Ajisen Ramen - Hawthorn

Being in the area and having a Entertainment book voucher, this seemed like a good place to hit up for lunch. Before going in, I read a few reviews and I was a bit concerned as most of the reviews talked about their bad service and also not accepting the ET book vouchers. This got me worried, as I had only suggested this place to my friend because of the voucher.

When we walked in, we were greeted with a very friendly waitress and the entire place was very neat, clean and tidy. As we were using the voucher, the only thing not valid on the menu was the combo, which I think was fair enough.

I got the Buta Kararage Ramen which was deep fried pork strips with cabbage, egg, black fungus and I added corn to it as well. This would normally also have a bit of greenery, but I don't like spring onions so I always order it without this. The pork strips were surprisingly nice, it wasn't too oily and the inside was still juicy. The broth isn't as thick as places such as Little Ramen Bar and Kokoro Ramen but the flavour was still strong and not bad for a chain ramen store.


My friend got the Gyoza Ramen. The gyoza pieces were juicy and had a bit of crunch; the filling had a higher vegetable to meat ratio compared to the typical gyoza you get but it was still a nice gyoza especially for a soup noodle. The noodles were al dente so just as I like it and able to soak up the soup flavour.

As a side, there was also the soft shell crab. This was nothing extraordinary, but I hardly ever say no to deep fried soft shell crab.

It was a stinking hot day so the green tea ice cream spider went down very fast and very well. I want to try to make this at home - now I just need to get my hands on some green tea ice cream!

Overall I would come back to this place. It does aim to be a student food/fast noodle venue so don't go expecting top service and fine dining, but it does hit the spot for ramen cravings. 13/20!