Restaurant Review: Kokoro Ramen

Location: 157 Lonsdale Street,  Melbourne
Phone: 03 9650 1215
Link: http://www.kokororamen.com/
Cuisine: Japanese, Noodle Shop
Overall Impression: 7/10

Kokoro Ramen is a Japanese noodle house centrally located on Lonsdale Street. As the name suggests, the focal point of this café is ramen – Japanese wheat noodles.

While the quality of the ramen offered by Kokoro Ramen may fall short of the noodles offered in Japan, in Melbourne it compares favourably. Ten dollars will buy you an amply sized bowl of above average soup noodles, making this ramen-centric establishment a suitable haunt for economical lunch seekers. 

The house-made noodles are great - firm and al dente. There are four varieties of broth, our favourite being the classic tonkotsu. Kokoro Ramen’s broth is pleasant but is much lighter than the tonkotsu broths found on the streets of Japan which are a thick, cloudy and somewhat creamy concoction of decadently rich pork flavours. It is nevertheless a sufficiently tasty blend of ingredients and is perhaps the closest thing Melbourne has to an authentic Japanese tonkotsu ramen. 

Whilst not revolutionary, Kokoro Ramen is a welcomed addition to Melbourne’s dining scene which lacks good ramen noodle shops and is definitely worth a visit if you have not already.