Tsuru Ramen - Tonkotsu

Imagine tiny droplets of snow falling with barely a whisper. It is warm and toasty inside, you are dressed in your comfy clothes and feeling hungry. Now, there is nothing quite like a hot bowl of ramen to warm the tummy and fill the heart. A good hearty broth - so rich with collagen and pork that nothing else matters. 

That was how I felt when I had my first bowl of ramen. This warm satisfied feeling only heightened when I had more ramen in various parts of Japan. 

So it was with much excitement and glee when I heard the news that Tsuru is looking to open a ramen shop and running a few sessions to test out various versions. 

I finally made it to one where it was the Tonkotsu ramen. I still remembered the last awesome Tonkotsu ramen I had and this was in a lower ground food court located in Sydney's Chinatown. The guy uses 120kg of pork bones a day.

Back to Tsuru, I arrived for the 3pm sitting and you bet I was starving. Service was quite haphazard where our table was forgotten, followed by our orders being wrong and we had to ask again when our food never came. Not a happy bunny at this point, I just want my ramen!

Side orders were available which is not included in the ticket purchase. 

My ramen finally arrived and it was beautiful. The whiteness of the broth resulting from hours and hours of bones being simmered which extracted all the goodness with A slight dense texture signifying all that liquid collagen. 

With the chopsticks in my hand, it was time to dig in. A few bites of the ramen and the noodles had the slight bite to it though it could with a bit more springiness as a textural contrast. 

The poached egg was sublime - adding a creamy buttery sensation. 

It was time for a taste of the broth. It was rich but I felt lacking that extra depth to balance it out. Maybe it needed more simmering time or extra bone marrow goodness? Instead, I could taste the extra salt used to give it that extra seasoning or flavour. 

I think it's a solid version but one that I would not remember. I hope it only gets better as I would love a good ramen place to go to. 

Will I recommend: If you're in the area
Will I come back: No
Have I had better: Yes