Tonkotsu ramen at Gumshara, Haymarket

Gumshara Ramen, Haymarket

I like eating at food courts. People who see me eating by my lonesome just assume that I’m on my lunch break. They have no idea that I’m miserable and friendless.

Heh, just kidding. Today was Melbourne Cup day and I ducked out of the office early for some food because I much prefer sustenance over inebriation and betting on supporting actors and actresses from the Saddle Club. I watched the show growing up but I still don’t know anything about horses other than the fact that they say ‘neigh’ and eat ‘hay.’

Speaking of hay, I went to Haymarket to sample some ramen from Gumshara.

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I know what you’re probably thinking.

You ducked out on a work party to go eat alone at a food court?”

Well yeah. I had a slight bout of the sniffles and thought that ramen would be the ideal form of medication.

Oh right, the food court thing. I was initially skeptical as well but I’ve read countless blog posts assuring me of its quality even if it was located somewhere that looked exactly like how I imagined high school cafeterias before I started high school. Tangent: My high school didn’t have any sort of dining area but our canteen offered delicious creations such as hot chip sandwiches and cans of soft drink for a dollar.

Have I mentioned I used to be fat? There might have been a correlation.

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I left work at around lunch time and immediately wished I had left earlier. The food court was thriving and the line in front of Gumshara was akin to a Harry Potter book launch. I would know because I used to line up for Harry Potter releases but I digress.

I had my stomach set on some dumplings and a bowl of BBQ pork ramen. I was incredibly tempted to order the Super Mega Ramen Noodle bowl just because it would’ve been incredibly fun to say but immensely difficult to finish.

Unfortunately, I arrived towards the end of the lunch rush and they had run out of dumplings.

It’s all good, they hadn’t run out of broth or noodles and that was the main reason I was here.

Oh boy, I’m glad they didn’t run out of broth or noodles:

BBQ Pork Ramen
BBQ Pork Ramen

I have a slight case of the sniffles but the fragrance of the meticulously prepared broth bypassed my sinuses.

I always sample a spoonful of the soup prior to digging into the comments. Immediately, I knew I wasn’t dealing with an average bowl of ramen.

The broth had the consistency of KFC gravy minus the mash and you could taste the amount of work in the broth as the savoury protein danced in your mouth. It’s definitely different and I can see how some people would be put off by how thick it was but it didn’t take me very long to fall in love with the dense liquid.

(By the way, you can ask for a less salty/thick version of the broth. I’ve been assured that it’s just as good as the thick variation).

As I sat there wondering how much sodium I had just put in my body, the amount of pork in my bowl brought a wide grin to my face.

BBQ pork
BBQ pork

Glorious, glorious pork.

I’ve always had an affinity for fatty pork and the Gumshara chefs (by the way, I love their bandannas) sensed that I’d be heading their way today.

The soup to noodle ratio wasn’t the greatest I’ve seen but the massive serving of pork more than made up for their scarcity. Another slight annoyance was that you had to pay extra for egg but again, the pork prevented me from getting truly incensed.

One more time just because...
One more time just because…

Here’s the TL; DR for everyone who just wanted to see how my sniffles were going:

– I watched the Saddle Club as a kid. Hello world.

– Ramen has medicinal properties

– Super mega ramen bowl is fun to say

– Try and go just before the lunch rush in order to avoid the line and get some dumplings.

– The broth might take some getting used to but is nirvana once you get accustomed.

Gumshara Ramen

Shop 211 25-29 Dixon St 

Opening Hours:

11:30am – 9:00pm

Note: Tonkatsu ramen is unavailable between 3:00 and 5:00 as they prepare the dinner batch of soup during then

Gumshara Ramen on Urbanspoon

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4 thoughts on “Gumshara Ramen, Haymarket

  1. it’s a pretty mean bowl of ramen isn’t it? if you make the return try their pork rib – super tasty! if you don’t like the thickness, you can actually ask for a thinner based soup. don’t worry, the flavour still packs a punch!

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