HOT: Ramen Ya, Shop 25G Melbourne?s GPO, 350 Bourke St, Melbourne

After the success of the inaugural Dumplings Fest, a bunch of food bloggers/tweeps gathered for the next [Insert Food] fest ? this time in honour of ramen.

Sadly, good ramen joints are hard to find in Melbourne (although I?m predicting that they?re the next big dining trend, after izakayas and gastropubs have their time in the sun) and the specimens you encounter here are more often NOT than HOT.

Then someone suggested Ramen Ya and we all said YES! This casual eatery seats its patrons on backless stools and tiny tables that don?t encourage lingering, in authentic ramen stall style.  My choice was a bowl of their house specialty, the Charshu Pork Ramen with Tonkotsu soup, which was accompanied by three juicy gyoza and a warming genmaicha (brown rice green tea) for a budget-friendly $14. Ramen Ya specialises in ramen but also has bento boxes for those not noodle-inclined.

Ramen Ya?s servings are huge even for  someone who?s been known to eat three bowls of udon in one sitting. There’s such a high degree of splatteridge that they provide you with bibs! The large bowl contained slices of thinly sliced meltingly tender pork, half an egg, some fake fish cake stuff that the Japanese seem to love and a whole lotta toothsome ramen. I found the dish as a whole a little bland but you could tell that the stock was properly made with pork bones and not just powdered soup powder spiked with MSG.

In a cute little touch, while you?re waiting for your ramen (about 2 minutes) you can try your hand at some origami and make yourself an inflatable rabbit.

For more Ramen Ya love, check out Tummyrumbles and  Melbourne Eating.