Kokoro Ramen

157 Londsdale Street
Melbourne CBD, VIC 3000
0396501215

We'd like to have something hot so we decided to go to Kokoro. Its quite a new ramen shop in CBD and i could say they are quite famous since I have been seeing people talking and posting photos about this place. We went there on Saturday lunch but it wasn't busy, there are about 50++ seats but less than half  were occupied.

Like most of the Japanese restaurants, they welcomed us with いらしゃいませ ! Then we were directed to our seats and given menus. The waiters did not take our orders as we need to order in the counter and pay first. The menu itself really makes ordering easier with photos for all the choices.
Basically there are 4 stocks to choose from :
1. Tokyo Ramen - Pure Chicken & Seafood Stock
2. Tonkotsu Shio Ramen - Salt base Pork & Chicken Stock
3. Tonkotsu Shoyu Ramen - Soy Sauce base Pork & Chicken Stock
4. Tonkotsu Miso Ramen - Soybean Paste base Pork & Chicken Stock

The portion of each ramen is big which is fair for the price. Me and my 2 housemates went for the Tonkotsu Shio Ramen because they say its better than the Shoyu. The soup is rich in stock which is why its really oily, but we agree that its too salty. Is it because of the NO MSG? Well, we think its better to pull back the salt. The homemade noodles are really thin. However, its not quite firm and chewy that I could straight away swallow them without putting much effort in munching them.

I really like the fried soft shell crab, they're really crisp and tender.  

Fried Soft Shell Crab - $14.50

 The chicken karage were really good too, crisp and juicy. And they're more generous with the amount.

Fried Chicken - $12
Extra Tasty Egg - $2

Do you agree that're a lot of charsu than usual? Well, they are! Its not that we don't like chunk pork slices, but we prefer thin slices as they usually melt in your mouth.

Charsu - $12

My other housemate had the Tonkotsu Miso Ramen. He went with the Butter & Corn as recommended in the menu. The soup is rich and oily but not as salty as the shio because of the touch of the spiciness. However, there's something really disappointing. They forgot to put charsu on top of it and my friend did believe its a vegetarian dish until we saw charsu on the menu again on our way back.

Butter & Corn - $14.50

Overall : 6, it was not a really nice lunch for us although i love the karage and soft shell crab. Service are great and fast. In my opinion, putting less salt for the soup is a must and keep the consistency for the chewiness of the noodles.