I have to admit, in Hong Kong when thinking of what to eat ramen rarely comes across as a feasible option for me.Why? Maybe because I have been spoiled by really good ramen during my life in Sydney and even though there have been so many ramen joints that have been raved about as being spectacular in Hong Kong, after trying a couple of them, I can say that they are just a little lacking compared to the ones I have had overseas.
So when J asked me to join her and her brother for ramen at Kureha, I was a little hesitant, but she went on to explain this was her usual place for ramen and that it was really quite good so I decided to give it the benefit of the doubt.
Stepping into Kureha, with its cozy wooden interior, bar table set up and traditional Japanese posters pasted around the walls, it gave a vibe like you had entered a ramen joint right in the heart of Japan. Offering a limited menu, its ramen options are classed under the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire and earth. Each has its own uniqueness, while the earth element showcases the specials they have available. Most of the ramen are served with a pork broth, but for those that do not eat pork, they do have one with chicken broth as well as one served dry.
Normally when I eat at a new ramen place, I would choose to pick the most classic and plain bowl of ramen so I can try their broth unadulterated in any way. However, this time I asked for J’s recommendation and she told me that her usual pick is one of the specials which is the classic tonkotsu ramen with a drizzle of their homemade black garlic oil. Trusting her judgement, I picked this one, while J herself chose the one with chicken broth. Ordering is done by ticking a sheet of paper with your desired choices, which seems to be the norm of many ramen places nowadays, where you can select the degree of richness to your broth, the texture of your noodles and whether you want any addition of garlic, shallots, extra seaweed or onsen egg.
There was only a short wait before our ramens arrived~ Quite a big portion, the amount of ingredients was generous, and a mouth watering aroma wafted from the bowl, so enticing that I could not help, but spoon up a mouthful of hot broth immediately. Mmm~ rich porky essence with a subtle fragrance of garlic. It was not as thick as I was hoping for, but still quite good. The noodles were of the thin type and since I had ticked the hardest texture available, it still retained a nice chew. Two big slices of charsiu adorned my ramen, not too fatty, yet still meltingly soft, however I was a little disappointed in the onsen egg that I had added as an option. It was served as a whole egg, but the inside yolk and egg white was slightly too runny for my liking.
J’s chicken ramen came with a curious looking ball on a spoon. Turned out it was a collagen ball that you were supposed to melt into broth to make it even more rich. I had a spoonful of the broth and wow I was amazed~ I was expecting the chicken broth to be almost watery thin, but when spooning up the broth I was surprised at the rich consistency and the depth of flavour was wonderfully intense. I would recommend giving this a try~
Kureha is quite a good choice if you are looking for a ramen fix. Even though I am still not entirely swayed about ramen in Hong Kong, I may return if I have a craving for ramen in the future 😉
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