Riding down the 19 tram reminded me of the old days coming back from Melbourne Uni. Luckily for Melbourne (and this generation of uni students) the food options have vastly improved over the past 10-15 years. So has mobile phone technology, which allowed me to search for a ramen joint other than Hakata Gensuke (which I visited on my previous two trips).
Mugen is known for tsukemen - a method of eating ramen where the noodles are served separate to the broth and only dipped in before eating straight away. I first saw this type during a documentary by David Chang. To be honest, as much as he raved about it as the best ramen type available, I never saw the joy of it. But I may as well try it once.
I ordered the Wafu Tsukemen (dashi & soy sauce broth, housemade thick noodles served with slow-cooked chashu, bamboo shoots & seaweed) 360g $15. When ordering this, I wasn't exactly sure what 360g referred to. Now I know - it's the noodle serving (I think) which is twice the standard cooked noodle weight for one. The noodles are excellent - thick, chewy, excellent texture but are cold. The soup is heavily flavoured and served hot - it's quite nice, albeit strong to drink on its own.
The method of eating means dipping and swishing cold noodles into hot broth. Thus lies the dilemma - each time a dip occurs the soup becomes colder and colder. At the end of the noodles, a small teapot of dashi is given to add to the remaining broth to drink as a lukewarm finisher. There's one slice of chashu, a few bamboo shoots, and an added $2 marinated egg which is really excellent and great value.
So my two issues - the best part of almost any noodle dish (eg. ramen, pho, laksa, assam etc.) is the broth. I know many others think it's the noodles, but not for me. The time-consuming, impossible to replicate broth. It almost seems unfair to have such a small amount of broth compared to the large serve of (admittedly excellent) noodles. Secondly cold broth isn't the most appealing thing to eat (I've been told tsukemen is more of a summer dish, but still).
I still like tonkotsu better. I think I always will. However the ramen itself at Mugen is outstanding and so I'll try again for a bowl of the wafu ramen (although the noodles are thin, not thick - maybe I can make a request?)
03-2016
After a late work finish one evening I felt the need to splurge of some flavour as a reward. Driving through the city and finding a carpark was the first order, and after success selecting a late night dish in the area.
Mugen was close (conveniently being away from the masses area even on a Thursday) and the downstairs was relatively free. 7 Samurais was playing in the background.
After checking my previous review, I ordered the Wafu Ramen (soy sauce & dashi broth cooked over 48 hours, house made thin noodle served with chashu, bamboo shoots & seaweed) $15 - as suspected I did enjoy this hearty warm delicious bowl of broth more than the tsukemen style. I had the standard thin noodles (which really aren't that thin at all) and didn't miss the thicker version of above. Perhaps next time I'll request the thick ones just to mix it up a bit. The miso ramen also looks a good bet to try.
I also tried the Salmon Yaki-Foil (braised on the grill with Mugen special Miso, spring onions, shiitake and enoki mushrooms) $15 which had strong umami flavour and nice texture but seemed uninspiring compared to the identically priced ramen brother.