There are a lot of faux debates that exist in our society.

Who is the best NBA player of all time? Breaking Bad vs. Game of Thrones? Is Survivor rigged? Does Tony Abbott have a small family of miniature Smurfs living in his ear lobes?

Please.

Everyone that knows me knows I have very specific opinions on all of those issues and that it irks me that they’re even discussed. However there is one debate that is worthy of every food blogger/critic to throw their hats in to the ring. There is one debate that splits people and I’ve personally witnessed arguments so heated that random eggs in the vicinity began getting boiled.

That debate is Pho vs. Ramen.

I was steadfast in my belief in Team Pho until recently. I still love pho but I love ramen just as much.

Momiji in Burwood strengthened Ramen’s case.

Real life tangent: I wasn’t going to have ramen today. I was actually going to go to a restaurant that Bite Me Show Me had recently reviewed but work intervened and I had to go into the office last minute.

I was too hungry to make the long drive so I settled for a local place that I had never been to.

I arrived just as it opened and was immediately followed in by six other people.

Guess I was in the right place.

I always order ramune in a Japanese restaurant if it’s available. Momiji offered it for cheap and my soda deprived body latched it up immediately. First off, Momiji’s fridges are spectacular. The water on my table was as cold as water can be without being frozen as was the ramune. This was definitely appreciated considering that it reached 33 degrees Celsius today.

I was quite hungry so I opted for cha shu ramen and some gyoza that I had been urged by friends to try.

The broth was fantastic. It was a little thicker than I was accustomed to and extremely rich in flavour. The deep bowl of ramen came with chili powder and pepper that I didn’t utilise at all.

There weren’t a tonne of noodles within the bowl that surprised me considering that it was deeper than the mini pools I used to practice swimming in as a child. The pork was very tasty but I wish that it had a higher percentage of fat than it did. All the other garnishes within my bowl came together. Strong broth can make anything taste great.

One of the guys that walked in after me was having trouble deciding what to order. He looked over at my ramen and asked me (the following is not paraphrased):

Random guy: How is the ray-men?

Isaac: The ray-men is excellent.

Heh.

I love soup filled dumplings. I think it’s because I have no idea how to make them, something about warm soup within a well fried dumpling really appeals to me.

The bottoms were nice and flaky which wasn’t the texture I expected but enjoyed nonetheless. The pork filling was a little bland but the soup made up for it. I really enjoyed the salad that was included with the gyoza. Made me feel slightly less guilty about my extreme diet violation; it’s the little things.

Here’s the TL; DR for people who just wanted to have a gander at my photos

– Breaking Bad is WAY better than Game of Thrones

– Cheap ramune is best ramune

– Rich broth is vital to great ramen.

– Soup filled dumplings are the culinary equivalent of trackpants.

Momiji, Burwood

96A Burwood RoadBurwood, NSW 2134

Open Monday – Saturday

Lunch: 11:30 to 2:30

Dinner: 5:30 – 9:00 

****

Follow my food adventures on Twitter via http://twitter.com/iFat23

Eventually, my Instagram will be off the ground at http://instagram.com/ifat23

If you would like me to visit a specific restaurant or have any other questions don’t hesitiate to contact me by leaving a comment or clicking the ‘contact me’ tab above this post.

You can also follow me on WordPress so you get notified whenever I write something new. Thanks guys!