Shizuku Ramen & Craft Beer — Restaurant in Melbourne

Okay so my boyfriend and I have spent the last hour uncovering the conspiracy that is this entire restaurant. Bare with me you’re in for a treat!

After scrolling through Uber Eats looking for some yummy Asian food we stumbled upon Laksa & Curry Co. I was confused because I remember the menu quite vividly from my visit to Shizuku a while back and thought to myself ?? this has to be the same restaurant maybe they just changed their name. I go on Google and find the restaurant is under a different name, Uzu Curry & Laksa Co - however it is registered to the same address as Shizuku. Both restaurants had similar terrible reviews complaining that the food was raw and you needed to cook it yourself.

The bizarre thing about this is I found another restaurant called Laksa Shack registered to the same address (309 Victoria St), that simply doesn’t exist anywhere else online (Google or Zomato).

Weird right? Oh but we’re not finished yet. We found ANOTHER restaurant on Uber Eats using the same exact menu + photos as Laksa & Curry Co called Laksa Me! However this time it was registered to an address in Hawthorn. After inspecting this address on Google Maps it is in fact, a permanently closed restaurant. This restaurant also doesn’t exist anywhere else on the internet.

Legally changing my name to Nancy Drew after uncovering this mess, be cautious and please do your research before ordering on Uber Eats.

Update: I've identified 43 fake resturants tied to Shinzuku using both the Victoria St and Burwood Road...

A Total Takeaway Trial and Tribulation

We ordered takeaway from "Take a Bao" only to see once the order was placed that ETA was over 1hr. One hour plus was an inconceivable about of time considering just how close we are to this vendor. We tried to contact this store on the app, but no response or answer was seen.

We then did a bit of investigating online to find that "Take a Bao" is one of many 'Ghost Cafes' that run out of Shizuku Ramen and Craft Beer. After calling the Google Phone number listed with no luck, we made the decision to drive to the store as we assumed they were actually closed and Uber EATS hours were probably inaccurate.

Once we got to Shizuku Ramen and Craft Beer we were very surprised to find they were open and just choosing not to answer our 6 attempts to contact them.

We were informed our order was out with the driver even though the app told us it was 45 minutes away still. We then left the restaurant empty-handed.

Once, we returned home, we were offended to find no one around, nor any food present on our front doorstep.

Finally, our food did arrive, but we were so incredibly disappointed to find that the Vegan Duck Bao, which cost $21, was not main AT ALL. It was the size of a small entree and considering its size, we would expect to pay $5 for it at any ethnically priced establishment.

Watch out for ghost restaurants like Take A Bao, Vegan Valley, Shizuku Ramen, Ramen Experiment, Planta, Bao Station, Soko Ramen,...

By the time you've found this review a few things have probably already happened;

1. You found some whacky looking vegan ramen joint on uber eats.
2. Overlooking the self-delivery aspect you placed an order under the expectation of 10-25 minute delivery times.
3. After 10 minutes the time adjusted to 60-80 minutes away.
4. After 90 minutes of waiting you decided to call the restaurant for an ETA and to vent using your angry words, maybe even try and get a cheeky refund and keep the food.
5. Surprise! The phone number is disconnected.
6. Frustrated, you google the address linked to the misc restaurant name and discover Shizuku Ramen is the culprit.
7. You call the Shizuku Ramen number. No answer. It's a decoy number.
8. You check their links. Nothing. Fewer contact details than an Onlyfans provider.
9. You read the reviews on Shizuku Ramen. Hi!

Now you have a choose-your-own-adventure moment; do you cancel your order and get a refund, rolling the dice on whatever garbage you have left in the fridge/wait an hour for another uber eats order to arrive OR test fate and see if they ever turn up.

Spoiler alert, if it does turn up don't expect any notice. Just head downstairs to your apartment lobby and hope to God some entrepreneur hasn't stolen your cold Ramen.

Ramen is really tasty though, once...