Bowled over by all the ramen shops? Your guide to the new imports, locals and stalwarts

It’s Tuesday evening, and the line outside a new ramen shop on Russell Street is stretching down the pavement. There are 11 other ramen shops on the same street, but it’s Ginza Kagari’s soup that these diners want. A bowl of creamy chicken broth known as tori paitan, it’s shipped directly from Tokyo, where Kagari’s HQ is, a logistical feat to ensure “made in Japan” status. And it represents the latest coveted Japanese dish to whip Melbourne diners into a frenzy.

Seven kilometres away, along Union Road in Ascot Vale, there’s no queue in front of newly opened Cafe Ogawa, but every seat is taken. Diners add their names to a digital waitlist and wait up to two hours for a text notifying them that a table is available to try this Yokohama import.

Melbourne cannot get enough ramen, and Japanese ramen companies are equally obsessed with the Victorian capital. What began as a trickle a decade ago has turned into a downpour of broths of all kinds entering the Melbourne market from different parts of Japan.

A post-COVID surge in Australian tourism to Japan – 68,150 visitors in 2025, nearly double the 35,140 who went in 2019 – has sent diners home with educated palates and higher expectations. But the exchange doesn’t only flow through your average couple holidaying in Tokyo and Kyoto. Business owners and investors like William Foo, co-owner of Ginza Kagari Australia, are also trying Japanese food firsthand, then proactively approaching brands to secure licensing rights and bring them back.

The Japanese ramen industry famously battles the psychological “1000-yen wall”, according to Foo, whereas Melbourne has broken the $30 ceiling – three times the Japanese equivalent.

“The average Melbourne diner’s expectation of Japanese food is so high that they are willing to splurge,” says Foo. “It is now part of a ‘reliving’ experience, and they are happily adding drinks and sides if their expectations are met.”

Yokohama-based Ogawa ramen partnered with local operator Kantaro Okada (Cafe 279, Hareruya Pantry) to merge its Ie-kei ramen with Melbourne’s ingrained cafe culture. Pronounced ‘ee-yeh-kay’, it’s a home-style chicken broth doused with pork back fat – and it’s quickly earned local fans.

Essendon resident Shawn Neilsen, 43, has eaten at Cafe Ogawa eight times in six weeks. “The noodles remind me of that first bowl after touching down in Japan,” he says. “But the vibe is obviously nicer than Narita airport.”

In a timber-rich space with counter seating and magnetic attachments on ceilings for influencers’ phones, staff spin vinyl, pull lattes and offer Basque cheesecake to go with their thicker, chewier noodles. “There’s nothing like it around this side of town,” says Neilsen. “It’s perfect, when they’re not playing Norah Jones.”

‘The average Melbourne diner’s expectation of Japanese food is so high that they are willing to splurge.’

The ballooning of ultra-focused ramen shops in Melbourne is a staggering contrast to 15 years ago, when the all-in-one shop reigned supreme. That era was perhaps best embodied by Fukuryu in Chinatown’s Corrs Lane, where you could order miso ramen, shoyu (soy sauce) ramen, or shio (salt)-based ramen, all under one roof. (Each style of ramen is distinguished by its tare, the concentrated seasoning sauce stirred into the broth.)

Hakata Gensuke‘s arrival in 2014 established a gold standard for true-to-Kyushu tonkotsu, the milky pork bone broth ramen. From there, Melbourne’s ramen options proliferated, each shop with its own focus. Shujinko traded 24 hours to accommodate all lifestyles, Ippudo offered tonkotsu with global polish, and there was the dark, smoky theatre of Gogyo’s burnt miso ramen.

In this decade, Tokyo favourite Mensho joined the Russell Street clique in 2023 with a menu that bucked the trend. Its offerings were as diverse as the crowds queuing outside. Green matcha broth and lamb miso soup indicated that the city’s diners were no longer wed to tradition; they could appreciate ramen in all forms.

Fellow Japan import Kikanbo confirmed it last year, with its spicy, numbing miso bowl that treats dinner as an endurance sport. It even charges diners more for the highest level of spice.

The arrival of all these international heavyweights isn’t simply global business chasing hungry tourists in the know.

“For local operators, signing on with an established Japanese name is safer than starting from scratch,” says Sean Tan, owner of Hakata Gensuke. “With the Australian dollar sitting at a historical high against the yen, brands have little reason to turn down a franchise partner when an offer comes forward, since they don’t bear the risk of running the business.”

That risk is cushioned by an efficient international pipeline. Meg Aoyagi, a staff member at Cafe Ogawa, confirms that Australia is a coveted destination for young Japanese workers on working holiday visas. Unlike many nationalities subject to strict lotteries, Japanese citizens have access to an uncapped number of these visas. Drawn by Australia’s higher minimum wage, they arrive in droves, with Japan among the top five countries granted working holiday visas in 2023-24.

For independent local operators, the flurry of new ramen outlets means navigating a fiercer landscape than the one they helped build.

Ryo Northfield of Sara Craft, a Melbourne-made shop known for its French-influenced duck broth, thinks the boom is a tide that lifts all bowls. “Ramen is still accessible,” he says. “The more people eat ramen, the higher the chance they will try my version.” With his French training under ex-Iron Chef Hiroyuki Sakai, Northfield pulls away from the dense pork broth that dominates mainstream menus.

He also clocks a pragmatic upside: “Since the new brands have to charge over $30 to sustain their model, [diners] can’t complain about my price now.”

For Hakata Gensuke executive chef Satoshi Yamanaka and general manager Sean Tan, the answer is to hold the line. “The most important thing for us is consistency,” Yamanaka says. “Apart from the tare, everything is made locally – so even though we are a ‘Japanese’ brand, our operation is Australian.”

That’s in stark contrast to Ginza Kagari and Cafe Ogawa, which both ship in broth to recreate the exact flavour of their soups served in Japan.

Tan keeps an eye out for a shift. “Trends change. People change,” he says. “When we started, it was all about the authentic, true-to-Japan bowl. But now … not everyone wants to eat only ramen. So the market may end up heading back to a family-style menu in the next cycle.”

But even in this era of record prices, ultra-specialised menus and off-the-wall combinations, if you think the market has reached its limit, think again.

An eleventh unknown noodle shop is under construction on Russell Street. Northfield just opened his second Sara Craft location on Bourke Street, near Spring Street. Foo is working out logistics for a second Melbourne branch of Kagari. Hakata Gensuke is testing a pop-up concept in Adelaide. Shawn Neilsen has already returned to Cafe Ogawa for the ninth time.

It’ll take some time for Melbourne to reach the bottom of the bowl.