First Look: Bones Is Back – and Bigger Than Ever

Every city picks favourites. And Bones Ramen, the 20-seat Rushcutters Bay joint, is one of Sydney’s. In its three years, we nabbed (or waited patiently for) seats, ready to get our fill from the four-part list of Japanese soups, snacks and specials. Meals arrived with natty Australian wines or beers, and friendly, casual service. But six weeks ago, the final bowl was ladled out on the leafy patch of Bayswater Road, and seven days ago, the first bowl was served in a new Stanley Street space.

“Nothing to complain about so far,” chef and co-owner Jake Riwaka casually tells Broadsheet , after the first weekend of service. “Bones is bigger, hopefully better.”

The whole team – co-owners Mike Mu Sung ( Ken’s Continental , Farmhouse ) and long-term Bones chef Sasha Tjonnadi join Riwaka; and Ivan Pok is running the floor – has been all-in to get the new address ready. From gutting the old fit-out and crafting seating, shelving and a bar in dark wood to handmaking bone-shaped ceramic chopstick rests (which were glazed and fired by a friend) and covering a countertop in the very same glossy blue tiles from Rushcutters.

“I got about two square metres [of tiles] off the wall at the old Bones, and then I realised it was a futile endeavour,” laughs Riwaka. “So we used those two square metres, and we went and bought another two square metres from somewhere else. We smashed them all up, mosaiced them all together. It took three of us around about four days each, maybe a bit longer. Really underquoted. I thought it was going to take just me one day, maybe two. So … good lesson.”

The “ramen” has been dropped from the diner’s name, making the new era clear: Bones isn’t simply a stop for soup. Those bowls will always be in residence, but now there’s glassy-topped chawanmushi, studded with enoki mushrooms and spanner crab; a whole grilled mackerel served with taro and shungiku (chrysanthemum leaf); and a flash claypot rice – vegetarian, cooked in mushroom stock, with shiitake, radishes and daikon leaves on top – which takes 20 minutes to reach your table.

“It goes on the grill to get all nice and crispy, then we chuck it in the oven to finish it off. Then it comes back out on the grill – just to make sure it’s really nice and crispy.”

There’s also the “simple noodle”, if you’re a ramen commitment-phobe. Noodles come swimming in the team’s punchy chicken shiro shoyu stock with black garlic – that’s it. Maybe you add a golden soft-centred egg, split down the middle, a heap of bok choy or grilled pork chashu. “The idea is, like, if you order enough snacks, that you can just get a bowl of noodles with just the soup – just all to share.”

Obviously, the funky prawn toast – where a whole king prawn and mousseline is wrapped in brioche and fried, then sliced to share – is still kicking. “It’s not going anywhere, that’s for sure. I had the idea when I was working at Farmhouse. At the time there was a lot of people making pâté en croute. Khanh Nguyen did the banh mi pâté en croute , and Nik Hill just opened Porcine. There was lots of that French-style stuff, so that basically inspired the prawn toast. Roll stuff up – people love it.”

Bones
83 Stanley Street, Darlinghurst

Hours:
Mon midday–2.30pm, 5pm–9pm
Thu to Sun midday–2.30pm, 5pm–9pm

@bonesdarlo