The Best Ramen in Melbourne

Melbourne is full of options for ramen. There are poky joints with anime posters plastered on the walls, right through to slick, queue-worthy restaurants by international chains. In Japan no one waits for their friend’s ramen to arrive. It’s most polite to dig in the second your bowl hits the table – with plenty of appreciative slurping. Whether you prefer a smashable Tokyo-style ramen or a spicy tantanmen, this guide will help you find your favourite.

Words by Holly Bodeker-Smith
Updated on 5 August 2024

Restaurant

Hakata Gensuke Carlton

A Japanese chain setting the gold standard for tonkotsu ramen in Melbourne. What separates Carlton from the Hawthorn and CBD flagship branches is its “yatai” ramens, served with rounds of pork belly chashu like you’d find in Fukuoka, Japan, the birthplace of tonkotsu.

Restaurant

Mensho Tokyo

The first Australian location for the revered global ramen chain brings its signature tori paitan soup to Melbourne's CBD. Expect lines around the block for one of its 28 seats, and be rewarded inside with six different ramen options, snacks and sake pairings.

Restaurant

Mr Ramen San Midcity Centre

A bastion of exemplary Hakata-style ramen in the city centre. Visit for house-made noodles, consistently excellent broths and a creation known simply as the “cocktail draft beer”. If you drink too many, do as the shop prescribes: keep calm, eat ramen. Also on Little Bourke Street.

Restaurant

Ramen Ramen

A food court ramen shop delivering classic tonkotsu, matcha with sous-vide duck and broth-less versions of the Japanese staple. But be quick, these bowls often sell out.

Restaurant

Ippudo

Japan's most famous ramen chain has multiple locations in Australia, including this one in the CBD. The Akamaru Shinaji, Ippudo’s signature “modern” tonkotsu ramen, hinges on a 25-year-old recipe topped with blended miso paste, garlic oil, pork belly chashu, black fungus and bean sprouts.

Restaurant

Gogyo

The upmarket cousin of Ippudo is famous for its kogashi-style ramen. Meaning “charred” in Japanese, the method involves overheating lard in a wok, then adding a special miso or soy base, followed by chicken broth. The results are intensely fragrant and umami-packed – but if you’re craving the classics, you can get them here, too.

Restaurant

Snow Monkey Ramen

An unconventional lobster ramen is the key to this tiny shop’s success. The 35-seater combines Japanese and French techniques to create some of the city’s most interesting soups – but we also love the benchmark tonkotsu here.

Restaurant

Sara Craft Ramen & Bar

Delicate broths and two-week-aged noodles are the specialty here, with styles ranging from asari clam shoyu ramen to A5 Wagyu ramen.

Restaurant

Parco Ramen

What started as a lockdown pop-up by two Italian chefs at Shujinko is now a fully-fledged ramen restaurant. Squeeze into the neon-lit space for decadent lobster or truffle-infused soups, comforting rice bowls, gyoza and truffle fries.

Restaurant

Shujinko

The kitchen at this CBD staple used to run at full steam, 24-hours a day. Trading hours are a little more conservative these days, but you can still drop in for a late-night bowl of silky tonkotsu ramen every Friday and Saturday. Extra locations can be found on Flinders Streets and in Glen Waverley – with more on the way.

Restaurant

Shop Ramen Fitzroy

Whether you visit the Fitzroy OG or the larger Preston spinoff, each of Shop's four ramens (pork belly, beef brisket, barbeque chicken and vegan tofu) is markedly different and super tasty. This crew also bucks the tonkotsu trend – instead favouring a lighter, Tokyo-influenced chicken broth. There isn’t one go-to soup, and all are worth a try.

Restaurant

Shyun Ramen Bar

Watch the magic happen inside the open kitchen at this south-side spot. For the signature, order the chicken torigara ramen. Made with a chicken broth that simmers for over 10 hours, this opaque soup is rich with collagen. Vitamins, too.

Restaurant

Tamura Sake Bar

This jazzy 30-seater is a Japanese izakaya, craft sake bar and record store rolled into one – but it also adds quality ramen to the equation. You’ll always find two options (signature chicken-based or vegetarian), plus the occasional special. Best of all, these bowls stick around on the late-night menu. You’ll need one after all that sake.

Restaurant

Little Ramen Bar

Little Ramen Bar ain’t so little these days. Previously a hole-in-the-wall on Little Bourke street, it moved to this spacious digs in 2021 – bringing with it some solid renditions of ramen’s greatest hits: tonkotsu, miso, shoyu and tantanmen. Still a great spot to escape the bustle of the city and warm up with some noodles.

Restaurant

Yoku Ono Ramen & Sake

There's an extensive ramen menu at this bar and diner from the man behind Wabi Sabi Salon and Neko Neko, alongside a range of other classic Japanese dishes. Plus, there are plenty of sake-based cocktails and a tight line-up of rare whiskies.

More Options

Mensousai Mugen, CBD
Mensousai Mugen is ne of the first shops in Melbourne to serve tsukemen, a warm-weather dipping-style ramen that really took off in the early naughties. If you want to watch a projected version of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai on muted repeat while you eat, nab a seat in the restaurant's vibey basement.

Musashi Ramen, CBD
A ramen master with more than 25 years of experience is behind the broths at this humming izakaya – open till 3am every Friday and Saturday night. As well as unctuous, Hakata-style pork broths, this place also fires up the robata grill for a clutch of yakitori skewers. If you're hankering for a solid post-midnight feed in town this weekend, Musashi has you covered.

Tokyo Table, Hawthorn
A low-key Japanese kitchen with a handful of classic and comforting ramens. On the hob you’ll find tonkotsu, shoyu, miso and tantan soups, as well as a couple of spicy options (seafood and beef) for those in need of a kick. But you should absolutely start proceedings with some sashimi, a plate of gyoza and – of course – a pitcher of Japanese beer for the win.

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