Ramen Toriichi Neutral Bay — Restaurant in Sydney

Rating: a solid 3.5/5

Another ramen joint. Occupying what used to be a carousel of cafes n restaurants, this one opened without much fanfare (read: excessive promos, invites n write ups via social media n PR machine). All the better for them as it allows down to earth (read: no pressure, honest) calibration of ratings n reviews. It can be refreshing to enjoy a joint’s offerings without hyped up expectation. Run by japs n having more than half of its patronage by japs is a reassuring start.

We ordered a couple of their signature shio ramen, chicken namban, coriander dumplings n ebi (prawn) bao. First up the dumplings came out looking a bit dry n sad. Must be the frozen kind we thought. Dont we all judge by appearances.. dip the dumplings in the dumpling sauce n enjoy its delicate paper thin wrap (slightly crunchy yet did not tear easily) n fragrant filling. A nice appetizer 3/5.

Chicken namban, not drenched in ponzu sauce (thankfully) but drizzled w tartar like jap mayo. Juicy succulent pieces they were. A 3.25/5.

Ramen came out piping hot. The broth is hakata style which is less thick n more milky than yasaka or gumshara. Add the pickled yuzu pepper, you’ll get a unique faint citrusy aroma in the broth. Noodles was al dante, just the way i liked em. The let down was the toppings more specifically the (thick) chasu pieces. They were from a leaner cut than i personally like. That said, they were quite soft. Just drier than i’d like. Still a 3/5.

The ebi bao set was quite divine. Perfect ratio of meat n bao. The breaded ebi was juicy yet crunchy. A welcome contrast to the soft bao. A 3.75/5.

Here’s hoping the carousel stops w...

This is a combined review: first visit 22 May 2021, second visit early December 2021.

First visit with group of friends was great - food was tasty and well-proportioned. Service was a bit hard to flag down at times but otherwise reasonably friendly or, at the very least, polite.

That is why I chose to take a family member there again but boy oh boy was that a mistake. We stood by the door for at least 5 minutes waiting to be seated. During that time a waitress walked past us at least 4 times without even acknowledging our existence. I think she made eye contact once and her eyes immediately slid right off us like we were beneath her. Even if she had been busy taking orders or serving food it only takes about 3 seconds to smile hello, acknowledge that she saw us waiting and say "one moment please". There was another waitress who emerged from within the kitchen towards the end of our wait (not to serve food or anything, just to check on the dining floor)... hold on, there was another waitress in there the whole time?? So it seems the first waitress not only deliberately ignored us but did not tell the second waitress who had been in the kitchen the whole time and who could have seated or at least greeted us instead. This second waitress came over to us to ask "can I help you?" as if one turns up to a restaurant for some purpose other than to sit down and consume food.

Anyway, suffice to say we left right after that never to return.

(2 stars to account for my first visit which...

I was super enticed by the cheese ramen and cheese katsu on the reviews. I’ve never seen cheese ramen elsewhere.

The food is alright, and I won’t be revisiting since this neighborhood is out of the way for me. The cheese ramen had very nice melted cheese that stuck on the noodles, so that was a plus; the soup tasted just like a salt broth not particularly cheesy. I didn’t realize the ramen came with one egg and two pieces of meat, so I unwittingly ordered an extra egg. The egg was overcooked, not the onsen ramen egg I’m expecting. The meat was kind of dry too. The red spicy broth was less overwhelmingly but can be spicy for some.

The cheese katsu was popular and ordered by few other tables. Unfortunately, the meat was on the dry side, and chicken based not pork. The cheese didn’t add much taste, just chewy texture. It was good to eat it with one of the sour sauces since it was just tasting fatty more than anything else.

The restaurant had iPads so you can order on your own, but there wasn’t much description of the dishes, also when you select to order, it doesn’t just add to the order list, it immediately orders. Thankfully the server was kind and allowed us to delete one of our orders which we didn’t realize was placed. The physical menu might be more helpful. There are some tables outdoors...