Ganbaranba — Restaurant in Cairns City

Honestly the ramen tasted like a 2-star to me but the service was pretty good and friendly so I’ll give it an overall 3 star. I came here because I saw so many outstanding reviews including some saying “best ramen outside Japan!”, well, that’s categorically false. Even any generic big chain from Japan, outside Japan, e.g. ichiran, ippudo, you name it, would be multiples better than the ramen here. The gyozas were also nothing special, in fact they were burnt (photo attached) and tasted pretty much like frozen dumplings to me. I don’t love Tokyo dumpling (a block away), but I’d say their dumplings are still better than the ones here.

I had the sunrise ramen that’s under the “premium tonkotsu” broth section and came recommended, but it was very … flavor-less. I kept trying to discern some kind of flavor from it and honestly I couldn’t taste anything beyond some of the crispy garlic flavor that came from the toppings. Granted that the broth it’s light, but there just wasn’t any body or flavor. I’ve been to Japan probably a dozen times and I’ve never had tonkotsu that tasted like this. The noodles were also so so so average in terms of texture. The pork was dry and tasteless! I honestly can’t imagine an outfit serving noodles tasting like this even surviving in Japan.

The food was certainly edible though, just please set your expectations right and don’t expect “best ramen outside Japan” because you will not be having that. If you’re visiting from Asia/ other big cities in Australia, this is a spot you can definitely skip. The ramen is not going to be better at Ganbaranba. You might as well get fish and chips or something elsewhere.

If you want Japanese food, I’d recommend hungry wombat instead (nearby)—they make their own udon fresh and it’s actually...

From a tourist perspective, one would think that Cairns is unlikely place to eat good ramen - not true at all! You can visit Ganbaranba and get a fantastic one (or more - if you're gonna visit few times like we did during our stay in Cairns :) ) It's very aromatic and tastefull - the broth, noodles and toppings are in perfect ratio giving you fantastic taste profile regardless of which one you'll pick. Right from the get go you're likely to be captured by enchanting Kyoko-san inviting you to get inside and take a seat :) The whole team is lively and smiling, making really good atmosphere inside - it's a pleasure to stay! There's a free cold tea, that's delicious and refreshing during the hot days (it's on the bitter side, it'd call it "Dry" in wine terms - but it's great nevertheless). The tea is so good that it makes additional soft drink options only a backup ^_^ ( in case you can't drink tea I guess?)

Also, if you visit during lunch time, remember to take gyoza as part of the awesome deal that is lunch menu. It's just as delicious and great side dish to the ramen, that'll make sure you'll be full for quite some time. There are also other sides that are worth checking out!

If (when!) we're going to come again to Cairns we'll definetly visit again!

Love from Poland to Kyoko-san and the Team, it was pleasure to visit

I will preface this review by saying my partner and I are very much into ramen, so we can be quite critical. That said, I wouldn't recommend this place to someone wanting to get an authentic bowl of Japanese ramen. We ordered the Gen-Ten, Koshitantan, Hakata, and a plate of gyoza. My father enjoyed his Koshitantan (it was very spicy, to his liking), but the Hakata and Gen-Ten weren't to our liking. The broths were both weak (Hakata being the weakest of the two), almost watery tasting, and even had a slight tanginess to it (not sure where it came from - definitely not an authentic flavour). It wasn't the creamy, pork flavour that is expected from a Hakata style/tonkotsu broth. The noodles were also odd, we ordered "hard" firmness but found they had such an odd consistency, when you bite down it's kind of a grainy/mushy texture. Next there's the chashu, the Gen-Ten has both the pork loin and belly in it (the main reason I ordered it, to try both), they were both a bit dry but the flavour was there. The pork belly was a lot better than the loin pieces. My tamago was slightly overcooked, but still good. We hoped the gyoza would be a redeeming dish but we were all disappointed with them as they were very flavourless. Overall we left...