Ryo’s Noodles, Crows Nest

Standing outside Ryo’s Noodles, we see a young ramen lover lead his clan of oldies and grandoldies to the end of the queue, however after some shouting and arguing, the oldies win out and they walk away from the queue. The disappointed youngster will have to come back alone for his ramen fix.

Waiting in the winter sunshine keeps us warm on the outside until the strong, cold breeze sweeps in and chills our bodies. We stay focused on that delicious, hot, comforting bowl of ramen which is just below our noses… on the other side of the window.

A few people leave and we’re invited to wait inside at the top of the queue position. Our eyes scan each table, each bowl, looking for who’s going to finish next. Standing beside us, doing the same is Ryo, who signals us towards the seats on the communal table.

Ryo's bright orange menu

Our rice ball arrives first, a compacted package of rice and roast pork wrapped in a soft sheet of nori. We split it down the middle, just enough to get our stomach out of first gear. It’s so dense, yet still warm and soft and we’re weary not to chow it down too fast to save some space for the main event, the ramen!

Roast Pork rice ball - $4

My heart is set on #3, the spicy tonkotsu ramen which was a part of my weekly diet when I worked at St Leonards and was able to have lunch dates with Ms. Taste. I order an extra serve of sweet corn that cuts through the rich, hearty soup. The noodles rise out of the soup, covered in the fiery burning red oil, bouncy and delicious. Each mouthful the same, a few noodles onto the spoon, a tiny bit of pork, a tiny corner of egg, a corn kernel or three, a dip into the soup making sure to get a bit of chilli oil and a stray shallot… years of perfection refined.

#3 Tonkotsu - Spicy Hot flavour w/ roast pork, egg and shallots - $11.5 (corn extra $1 or so)

Ms. Taste orders from the chicken side of the menu – the clearer, less heart attack inducing broth, yet with the same delicious noodles. I don’t take much interest in her dish as she polishes off the whole bowl while I am only a quarter of the way through mine.

#6 Chicken soup - Tokyo style soy sauce flavour w/ roast pork, nori, bamboo shoots, egg - $10.5

Ms. Taste has a case of ordering with her stomach and not with her head as the karaage chicken arrives just as she has polished off her bowl of noodles. She takes a bite out of a piece and shuts up shop, pushing the remaining 5 or 6 smoking hot pieces towards me.

Karaage chicken - $6

As long as there’s still some wonderful ramen soup remaining, I can continue to eat anything. So I adjust my meal qi, decreasing my soup portion with each mouthful and increasing the fried chicken portion to keep my meal in perfect balanced harmony. Nothing is more satisfying than finishing with your last bites contain every single component of the meal.