Manpuku Chatswood — Restaurant in Sydney

TL:DR: 8.8/10 Very good experience overall, but more toppings would have been appreciated.

I arrived towards closing time, so I didn’t have to wait very long to get in, but the staff did take a few moments to notice I was waiting outside to be seated. Inside, I was greeted with a pleasant atmosphere and a “clean” aesthetic. Pop music was playing in the background, and the decor was creative, with ropes strung across her roof (pictured) almost like noodles.

Once I was inside, the staff were very attentive, providing me with a menu and seating me. The ramen selection was good, with choices between chicken and pork broths featured prominently, as well as fish, salt, and a chicken based miso, among others. I would have liked to have seen a few more options, such as unagi (eel), wagyu, and soft shell crab as well. The drink selection was ok, with the notable addition of hot tea as an option, but lychee iced tea was notably missing.

I ordered a tonkotsu shoyu (pork based with soy) , with additional bamboo as a topping. I also ordered a nitamago egg during my meal My ramen arrived promptly, in a decent sized bowl, which tapered toward the bottom. This shape didn’t lend itself well to “drinking” the rest of the broth the ends the meal not helped in its overall volume.

The noodles were good, with a firm, yet appetising texture. The cha shu was delicious, but there was only 1 piece, something that would have been much better to have more than one of. Cabbage was nice, with no issues, the bamboo was ok, and the seaweed was large, and also tasty with the broth.

The broth itself was full flavoured and balanced, but could have been stronger (based on my personal preference), but was overall very good (8/10 on the broth). The nitamago arrived while, and would have been better served had it come halved, but tasted fine. Chilli and sesame seeds were available, but I did not get to them before the kitchen was closing.

Overall, a very good ramen experience (would give a 8.8/10 overall), hampered by a slight lack of toppings on the base ramen (which can be compensated for by ordering additional toppings). This can get a little expensive however, but this is Sydney after all. Definitely...

Caution: trying the food here can cause an emotional attachment to the place and can urge the ramen lover to spend some money here as often as three times a week, which we try to avoid doing. And can only permit ourselves to indulge in a 3x a week dates in this lovely, little Chatsy ramen place once a month. However, we do make sure to end the week in good spirits by visiting the place atleast once before a gruelling back to work regimen that all of us do to earn money for more bowls of ramen.

Place is a diverse and thriving undergrowth of cute little people who cant wait to slurp on some noodles and be greeted loudly upon entrance. And then be told how lovely it was for the restaurant staff to have you by saying thank you loudly again in a classic Japanese manner. (Love is felt in each greeting) gosh we love this place!

Sides to recommend: Agetama - deep fried boiled eggs in a magical saucy concoction never to be forgotteb Okonomi-stick - love at first bite, delish

Ramen- everything is good! The eggs and meat are all to die for.

Tried the rice bowls- decent quality, better than food court stuff and better than other places we have been to as portions and sizes were consistent.

All in all- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED A must try for the skeptical, conservative that wants to break out of their shell by trying something new. Bring them here for an awesome Ramen experience. Make them not regret it by assisting them in choosing what you think they might like.

Zero regrets...

I visited the Chatswood branch yesterday and while I had some very delicious ramen and side dish, I feel very disappointed that this branch screenshot my stories, cropped it to remove my account name and used my photos on their instagram story without any acknowledgment/permission. They even used the same music clip as I did. I seriously admire the level of difficulty and effort they put in to reproduce the same stories as mine- instead of just hitting the sharing button. I tagged the restaurant too but obviously you can't click into anything now as they screenshot and pasted 🤷‍♀️

I messaged the branch separately, firstly thanking them for sharing but also kindly asking them to acknowledge my photos. My message was totally ignored which is not surprising.

I personally don't really like the idea of writing bad reviews of businesses on google map as I understand the difficult situation everyone faces. However the lack of understanding the importance of copyright and respect cannot be ignored. If they like my photos that much I really don't mind to sell it to them, or even use it for free but with proper acknowledgement. This deliberate act of just using others' work is very bad ethics and it just reflects the level of professionalism in the business.

Again, the food quality and taste are good, but I think there should be more...