Men-Dokoro Ryo Tei     亮亭   (Closed)

Trust your gut feeling. 雞骨熬的清湯，與「鳥華」截然不同．醬油：正！

I Initially wanted to try the ramen at Mutekiya at Sheung Wan after trying the newest branch at Wan Chai. The noodles there were quite nice and chewy. It's from Hokkaido. The broth was too light though and barely had any miso taste in my miso ramen! They said their "signature ramen" was actually Tsukemen so I didn't mind trying (even if i was just slightly doubtful about it...) However, after double checking The food reviews by other commentators, my better senses got over me. I was reminded of "Ryo Tei".

The only cause of concern was that this shop is very very famous - in Australia......not in Japan (similar to a Chinese restaurant very famous in the UK or Japan). Anyway I placed my trust on the veteran commentators and decided to risk it.

It was quite easy to find, it's just a 5 minutes walk after you leave exit A, Sheung Wan MTR station.

It was raining at the time but was still quite busy at 1:30 pm. As always, it's easy to get a seat if you're dining alone (for ramen).
I left my umbrella outside and took a seat.The whole shop was brightly light by lanterns and had orange wall papers with light wooden-panel as the main theme. The place wasn't too big. It had two or three tables for four persons and two more smaller tables plus about 6 counter seats. The seats were quite widely spaced apart and there were some partitions inside the shop so it didn't feel cramped. The ceiling was quite high so that helped reduced the volume as well. I noticed a little multilingual disclaimer on the wall which stated that the broth of their Fukuoka ramen were traditionally strong. If you prefer a lighter taste, you could make a special request.

This time I wasn't too sure about what ramen I'd like to order so I took my time.

The menu was pretty comprehensive and had quite a lot to choose from, include a large number of side dishes. They had two main types of broths for their ramen: Pork and Chicken.

Since i've tried quite a range of pork bone ramens - from the fast food varieties to ButaO and the super condensed Kureha - within quite a short span of time, I wasn't too interested in comparing pork bone broths again (at least not for a while). So I settled for a chicken based broth. They had quite a few to choose from as well, such as miso or salt if I remember correctly. I also noticed a spicy option! I couldn't resist that and that's what I chose. It came after a short wait: It looked very good!

Broth: I was half expecting the soup to be a bit similar to "Tori Hana", i.e. the one which seemed like a Korean Sam Gye Tang. But it didn't look like it at all. The broth was essentially more similar to a Soy-sauce based ramen. The chicken taste was less pronounced than the aromatic chicken soup served in "Maru Tama" at TST. I then realized (and confirmed with my wife) that this was made with chicken "gara" - i.e. somewhat like a Chinese style clear chicken broth without much chicken oil.

Nonetheless I was quite happy with the broth here and I found it quite addictive. Seemed to be a clear chicken broth mixed with shoyu broth and had a lot of garlic, sesame, and shredded onions. The sesame didn't seem to add much to the taste though. However, the shoyu they used was excellent! It had a very light sweet taste when you first tried it but a very deep and fragrant aromatic aftertaste.

Somehow it reminded me a bit of "Red Dragon" in Tatsuya. By far the one broth which was most similar to my favorite spicy ramen I had in Shuzuoka.

As the Japanese name of the ramen suggests, it's just "PI RI" spicy, i.e. just a bit spicy. Less spicy than the one provided at Tatsuya but still a little bit more spicy than the spicy version at Tori Hana. Definitely less spicy than a Korean tofu soup.

For those who like to enhance the spiciness, I noticed, at the end of the meal, that they had what seemed to be a home made chilli sauce. I finally gained a better understanding of what one meant by "specially made chilli sauce". There are different ways of marinating a chilli sauce and combining various ingredients. The ones here seemed to have used some Korean chilli powder, sesame seed or oil and grounded chilli powder. The spiciness wasn't too sharp, the texture might be a bit similar to a "Gwai Lin Chilli Sauce" but only at about 10-15% of the it's spiciness. It was quite aromatic and should have some grounded bonito powder.Noodle: As stated, from Fukuoka. The quality was slightly above average. A bit better, i.e. chewier, than "Hachiyo", but not as chewy and eggy as "Hinshou" in Jordan. Of course, as long as you're talking about the yellowish thicker type of noodle, "Hakotade" is still the best.

