ichiban boshi

It seems like everyone who is, or has ever been, ramen-friendly, has been to Ichiban-Boshi. Located on the top floor of the Galeries Victoria, this little Japanese noodle place is perpetually packed (it does serve other assorted foods, but everyone comes for the noodles). It is also (very conveniently) located right near everything I would ever head into the city for, making the usually difficult "what to eat tonight before ..." choice easy for me.

We were supposed to have gone to the Uyghur restaurant tonight. But then one pulled out. And another. And it was just Miss Shiny & myself, staring at Queen Victoria's rear, ignoring the talking dog, and debating dinner options. It was raining. We had to be done by 7:30, We didn't want to walk far, and good hot comfort food (that we could get in a snap) was on the cards. Trouble no? Well, no!

It was still early, so we hightailed it over there (shortcut through the Hilton, pause to stare at the Nu+Naan window, then up the escalator and up again). Arriving early (in this case, around 6pm, meant that the queue was short and the tables unshared.

karaage ramen $10.90

Miss Shiny didn't even look at the menu. She knew what she was going to order (partly because it's what she always orders). "One karaage ramen please!" Before I was allowed to take the photo, she carefully stacked the pieces of deep fried chicken fillet to one side, one on top of the other to minimise the percentage of soggy chicken bits.

tantan tsukemen ramen $12.00

Having eaten my way through most of the hot ramens, rices and other assorteds on previous visits, I decided to try something a little different. The tsukemen ramen is served as a big (BIG!) plate of cold noodle with a steaming hot bowl of soup for dunking said noodles in. This time, I got the tonton soup, a rich porky broth with a spiciness that doesn't register on the tongue but then hits you in the back of the throat, just as you're about to say something. It's fiddly, and a little bit sickening towards the end (rich, hot, fatty soup and slippery cold noodles quickly turns into lukewarm fatty soup and slippery starchy cold noodles). It could be just that I prefer my food hot. Especially on rainy nights (as all nights seem to be these days).

Ichi-ban Boshi
The Galeries Victoria
Level 2, 500 George St
Sydney NSW 2000
Ph (02) 9262 7677