Mr Ramen San for Some of Melbourne's Best Ramen
Mr Ramen San serves up some of Melbourne's best ramen, located in Mid City Arcade in the precinct of Chinatown (one of the best restaurants in Chinatown). The World Loves Melbourne loves ramen and we are excited about this authentic Japanese ramen restaurant! Check out our Best Cheap Eats in Melbourne. Also check out our Best Ramen in Melbourne.
Craving steaming flavour packed ramen? Head Chef Roystan has been trained by Japanese masters in Ramen and has worked in high profile restaurants. According to Roystan, "What you get in Japan in terms of ramen, we produce here. Authenticity." Roystan brings the influences of Kyushu, a charming southern precinct of Japan to Melbourne. The Kyushu style is about pork bones in white broth, signature at Mr Ramen San.
Mr Ramen San delights with a Japanese greeting as you enter, making customers feel welcome from the start. Mr Ramen San boasts several points of difference to the usual ramen scenario. For a start they serve up fresh house made Japanese style noodles daily; for ramen enthusiasts you can tell the quality of noodles and it makes a big difference.
Not only that but unlike other ramen houses, Mr Ramen San will provide you with FREE extra noodles on request! The serves of noodles in the dishes are generous enough as it is; so extra noodles for free is a great innovation for hungry customers!
Charsu Tonkatsu Ramen is a signature dish that rewards you with it's white cloudy broth; intense in flavour having been cooked for over 10 hours. As Ramen lovers know, it's all in the broth! There are no shortcuts in the cooking process (ie no soup stock from any supplier and definitely no MSG) and Roystan has a great passion for cooking authentic ramen. The Charsu roast pork is melt in your mouth, and the seasoned egg, wood ear mushroom and greens give a refreshing accompaniment. The World Loves Melbourne considers this dish the best ramen in Melbourne.
The key is in the cloudy white broth pictured above; this thick cloudy broth is the result of boiling pork bones and collagen over high heat for the 10 hour cooking process, in which it fuses to produce a hearty pork flavour and a creamy consistency! Office workers, you need this in your lunchtime! The staff work hard, stirring the broth for 4-5 hours a day during the cooking process! The consistency of the broth and it's intensity must be perfect. At Mr Ramen San you can choose from different types of soup for your dishes (not every restaurant offers this!). You can "build your own" Ramen if you like, starting with choosing your soup base.
Mr Ramen San are running a fabulous in store social media competition at the time of this article; bring a friend and get a FREE Sapporo Beer & Japanese Salad! You need to take a selfie in store with your friend and include the word "loveramen" and "mrramensan" in your status/hashtag. Then show Mr Ramen San staff and enjoy 1 free Sapporo Beer on tap (180ml) and Japanese salad per table. For the promotion it's min 2 main dishes per table. Each month Mr Ramen San will give away FREE Ramen to a ramen selfie winner.
Mr Ramen San also impresses with its Gyoza, Japanese dumplings with delightful filling; great with Ramen and a Japanese beer! Presentation is excellent at Mr Ramen San and the Gyoza comes on a board with dipping sauce bowl. Perfect with Sapporo Beer or the cool Robot Ninja Beer!
Beef Miso Ramen features Beef cooked with miso, spring onion, bamboo shoot, corn, beansprout, seaweed and a seasoned egg. By the way, eggs are cooked perfectly, slightly runny in the middle. The World Loves Melbourne loves the miso based soup, originally developed in Japan in the 1960s. The World Loves Melbourne loves the toppings at Mr Ramen San including the bamboo shoots and seasoned egg with runny middle; and you can get extra toppings if you like for a small price.
When you consider the quality of the ramen with its complex high quality broth, the quality of the house made noodles (with free extra noodles available), generous full slice meats, and the high quality of toppings, we think the ramen at Mr Ramen San is great value!
Service staff at Mr Ramen San are warm and engaging and the kitchen staff "work as one"; a well oiled skilful team. It means there's not a long wait for your Ramen, good news for city workers who have limited time in their lunch break.
With a trend to healthier eating, Ramen is known for it's health properties including claims of being good for the bones and joints.
For vegetarians the Vegetarian Tofu Ramen is a popular choice, featuring Tofu, spring onion, beansprout, corn, seaweed and a seasoned egg.
The Seafood Ramen is a winner featuring large succulent prawns and clams, spring onion, beansprout, corn, fish cake, seaweed and a seasoned egg. As we checked out this dish being prepared in the kitchen we were impressed by the golden vibrant colour of the Seafood Ramen, the size and quality of the prawns is first class, and the generous amount of prawns and clams together with a fish cake to finish it off, all makes for a ramen masterpiece.
Also popular is the Miso Sliced Beef Ramen (below), and the Assorted Japanese Mushroom is the perfect side dish (or enjoy on it's own).
Check out the fresh noodles made daily (below)...
Mr Ramen San has a modern Japanese inspired interior with great use of timber, attractive tables, Japanese art work on the walls, pendant lighting and a stylish atmosphere. Stay for a short time or a long time, the staff won't rush you to finish your meal like some places.
Mr Ramen San is easily accessible off either Bourke St or Little Bourke St in Mid City Arcade. It's the perfect restaurant for friends, students, date nights, group catch ups and city workers. Get on it!
Opening hours
Monday-Thursday and Sunday
11.30am-3pm. 4pm-10pm
Friday-Saturday
11.30am-3pm, 4pm-10.30pm