Egg: Slightly fluid in the middle but it was cold. No complaints but nothing special about it either. As always, I think the egg at "Maru Tama" is still the best I've tried so far. "Hachiyo" is also very good.

Char siu: Three thick pieces of what I believed to be pork loin/belly (I'm trying to learn a bit more about the different parts of an animal). Some may find it a bit fat. Those were quite thick and the size were generous. I'd say the quality was above average, it's more tender and a little bit more aromatic than "Tatsuya" but not as good as "Hinshou". Still, a completely different animal from the chicken char siu provided at "Tori Hana" (those at Tori Hana was just similar to shredded chicken fillet) .So all in all, I was very happy with ramen. The size of the noodle was fine. Should be OK for most (more than Hinshou, similar to Tori Hana). At HK$72, I think it's quite reasonable.

After a while, my tempura arrived. HK$42 for three pretty large prawns. The prawns were all very fresh and delicious. The batter was crisp but not too oily. One of the better ones provided in Hong Kong. The price is a lot more reasonable, at least 5-6 times cheaper that those provided at the self-proclaimed tempura specialist shops, for example "Ten Yoshi" (overpriced) or "Inagiku" (grossly overpriced ) The quality here was much much better! Some Japanese people dip their tempura with salt. However, the sauce provided here was really good! It's dark coloured and very aromatic. The shoyu had a really rich and complex taste to it! Even better than the special soy sauce provided at "Shugetsu"! To be fair, it would be too strong to use the tempura soy sauce here for tsukemen. But I almost had the urge to drink it!

Pretty attentive service. No complaints. It was still raining when I was leaving the shop but some old fella who hasn't got the full quid nicked my umbrella! The friendly waitress basically scrambled around the whole shop to look for my umbrella and was extremely apologetic about it. Her sincerity was much appreciated. Not her fault anyway, just someone who's got their kangaroo loose on the top paddock.　

Bog in, mate! It's Ace.

If still in doubt, listen to the Friendly & Independent Gourmets & Just Ask the openrice Members!"





原先打算去上環的「無敵家」，但後來決定信大家。（剛在灣仔分店試了它們的味噌拉麵 - 麵條幾彈牙但湯底太稀。沒有味噌的味道。）亮亭好像才是拉麵專門店。

午飯時間（約一點半），下雨，一枝弓不需要等位。

橙色的裝潢令人覺得舒服。樓底高，座位之間有距離感。大概有25-30人的位。

牆上寫明拉麵是福岡風味。味道頗濃。客人可以要求淡一點的版本。

打開餐牌，發覺選擇比想像中多。主要分為＂豚骨湯頭＂及＂清雞湯頭＂。亦有天婦羅及其他食品。算相當全面。

試過很多豚骨拉麵，暫時集中試其他款式，擴闊自己的眼界一點。試歸試，見到辣的款式仍很難抗拒！最後決定叫辣雞湯醬油拉麵（ピリ辛口鶏ガララーメン)及一客炸蝦天婦羅。

等了不太長的時間後，我的拉麵到了。相當似樣！

喝了一兩口湯後覺得很不錯！

總評：

醬油湯頭很有鮮味。更勝「周月」的特級醬油！有蒜香味，加上自家製的辣油（微微的香辣：約是桂林辣椒醬的10-15%而已）及大量芝麻（口感多於味道）和辣蔥來提味。

筍乾一般-沒有「舞心」那麼鮮甜。但爽脆，OK.

