Mr Ramen San

Located on Glenferrie Road in Hawthorn, it's one of those shops that you can easily walk pass and  not notice it. When you walk in, you are greeted with a simple and friendly atmosphere. Nothing fancy about this place but still the sense of Japanese.

We started with a few things to share, we got the takoyaki, potato salad, renkon chips and gyoza. Takoyaki has a special place in my heart and I almost always have to try it whenever I see it on the menu. The takoyaki at Mr Ramen San came with a very generous heap of bonito. The takoyaki was just right in texture, not too soft nor dry. The sauce though was a bit too sweet, but the stickiness was still pretty spot on. Nice takoyaki, not my favourite but I won't mind a second serving. 
The potato salad... well it's a potato salad. Pretty standard and nothing extraordinary but I guess if you like potato salad then you might like this one too?
The renkon chips was the plate my hand keep going back to. Great chispy texture and just that added bit of sweetness compared to normal potato chips. The gyoza again was no stand out, it's better than a lot of other gyoza I've had but the filling was just a bit too salty. However it was fried perfectly without the excessive oily finish, that's always a plus in my books.

For our main, my friend and I both got the charshu ramen, only mine was spicy tokontsu as I love that extra kick. The pork bone flavour was quite evident in the soup, even though the soup was not very thick. The ramen was nice and had that 'bouncy' texture. The charshu was nice and soft. The only downside for me is, this just had nothing spectactular about it. The ingredients were quite simple so I was really expecting some stand out flavours. I mean it was still a very good bowl of ramen, but just not one that I would crave for (yes, I am a bit weird and occasionally I will crave a good bowl of ramen). The soft boiled egg deserves a mention for having the right softness. There is nothing I hate more than a overcooked soft boiled egg.

Overall 13/20, it's good ramen place at a decent price. It aims to be the local ramen shop and if that's the standard it's aiming for then, it does do well. If I was in the area again, I would go again, but it's not something I would go out of my way to eat.