Canteen by Ramen Daddy — Restaurant in District of Canberra Central

This review is for the packaged Ramen Daddy noodles (available at the Supabarn in the ACT).

I stumbled upon these at the Supabarn (I think it was the Kingston one) during a trip to the ACT and thought they looked pretty interesting so I decided to splurge on two of the Pork Ramen ones to give them a try.

This was a few days ago (it survived the trip back to Sydney fine) and I just made it tonight and the first thing I have to say is OH MY GOD WTFFFFF!!!!!!!!!! This ramen is THE BEST PACKAGED RAMEN I HAVE EVER HAD!!!! I have had heaps of instant noodles from many different brands and I've also had the more premium instant noodles like the Ichiran Ramen instant noodles (which you can buy in Japan, although they are now available in Australia at some stores) and this packaged ramen blows ALL of them out of the water -- yes, even for the $20 price tag!!!!

You could probably go out to buy a nice bowl of ramen but this product definitely has a place in the kitchen for those nights after work where you cannot be bothered cooking. In the packet you get the noodles, broth, 5 pieces of chashu, spring onions, shiitake mushrooms and some chilli powder mix.

The first thing I put in my mouth when I ate it was a piece of spring onion and I could immediately feel the dopamine rush in my brain, I was THAT blown away by what I was tasting especially since it came from a package. I've been trying to limit the amount of social media I've been consuming (like a dopamine detox) lately and I don't know if it was a result of that, but WOW. It seriously blew me away and that was the first small bite of just the spring onions!

In terms of taste the spring onions were really nice, still fresh and still had a bit of crisp texture 3 days after purchase and had a strong spring onion flavour which would satisfy fans of spring onion, but they somewhat sweet as well -- very unique. The egg was SO soft and creamy (and the yolks were also somewhat soft/bordering on runny) and tasted a bit like chicken or something, like they were marinated in some sort of chicken stock. I don't think they are as websites say they are soy-cured but it was still soooo good. The shiitake mushrooms were amazing, they had similar texture to al dente pasta and were slightly sweet and tangy. I actually savoured every piece of mushroom they were that good! The broth doesn't taste like tonkotsu, but more like some sort of chicken stock, like a chargrilled chicken stock. Hard to describe but very nice overall. The ingredients mention dashi which would help to explain how the broth tasted (ever-slightly smokey). The noodles were also good, pretty standard for ramen noodles!

Overall I highly recommend trying the packaged ramen, I would actually drive all the way from Sydney to the ACT just to buy some of these for the week ahead (but also do some sightseeing as well). You can tell whoever created this product -- and if it's at all similar to what is available in store -- is a bonafide ramen chef and really takes pride in their work. Well done to the Ramen Daddy team for creating such an awesome product.

Simply stunning, black magic, unbelievable, 5/5, will buy again. I will definitely have to visit the restaurant at some point. If someone from Ramen Daddy reads this review, please do what you can to make these packs available in...

We have been long term consumers of the Raman Daddy take home packs and today we decided to go to the source. As it was overcast and miserable outside our plan was to have a nice steaming bowl of ramen while sitting in peace at Canteen, but we were very wrong. The menu swayed our tastebuds towards the chicken balls, chicken sando, octopus and two of the rice bowls. A phone call just after placing our order meant we couldn't stay and eat but had to race off. The staff were amazing and quickly changed our order to take away. Within a short amount of time we were racing out the door with our goodies. The chicken balls didn't make it out of the carpark, the sando was gone soon after. Unfortunately we didn't get to eat the octopus and rice bowls for about another 40 mins, but it was still very tasty. The staff were very patient with our toddler and friendly and the vibe was great. We will be back another time and fingers crossed our ramen dream will come true, although I cant guarantee that some chicken balls and sandos may not also...

I appreciate the effort, but the take-home pack has a couple of pointers: Price is a bit much. I understand that it should be that price for what I’m getting as someone in the kitchen myself, but maybe reduce the add-ons, I feel both bad for the staff putting the packs together and a little cheated. The pack isn’t sealed in the most hygienic way for retail. Especially with the egg rolling around. The instructions are fairly inadequate for the average layman consumer. Microwaving the pork mince as per instructions doesn’t adequately heat the mince and also causes the heated parts to explode (even with the lid slightly open). Needs a bigger container. Taste is ok, but for that price I’d prefer to buy a Japanese manufactured instant ramen and add my own toppings, especially considering the steps and packaging I have to get through to get this...