Manmaruya

20 Ormonde Pde
Hurstville, VIC 2220
http://manmaruya.com.au/

Hello Sydney! After a whirlwind week of moving up from Melbourne, which included driving a Corolla packed to our ears (literally – see the picture here) with belongings 800km across the country, and building Ikea furniture at 1am, we’ve finally more or less settled in. Mind you, there are still bits and pieces of furniture to pick up, and med school to wrap my head around, but I’ve finally managed to feel like I have a little bit of room to breathe. And of course, with that comes the next most important order of business – food.

Eagerness to find some good local go-to restaurants, combined with a sudden craving for ramen, led me to Manmaruya. Totalling 4 locations around Sydney, this one boasts the addition of a sushi train, along with its substantial a la carte menu of noodles, bento, and rice dishes – just to name a few. What I thought was especially interesting was that the more plates of sushi you eat from the train, the cheaper they get; for example, they start at $3.3ea for 1-5 plates, but can get as cheap as $2.8 a plate if you manage to scoff more than 16, so bring your A-game!

I can never resist the lure of Takoyaki ($7, 6pcs), and I felt that I extra-deserved them after a day of building furniture. These certainly did the job, though I found the toppings to be too sparing for my liking.

Pork Soup Shoyu Ramen ($12) is one of my favourite comfort foods, so I was delighted to see that it came in a deep, hefty bowl. The tonkotsu soup was more Chinese than Japanese, though you could definitely taste the rich stickiness from the slow-cooking of the pork bones. The egg and charshu were both flavoursome, if a bit messily served, but it was the noodles that were the star of the show. Toothsome with just a bit of springiness, they were delightfully substantial, and very satisfying when slurped up with mouthfuls of soup. Although this isn’t the best ramen around, I’d be happy to eat it again.

The Salmon Sashimi Don ($15) made for a lighter counterpoint against the meatiness of the ramen. Once again, I was delighted with the generosity of the serving size. The salmon was thickly sliced, and each bowl came with a bowl of miso soup, and a garden salad with citrus-soy dressing. And like the ramen, although the taste and quality weren’t anything worth writing home (or on the blog) about, it was more than sufficient, and left me satisfied.

Manmaruya may not be anything special, but it was exactly what I wanted it to be. It’s in a convenient location, with an extensive menu full of reliable options, and great value for money. Although it doesn’t impress me per se, I’m happy to call it my local from here on out.

Rating: 13/20 – that first local.
This rating reflects my personal experience at the time of visit.