Dining Out - Gumshara

Gumshara

Walking from central station has you walk though the main mall of chinatown, which is always a nice location. It's hard to believe that this is walking distance from the heart of the CBD really.

^{I'm sure some of the other eateries along this mall are worth a visit, but I've not been to any before as I'm only really in the area when I'm headed for ramen}

My introduction to this almost hidden little ramen shop in a brightly lit food court was through a good friend that knew of my love of ramen. I was skeptical when he first took me there as the location just doesn't even whisper "awesome food over here", let alone scream it out.

^{Really. You've just walked through that tree shaded mall and this downstairs mostly hidden food court is where you're heading?}

But he was taking me out for lunch, and I was all too happy to eat wherever he thought was good and then let him know what I thought of it. I don't remember everything of that first time, but I do remember I added the chili bomb, and a couple of complimentary things just to kick it up a bit (but not until after I'd tasted the broth to start with!)

^{The storefront looks so much better now, with the white background menu instead of black. Next door being boarded up with big white sheets helps too}

I went back again recently for a reminder, and because I'd been really hanging out for some good ramen. I decided on their Thick Tonkatsu with a chili bomb, adding some of their pickle, a bit of soy, some more chili, and some of the black paste like thing that I'm still not sure exactly what it is. These things made the pork sink into the broth, but that's not really an issue.

^{Some of the complimentary toppings that can be added, including the container of black stuff I'm not entirely sure what it is. There's another tray of sauces too}

^{On the right, you can just see a couple of the slices of pork sticking out of the broth under the pickle. That big ball is the chili bomb, and behind it is the black stuff.}

First things first, break up the chili bomb so it gets into every mouthful of the broth. Also so you're not taking a big mouthful of just chili bomb, because when they say it's hot, it's pretty spicy. Then you have to mix it all in, which a good noodle pull can help with for sure.

^{This is much harder to do when you don't have 3 or 4 hands. one handed left hand photo and it's a bit out of focus, as well as most of the bowl not being in the shot, but it does give a good showing of the thickness and length of the noodles}

After a good mix about, it's time for the eating. My noodles were just how I like them, well cooked but still with a little chew to them. The slices of pork were nice and juicy from their bath in the broth, and carried the flavour of it and some of the spice from the bomb really well. They mostly dissolved in the mouth too, which is always really nice. The thick broth is something else. It has such a strong flavour of its own, but still lets you taste the chili and soy that you add to it. I'm not sure the broth is as good as the first time I went, but it's still a broth that I've not found anywhere else in Sydney, with everywhere else sticking to much thinner takes on the various ramen broths.

This time I found the chili bomb to be a bit of a disappointment. Not from the heat, but from the graininess that it added to the broth after it had been broken up. Other than that, the bowl was exactly what I needed. Oh, and about half as much again of what I probably needed, but I still managed to eat all the noodles and meat, and drink most of the broth. Because it really is that good. If you like ramen, this is absolutely a must try. I'm not going to say it will be your favourite, but it really needs to be tried.

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^{Upgoats made by the talented @ryivhnn}