GOGYO Fitzroy — Restaurant in Melbourne

I’m a Hakata Gensuke boy myself, always have been. “Where to get ramen in Melbourne” my friends ask… BLOODY HAKATA GENSUKE OF COURSE.
Now i’ve tried Gogyo, I have felt a shift in my feelings. Hakata will always be the one for the god fire, open up the senses, karaage in the chicken salt kind of lunch however my experience at Gogyo - it really did get me excited and really did make me confident in saying that the ramen game in Melbourne is truly 🔥. When you read the menu you are asked if ur a Tonkotsu Classic kinda human or a Tonkotsu Modern special kinda pal, Myself - I love classic things - can’t go past a Dimmie or potato cake from the fish n chip shop but can I go past a ramen with spicy miso paste and fragrant garlic oil? Absolutely not, so without hesitation - That’s what I ordered. This is a classy spot, situation on Brunswick St the main dining room is behind some curtains. I felt at home, the staff so lovely, accommodating and showed me to a bar seat for my lonely self to plonk down on. The ramen came out quick with a side of Karaage (perfectly fried, but lacked that special special salt from H.G) and it was absolutely gorgeous looking. The first thing that caught my eye was the collagen floating in the beige rich and powerful broth, the gooey egg and the absolutely phenomenal amount of spring onions. This bowl had everything - and to be honest, at a price of $27 it damn well should! The broth had a rich texture elevated by the spicy miso paste and the garlic oil, a porky flavour with an amazing mouth feel. I think there was onion in the broth as well, this only added to the flavour and was a nice tough. The noodles could not be faulted whatsoever, they had an amazing bounce and an amazing texture. Can I fault anything in this ramen? Not really, the pork could have been a bit more melt in my mouth but that would be nitpicking. This is a truly great option if you’re in need for a northside soup and can’t venture into the city!

🥢🥢🥢🥢🥢 Broth Flavour: 🍜🍜🍜🍜 🍜/5 Soup ingredients: 🍜🍜🍜🍜.755 Noodle Quality: 🍜🍜🍜🍜🍜 Overall:...

Visited here twice and tried the following dishes from the menu:

Wagyu Spring Roll: very crispy filled with thinly sliced beef which had a concentrated sweet sukiyaki flavour; the spicy mayo helped balance the sweetness of the spring roll Ebi Katsu Bao: prawn katsu was quite thin, soaked in a sweet tonkatsu like sauce, the mint leaf was a bit overpowering Pork Katsu Curry Rice: added double pork katsu and it was definitely worth the value; meat was very thick and tender but the panko coating was not that flaky and crisp. There was also not much curry to go with the katsu and rice; curry was runny and tasted weak Pork Gyoza: decent size and standard flavour with a good amount of meat filling, pan fried skin was a little crispy Kogashi Miso Ramen: the charred miso base creates a pitch black colour in the chicken broth; it had a deep sweet and savoury umami flavour. The pork belly was extremely tender, breaking apart while trying to pick it up with the chopsticks. Can't go wrong with a half boiled egg with a creamy yolk. Noodles were slightly hard, just the way I prefer, and the cabbage was a nice addition to cut through the richness of the broth Tori Shoyu: the chicken broth had a balance of savouriness from the shoyu dashi with the added richness from the pork back fat. Initially the bonito oil was very noticeable and fragrant but gradually blends in well. The bamboo shoots tasted like it was marinated for a while, very flavoursome. Noodle was slightly thicker than the Kogashi miso ramen Matcha Kuzuneri: matcha mochi jelly had a very similar texture to the Japanese Yokan traditional sweets; thick, pasty and slightly grainy. Flavour of matcha was good and quite earthy, balanced with the flavour of the black sugar syrup. The favourite part of the dessert was the side of sobacha ice cream which is a buckwheat tea flavour; nice earthy roast with a mild caramel like sweetness Red Bean Ice Cream: the sweet red bean flavour was mild, quite milky in taste

The go to are the ramens and the...

When you first walk in, it’s a small but quaint dining area. Peel back the curtain however, and a larger dining area is revealed with an exposed kitchen, bar seating, brick walls and arched windows. Moody and elevated. It totally took us by surprise and it really set the tone for the rest of the experience.

The menu is wide and there’s a variety of sides. You have the option of getting the “Special” version of your choice of ramen, which is essentially extra ingredients for a slightly higher price. It turns out to be better value than to add separate toppings, which I thought was a great idea. Their specialty ramen is the kogashi (burnt miso) ramen which gives a more smokey taste to the broth, but we opted for the classic Tonkotsu options.

We had the Tonkatsu Classic and Tonkatsu Modern - both bowls were fantastic. I couldn’t fault anything about them. It was hearty, bursting with umami, the pork melted in your mouth, and the toppings were substantial. The noodles were also the perfect consistency and cooked really well. The broth wasn’t too salty nor too oily. It was definitely one of the better bowls of ramen I’ve had in Melbourne. The Octopus Karaage was also great, it had a little too much batter in comparison to the octopus itself but nonetheless still tasty. I’d probably try something else next time though, octopus isn’t really my thing I’ve realised.

Overall super impressed with the ramen here. I didn’t know what to expect and it worked in my favour because I was blown away. We don’t hear enough about GOGYO (possibly because of the price point in comparison to other ramen bars?) but I think it’s underrated and deserves more recognition. It serves up top quality food and doesn’t compromise on remaining true to...