Crowds Flock to Toriok, the 16-Seater Serving Just 100 Bowls of Ramen per Service

Ask Hugh Ok what makes a great bowl of ramen, and the answer is far from simple.

“There are five elements,” says Ok. “The broth, the seasoning, the aroma oil, the noodles and the toppings. It’s about balance.”

That pursuit of balance has shaped every decision behind Toriok, the ramen restaurant that’s become a permanent fixture on Eliza Street after building a loyal following as one of Adelaide’s most talked-about pop-ups over the past seven months.

Toriok had been in the making long before its first bowl was served. Ok and head chef Terukazu Mukai have spent almost 15 years working together in Japanese kitchens across Adelaide, including Ramen & Izakaya Himeji and Ginza Miyako. 

The pair travelled through Tokyo in 2024, eating their way through the city’s ramen scene before settling on the concept they wanted to bring to Adelaide. After returning home, they spent almost a year refining recipes, adjusting ingredients and fine-tuning techniques before they felt ready to open.

Ok and Mukai built their menu around a chicken broth designed to deliver the same depth of flavour as the bowls found in Japan, with a lighter, cleaner finish.

“Across the world, the ramen market is pretty much dominated by pork-based ramen, but we wanted to do something more suitable for this market,” says Ok. “Chicken is good for the immune system, it’s high in collagen and it’s something a lot of people enjoy.

“When I lived in Japan in my twenties, ramen was my favourite. It’s in the same position as pho for the Vietnamese – it’s not expensive, it’s healthy, it’s comforting. We weren't sure if our type of ramen would be popular here, which is why we started as a pop-up first.”

It was popular. Within a few months, queues were a regular sight outside the 16-seat venue, with regulars returning week after week and bringing family and friends with them. By April, the pair knew it was time to commit to a permanent restaurant.

This change also meant investing in one thing they couldn’t justify as a pop-up: a specialist Japanese noodle machine imported from Japan. Fresh noodles are now made on-site each day, with the process visible to guests through a kitchen window. A new batch of broth is started every morning, simmering for 22 hours before being strained in time for the following day’s service.

“If you get the broth wrong, the ramen isn’t going to taste as good,” says Ok. “We start a new batch every morning, taking some of the stock out after about 18 hours for our clear shoyu before letting the rest continue cooking into the creamy broth used for our signature bowl.” 

That painstaking approach extends beyond the broth. Rather than stretching into a long list of Japanese favourites, Toriok sticks to five ramen bowls, alongside Japanese beers and canned drinks. 

The menu ranges from its signature tori paitan, and its spicy variation, to a lighter shoyu, matcha ramen and a broth-less mazesoba. Diners are encouraged to taste the broth before stirring through the house-made lemon kosho – a green chilli and lemon paste –  that gradually transforms the flavour of the soup.

A communal table encourages the kind of quick, casual dining typical to Japanese ramen shops. Lanterns hang at the entrance, and photos from the pair’s research trip line one wall. Just 100 bowls are served at lunch and another 100 at dinner, allowing the team to maintain the consistency they’ve been chasing since those early recipe trials.

“Our slogan is ‘One damn good bowl of ramen’, so what we try to do is seriously focus on ramen itself – focus on one thing, and do it good.”

Toriok
14 Eliza Street, Adelaide

No phone

Hours:
Daily 11am–2.30pm, 5pm–9pm

www.toriok.com.au
@toriok_adl