croquette, gyoza, agedashi tofu, rice and miso soup. We went with the chicken karaage which came with mayonnaise and a chilli-looking sauce which wasn't spicy at all. The chicken was superbly moist with a thin batter around it.

The potato croquette and gyoza were both very fresh. Inside the crunchy potato croquette was a filling similar to the pink Japanese potato salad which was lovely and creamy. The pork and vegetable gyoza was crispy with a nicely browned bottom - if only there was more than one!

Despite the dodgy exterior, Ramen Kan is definitely a great place to go for good quality and good value Japanese food. But be warned, the place fills up quickly during peak lunch and dinner times so make sure you get there early or be prepared to wait!

Now on a completely different note, I recently received the Over The Top from the lovely mademoiselle délicieuse at spoon, fork and chopsticks - thank you so much! If you haven't already checked out her blog, click on the link above to read some awesome restaurant reviews and recipes.




According to the rules of this award, I must provide readers with the answers to the thirty-five questions below in one word. I also must thank my award-giver for this fun award and grant six of my favourite bloggers this award, then give them the heads-up that they have been nominated.

Here are my nominated 6 bloggers in no particular order:
1. chocolatesuze
2. pigged-out
3. The Ninja Review
4. Here Comes The Food
5. Beansprout's Cafe
6. one bite more

And now to answer my 35 questions

1. Where is your cell phone? desk
2. Your hair? uncontrollable
3. Your mother? caring
4. Your father? hilarious
5. Your favourite food? japanese
6. Your dream last night? none
7. Your favourite drink? milkshakes
8. Your dream/goal? happiness
9. What room are you in? bedroom
10. Your hobby? baking
11. Your fear? spiders
12. Where do you want to be in six years? employed
13. Where were you last night? boyfriend's
14. Something that you aren’t? male
15. Muffins? choc-chip!
16. Wish list item? kitchenaid
17. Where did you grow up? sydney
18. Last thing you did? blog
19. What are you wearing? pjs
20. Your TV? new
21. Your pets? none
22. Friends? overseas :(
23. Your life? great!
24. Your mood? lazy
25. Missing someone? sister
26. Vehicle? astra
27. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
28. Your favourite store? ikea
29. Your favourite colour? purple
30. When was the last time you laughed? 1min
31. Last time you cried? awhile
32. Your best friend? SirD
33. One place that I go to over and over? blogs
34. One person who emails me regularly? mum
35. Favourite place to eat? everywhere!


Ramen Kan
Level 1, 90 Hay Street
Haymarket NSW 2000
Ph: +61 2 9211 6677
Open 11.30am - 11pm daily


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15 comments:

  1. I like the amount of mayonnaise that was squeezed on the salmon salad and Kaisen don! Congrats to another well deserved award!

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  2. Hehe it seems purple is a fave colour amongst the bloggers cos it's also Steph's and mine!

    My gawd that food looks awesome! I think it's time I expand my ramen horizons outside of Ryo's and Zenya's and try some others... this one especially!

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  3. YAY! Go the purple!!! Loving the mass of Japanese mayo that is all over those dishes, pity about the stingy salmon though - all that cabbage is so deceiving!

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  4. beaut photos woman!!! I loveeee ramen kan.. I eat there alot when I want a cheap meal that I know i'll be satisfied with. I like eating their japanese curry if i'm in a curry mood and want to save some cash :) Great value for money.. 2 ppl sometimes bill comes up to $22-25 BARgain! ChiNG Ching $$

    JACQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ your a gem! thanks soo much for the award!!

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  5. Congratulations on the award - well deserved and glad to know more about you from your answers!

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  6. Haven't eaten here for a couple of years, I think...I don't remember seeing so many mayonnaise squiggles in the past!

    And thank you for your kind words =)

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  7. aww you miss me!
    and i didnt know your favourite store was ikea...
    btw i had some amazing mashed potato at lunch (actually i think it was puréed) and the mum makes some really good soups too!

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  8. I still remember the first time I went to Ramen Kan. The contrast between the dingy lift and the restaurant decor was staggering. Lunch looks great and awww so sweet that your folks shared their meal.

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  9. i do like ramen kan but agree with you that the lift to get to the restaurant can be quite dodgy, the worse was when i was in the lift with this dodgy looking person...

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  10. Hi Ellie - I can't get enough of that mayonnaise either! Thanks :)

    Hi Karen - Purple is awesome!! I really need to get to Ryo's, it's quite shameful coz I live relatively close to Crows Nest but I still haven't been!

    Hi Steph - Glad to see another purple lover hehe. If only all Jap places gave you that much mayo - I'd been so happy!

    Hi Leona - Thanks! I must try their curry next time. And you're very deserving of the award :)

    Hi Trissa - Thank you! It was actually really hard to answer those questions with one word!

    Hi mademoiselle délicieuse - Thanks for the award I feel honoured :)

    Hi Charm - I think my favourite store is actually peter alexander but that's not one word so yeah... ikea is cool! What made the mash so amazing?!

    Hi Helen - I was so amazed by the decor as well after stepping out of that lift (maybe they can't do anything about it?). Hehe they don't usually share their meals but I think they just weren't particularly hungry that day ;)

    Hi panda - Haha the day we went some dude on the ground floor asked us something in mandarin as we got into the lift and shoved some flyers at us... we just looked back at him blank-faced...

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  11. Lol, tell me about it, that lift is so dodgy! I love the food here though and it's one of those cheap go-to places like Kura!

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  12. That looks like really good value! Hehe the lift is perhaps the qualifier! Perhaps some stay away but then they aren't rewarded with food. Congratulations on your award :D

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  13. Hi AY - I've never been to Kura but I've heard lots of good things about it! Must pay them a visit and see how they compare to Ramen Kan ;)

    Hi Lorraine - Haha well in that case I'm happy for people to be put off by the lift, it means more food and less waiting for me! =P

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  14. Ramen Kan is not a bad place for ramen. I'd not had the patience for the lift so I'd taken the stairs instead. Just as dingy, based on your description :)

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  15. Hi Simon - I didn't know there were stairs! Maybe I'll check them out next time haha, surely it can't be as bad as the lift!

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