亮亭 らーめん処 (Ryo Tei) - ♕♕♕ 1/2

  I was scanning thru Facebook one day and noticed Peech from “A Diary of a Growing Boy”, saying that he has just been to 亮亭 (Ryo Tei Ramen).  At that very instant I became a bit confused as to where he had actually eaten this ramen bowl, since that is the name of one of best Ramen Shops in Sydney of Australia for quite a number of years and which I’ve been to a few times!   It turns out Ryo Tei in HK is really opened by a local investor in collaboration with their Japanese partners from Sydney in Crow’s Nest.   A strange sight to see in Hong Kong indeed, to have a ramen shop imported from Australia rather than from Japan directly!   From my experience of eating in Sydney, which might be already 2 years too outdated to those still living there, there are at least 3-4 Ramen Shops which come highly recommended.  Ryo-Tei was probably one of the earlier pioneers in terms of bringing pretty authentic ramen to the Sydney dining scene, but the late comers I’ve also eaten at which might include Menya or Ton-Ton (opened by the local, very famous and high quality Azuma restaurant group) were probably hitting on its territory or beyond.  So how good is this version served in Hong Kong you ask, when compared to the likes of locally well established Sapporo Ramen, an ever improving Butao, Michelin 1 Star Mist Ramen, or the equally new ramen star Hide-Chan plus its original store in Sydney? 

 

The Layout is ok, it does seem to remind me of Western Country Japanese decoration for some reason…  but that won’t be the core of my judgment of the end result!

豚骨醤油ラーメン (Tonkotsu Pork Bone and Soy Sauce Ramen) -
Although claiming to serve authentic 福岡 Fukuoka style Ramen, in reality those who’ve been to the original Sydney store will know it’s their Tonkotsu and Soy Sauce ramen which is the most famous.  And to be honest ..　I didn’t find this to be overly authentically Kyushu (九州) in style, even when taking into consideration the numerous macro Kyushu style ramen’s available.  The Egg (煮たまご) was also grossly overcooked, and not likely to please the HK palates.  It’s something I don’t remember from my eating journeys in their Sydney main store.   ~   6.9/10

Feel free to correct me if I’m mistaken please but from my distant memory, using Naruto-maki fish cakes in a Kyushu Ramen bowl is so much of an overseas, Westernised thing?  I cannot acutely remember ever having the fish-cake in any ramen’s I’ve eaten in Kyushu, and I’ve been there quite a numerous times for personal reasons hmmm...  And this so-called Kyushu styled Tonkotsu-Shoyu ramen bowl also arrived without any Red Ginger (紅生姜) or Black Fungus (きくらげ), which is what most Kyushu style Tonkotsu ramens would do by default…

 

Noodles -
As mentioned earlier, this soup base is more Yokohama Tonkotsu style than Kyushu Tonkotsu style in my personal opinion, much like my better executed ramen bowl served at Beijing’s Muteki-ya.   The noodles here also supports this theory, as these were whitish yet too thick and too thick-bouncy in texture.  It’s definitely North-Eastern Japanese orientated.   The noodles are definitely not as good as the more curly and thinner Sydney’s version, not to mention it is not authentically Kyushu.  And what are those チンゲン菜 vegetables doing in that bowl anyway? 





Tables & Seating -
I thought the Char Siu and Soup were pretty ok indeed, but I just didn’t walk out of here feeling like I’ve had a truly Fukuoka styled ramen experience!   Despite being half-an-Australian, I’ll have to say that Ryo-Tei of Hong Kong really will need to boost up their recipe and their acts together in order to really compete with the best of their competition.  Its not bad mind you, but it certainly wasn’t very revelationary when compared side-by-side with other places in context.

 

Price: $90 – $100 Per Person
Score: ★★★★☆☆

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sun 12:00pm - 15:00pm,  17:30pm – 20:30pm
Address: 上環禧利街15號地下
15 Hillier Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong.
Ph: 2546 2828