但我後來才記得這應該是雞湯才對。多喝幾口，才記起是＂鶏ガラ"-用雞骨熬的清湯。而不是像「鳥華」那像篸雞湯，即連雞皮，雞肉及雞油的濃雞湯。「丸玉」的雞湯稠度是這兩間之間，但雞湯雖然較清但雞味最出及最鮮甜。

「亮亭」則醬油味較重。沒所謂，因為醬油很鮮甜。

麵條：福岡拉麵。小小粗身。較「八千代」彈牙。但沒有「品尚」那麼好。但算不錯。

蛋：微微溏心但心是涷的。可以接受。當然，溏心蛋我仍然覺得尖東的「丸玉」最正宗。其次為中環的「八千代」。

叉燒：四成肥肉。沒有渣及有點肉味。中上。

天婦羅：有驚喜！大蝦夠鮮，夠肉。炸得鬆化但不油膩。比＂天良し＂或＂稻菊＂好得多！

特別要一提點天ぷら的醬油：超正！比以醬油為主打的「周月」味道更濃郁香醇。酒味芳香的 aftertaste 。帶甜。令我幾乎有喝下的衝動！有這麼好的醬油，怪不得同樣有醬油的辣雞湯醬油拉麵都很好！

服務員態度有禮。

價錢合理，我必定會再試！

This is my 2nd time trying ryotei. This time I chose take away instead of eat in. When I called them to order the food, the staff told me that they would charge each box at $2. It's such a rip off, cos usually ppl just charge u $1 each. (and in fact the boxes they use is just those cheap ones from china which does NOT even worth $1).

So I arrived there within 15 mins and the food wasn't ready. The staff there told me to sit and wait but instead of that I'd prefer paying the food first.

Basically I order 3 ox tongue, 2 pork neck, 1 chicken soft bone and 1 dumpling. I already knew the price of each item except the chicken soft bone. I expected that it would be around $190, but in fact they charged me $202 including those 3 boxes. I'm good at Maths and I was thinking either the chicken soft bone was THAT expensive, or there should be a calculation mistake.

When I paid, the staff did not intend to print me an extra receipt even if I asked for it. She said the receipt would come together with the food, so I waited till the food is ready.

The food finally comes. I told the staff to leave the receipt in the bag with the food then I left since I was carrying so many stuffs and I was starving. After I arrived home, I finally had a chance to look at the receipt thoroughly. I found out that THEY CHARGED ME $202 BECAUSE THEY ALSO CHARGED 10% SURCHARGE ON TAKE AWAY FOOD. This is not about money, its just $18 but its about the principle. I quickly called them and question them, and the staff was like "sorry sorry didn't realise until u call" and told me to go back straight away to get a refund.

We went during lunch today, it was raining pretty heavily so no one was waiting for seats and the shop was pretty quiet.
I ordered a Pork cutlet curry rice and my colleague ordered a pork bone soup ramen.

My rice was huge! I finished half only. The curry sauce was very yummy! Had a little chat with the waitress she said its a beef curry sauce and takes a few days to cook. The pork cutlet was alright.

Tried a bit of my colleagues ramen. Loved the char siu! The soup was very tasty as well. The portion wasnt as huge as the curry rice, at least my colleague finished all.

We didnt get to try the egg. Were gona order it but we had too much food. Will def. try that next time and the other ramen.

Overall a great place to dine at! They also have complimentary water (and it was cold! :] ) and no service charge.

Date Dined: Sat 21st May 2011 8.20pm

Ordered: Number 1: Pork bone soup base ramen with roast pork and shallots & Number 7:Chicken soup base with roast pork and egg
Sides: Egg and sweetcornTaste: Pork bone base- This came with spring onion roast pork and large amounts of sesame which makes the taste more fragrant. By just looking at it I can already tell the soup is not rich enough and abit watery. First I tasted a spoon of the soup, it was watery and not rich enough. But it did taste rich of pork bone and did not make me thirsty which MSG soup would make me feel. The ramen was thin type of ramen. I personalky prefer thick ramen as the texture woukd be chewy. The thin ramen s less chewy and very eggy taste. The ramen here comoared to BUTAU is not as good. The soup is not thick enough and too watery which makes me thnk I am drinking soup my mum has cooked. I liked how generous amount of spring onion and sesame they gave you. The roast pork was nice. I liked that lean pork was 70 percent and fat pork was 30%. Healthier yet yummy. It might have looked not as nice roast pork but the taste was good and it does melt in your mouth. The meat was tender not tough at all. Chicken soup base ramen: The soup here was definately not milky white or thick. The soup was dark, bit like soy sauce and indeed taste taste like soy sauce. It taste like soy chicken dish that you have at home. Although it is very salty but it does taste better than the pork soup base ramen. After a few sip the soup actually grows on you and it is no longer salty. It isnt that salty that would make you drink water after each sip. But compared to the pork base soup it seems more rich and salty. The ramen comes with egg already and roast pork and a piece od nori so do not need as much sides. But compared to the pork soup this ramen only comes with 2 piece of roast pork whereas pork soup ramen comes with three piece. So depends on your needs you can keep in mind one has more roast pork but less isdes r more sides less roast pork. The ramen here is different than ramen in pork soup. The rAmen here is chewier and thicker. Atmosphere and service: Hid away in sheung wan, it is bit hard to find. But teh exterior looks like genetic japanese ramen shop. As we came in, they all greeted us in japanese. There are few booth seating and bar seating. we sat at the booth. All chairs and tables are wooden. Very japanese. there were only few tables and the rest are free. as there weren't much customers the atmosphere seemed abit dead. seemed awkward for even speaking louder. They gave us a menu each and we ordered quite quickly. Seats were comfortable and there was a bottle of water on the table for us to pour ourselves.

