Hot List Update: Saké and Ramen Spot Shouyuya Joins the List

The Hot List is the definitive guide to Melbourne’s most essential food and drink experiences, updated weekly. Learn more.

This week’s Hot List activity

• Added: Shouyuya Ramen
• Most trending restaurant: Marmelo
• Most trending bar: Purple Pit
• Most trending cafe: Masses Bagels

Long-awaited sequels can often be disappointing – just ask Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. But chef Fujio Tamura’s Ramen Shouyuya is much more of a Godfather Part II than a Godfather Part III. This little Sydney Road ramen shop and sake bar is the follow-up, 10 years on, to Tamura’s other venue Misoya Sake Bar – which is a little ramen shop and sake bar on Sydney Road. So what’s the difference between the pair?

As its name suggests, Misoya is all about miso ramens – the specialty of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, where Tamura is from. At Shouyuya, shoyu (soy sauce) -based ramens are the name of the game. Melbourne may be blessed with fantastic ramen shops repping all of the major styles, but Tamura saw an opportunity to stand out with his broth bases.

Whereas many ramen places throughout town use a dashi base made with katsuobushi (bonito flakes), his dashi is made with niboshi (small dried fish such as anchovies or sardines), an approach which Tamura says has been taking off in Japan over the last 20 years. This adds an extra dimension of umami texture to the broth that really rounds out the chicken and duck ramens on offer here. The vegetarian option’s broth, a funky mix of kelpy kombu and dried mushrooms, is one of the most characterful vegan ramen broths you’ll find in Melbourne right now.

And that’s it. There’s just three ramens here. But they’re each distinct and excellent. One thing all three bowls share is their noodles – made in-house with a Yamato ramen noodle-making machine imported from Japan. These springy noodles strike just the right balance between softness and chew. On the rest of the menu there’s a handful of sides (be sure to go for the gyoza and the chicken wings) and one or two other dishes.

It's all set within a subtle and nondescript space, centred around the large wooden counter that’s perfect for whiling away an evening with a bowl of ramen and a few sakes. As we mentioned, Melbourne is replete with great ramen. But if you want to try somewhere doing things a little differently, and doing it very well, then Shouyuya is worth stopping by.

broadsheet.com.au/hotlist/melbourne