Parco Ramen — Restaurant in Melbourne

Had to try out this new local ramen bar located in the local suburbs of Moonee Ponds. Started from a project in the infamous Shujinko, Parco is innovative with their aromatic bowls of ramen, serving ramen containing loads of umami with NO MSG. Another tick, they do BYO!

Lobster ramen (3.75): Loved this so much - so rich, creamy and plenty of that aroma. Tastes like a Japanese BBH. Such little components but packed with so much flavour. Although, this would be a 5/5 if I had more meat. Cannot justify paying $26 for a bowl of ramen that has 1 thumb sized lobster piece and that’s it.

Yuzu ramen (4/5): a bowl of umami goodness that is on the lighter side - can definitely enjoy on the daily if I could. The broth is salt flavoured unlike the signature Tonkatsu, but this was surprisingly our favourite.

Charred pork belly was a melt-in-the-mouth situation, and the dashi egg was to die for. Probably the most expensive ramen for how little toppings you get without extras.

Chicken karaage (2/5): unfortunately not a fan. Loved the chicken, how juicy it was, but it was not the traditional karaage I know. More like a fried battered chicken. Cheap side dish if you will.

After reading the reviews, most appear to be unfortunate experiences with missing food or long wait times. Service can be a hit or miss, but I can tell these staff are working very hard. Layout of the store may help improve their service but we were lucky to be served by a very friend young waiter who gave us plenty of recommendations with a complementary side of laughs and jokes.

Came back because who doesn’t love a good toastie in the morning. Fusion sandwiches from Parco was so eye-catching we just had to order the Pork Yakisoba cheese sandwich. The choice of toasting brioche slices was something new and superb. Every element worked so well together, including that melty warm cheese. I still think that Yakisoba is best as it is but I gotta say their Yakisoba noodle should be added to their permanent menu because it was so well balanced. Reminded me of the traditional Yakisoba noodles over in Osaka. Food: 3.75/5 Value: 3/5 Ambience:...

ORDERED: 🥟  Boiled Pork Gyoza: Boiled pork dumplings served with homemade sauce ($9.50) 🥟  Fried Pork Gyoza: Fried dumplings served with homemade sauce ($9.50) 🧆  Takoyaki: 8 Octopus balls topped with bulldog sauce, kewpie mayo, and bonito flakes ($10.50)

🍜 Dark Garlic Ramen: Ramen with Dark Garlic paste made in house topped with charred pork belly, dashi egg, spring onions, marinated bamboo, beans sprouts and toasted sesame ($22.00)

🍵  Green Tea ($4.50)

I spent $32.46 here, which includes card surcharge.

REVIEW: My favourites from Parco Ramen were: the fried pork gyoza, the dashi egg in the ramen, the ramen noodle itself, and the green tea in the deliciously weighted tea cups. The fried pork gyozas has this all-around magical golden crunch that was evenly brown. I can't manage to get this level of crispy at home, so I feel validated spending money on it from Parco Ramen.

The noodles are fantastically al dente, with a bit of a bite to them. Combine that with an egg that has a perfect centre, and I'm in heaven. I'm talking about an egg that is slightly runny but firm enough without spilling into your soup. I love savouring it after as a reward after finishing my noodles! I prefer meat elsewhere, but that's the only preference "flaw" I could find.

Service is great. There's a heater going inside, and you can also call up to book a table. Fantastic for winter, the weighted tea cups also feel very fancy while adding to a very luxurious vibe. Not insulated enough to hold the heat of tea in (so you do need to wait for it to cool down), I...

At the point of our first service update, we'd already waited well over half-an-hour for a simple ramen, to which we were later informed would take a few more minutes due to them running out of char sui pork (ended up being another 15 minutes). We eventually received our order, which was quite, nice despite all else (although nothing special compared to other options), but waited almost an hour for such a small portion, where the eagerly awaited char sui pork we had to almost squint to see, the portion was laughingly small. Additionally, I requested no egg (as I always do, I know I'm blasphemous) and requested to replace it with bamboo instead (which is the exact same menu price for the addition, respectively). Come bill time; we were still charged for the simple substitute, with the excuse that "it's not allowed". Such a selfish mindset over a simple negation of ingredients. The ingredients are the exact same value on the menu, and the egg requires more preparation than adding a tiny bundle of packeted menma (+$2.50). On top of this, my wife experienced the exact same thing (minus onion, add bamboo instead). Ultimately, in total, we had to pay an extra $5.00 total, for the exact same total value of ingredients, just to add to the extensive wait for a snack sized bowl. Service and atmosphere were also somewhat dismal, complete with the stubbornly dysfuntional entry door.

Eat here if you're desperate for ramen, not that hungry, and also willing to...