Hakata Gensuke - Melbourne

There's lots of lines for eating places in Melbourne. We lined up at HEAPS of them this trip. Luckily for us, Hakata Gensuke was one long line we managed to side step as we came here a little later than the normal lunch crowd.

The ramen portion here is not big, but the soup is thick enough that the package as a whole is filling enough (for lunch anyway). The three of us ordered slightly different soup bases. I ordered their signature Tonkotsu with an addition of a runny (super delicious) egg. The pork broth was super flavoursome. Thick. Collagen-rich. A tender pork cha-cha slice, black fungus and spring onions came with thin noodles. I got my noodles cooked normal - you could also request them hard or softer than normal. I loved it - hit the spot for my ramen craving.

Hubby go the black Tonkotsu. Lots of garlicy flavour in this. And super super black. The soup was slightly less thick than my signature tonkotsu but was heaps yum anyway. Again, it came with pork, black fungus and spring onions. Hubby got the noodles with goey egg and seaweed (the sides are NOT cheap).

Our friend ordered the 'God Fire'. As the name suggests - it was spicy! You could request the level of spice. My friend (being Korean) ordered a spice level of 3 of 4. It was a huge hit of chilliness. He seemed to quite enjoy the noodles, so I guess it was tasty enough :).

I would come back. But I love ramen - so I'm possibly biased. However, the amount of lines that we see as we go past this place suggests that other people like this place too.

Ratings: 
Food - 8.5/10
Service - 7/10
Ambiance - 7/10
Value for money - 6.5/10
Overall - 29/40

Hakata Gensuke
168 Russell Street
Melbourne
VIC, 3000
Tel: (03) 9663 6342