For his latest project, Kantaro Okada, the serial operator behind 279, Le Bajo, Atsu, Hareruya Pantry and more, teamed up with Atsushi Ogawa, a Japanese ramen veteran. Ogawa has 16 ramen shops in Tokyo and Kanagawa, the first of which opened in 1995.
At Cafe Ogawa in Ascot Vale, the pair serve both of Ogawa’s signature styles: tonkotsu ramen and iekei, a style from Yokohama that’s built on pork broth layered with fish, soy seasoning and chicken oil, topped with chashu pork, spinach and nori. Both bowls use noodles produced at Ogawa’s factory in Japan and shipped to Melbourne. Diners can choose between hosomen (thin wheat noodles) and futomen, which are thicker and have a higher egg content.
In addition to ramen, there’s gyoza, karaage and salmon sashimi. Cafe Ogawa also functions as a cafe, which is atypical of ramen shops but very typical of Okada’s venues. Coffee service runs alongside the kitchen and dessert plays a bigger role than usual. And there’s always city pop or jazz records playing through the speakers.
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