Read some of the reviews here and surprised to find that some people didnt like it!
I personally think its the best ramen i've had in hk... I've already been to this ramen shop with my friends for 3 times since its opened!
So this is going to be the only entry of mine that has pictures (from my frds camera)

I cant say this HK one is exactly the same as the sydney one.. because it was 2 years ago when i last tasted the one in Syd. (I found an old pic i took in ryo-tei sydney in my iphone.. scroll down and u'll see.)

However this does remind me of the yummy downtown ramen in Vancouver (I think all the vancouverites would know! Guess we've all been hunting for a good ramen shop in HK ever since we moved back.)

Anyways,i tried - (* = my personal fav)

Ramen

Pork bone soup ramen
*Salt flavor pork bone soup ramen (with side order seaweed!)
Fish soup ramen

- Cha siu was delicious. It was not too lean or too fat. Tender and 非常夠味.
- I really like the noodles. Unlike other ramen shops in hk.. this one finally doesnt taste like 即食麵.
- Egg was 糖心... but there was one time that it was a little too salty... also note that not all the ramen comes with egg.. you need to side order it.
- Soup base was yummy yummy! Very 膠 & rich in flavor.

Others
*Chicken karage - highly recommended! 唔會炸得太乾.
Deep fried soft shell crab - good for the price ($18)
Shrimp tempura - same.. good for the price
*Pork rice ball - tried this when i visited sydney about two years ago.. really really liked it and have always been wanting to eat it again. So happy that its available in hk now!!!!
*Some of my frd's pork curry - i think the pork could be a little fatter.. but the sauce was very delicious and 濃

HK has always lacked a good ramen restuarant and i have never understood why.. with all the ingredients available here and japan just hours away from us.. why cant anyone bring a good bowl of ramen to HK?

Ryo-tei has done a great job! Plz keep up with the good work and this has definitely become one of my new 飯堂s =D

I'm so sorry to say, but I didn't really like the food there. Although it the servings were big, but there were not really too much choices for the ramen. They just have different kinds of soup base.

The ramen I ordered was something like roasted pork ramen with pork miso soup base. It was too salty that I could even finish half of it.
I was seriously disappointed with the food because it was expensive at the same time, like almost all of the ramen cost 69-7x hkd. Although I saw some ladies order their japanese curry. It was huge and it looked kinda tasty, but I guess im not going to eat there again.

Original Review @ http://foodofhongkong.blogspot.com/2011/04/ryo-tei-12.html

This is a Japanese operated Ramen shop which I have been a few times in Sydney, but it was still a shock to hear about it's opening 1 day here in an Asian city. The noodles to me (made locally), were a little too thick to be authentically Kyushu style but disregarding that, it was way too chewy and hard, not abling to absorb the tonkotsu & shoyu soup which should provide them the soul of the ramen bowl.

The egg was grossly overcooked to the point of nearly solid hard rather than slightly runny and half-cooked. There weren't at all any Black Fungus or Red Ginger to make this an authentic Fukuoka style ramen either. To me, this has a long way to go before it reaches it's full potential to become a worthy competitor in the Ramen World.

A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED, SIGH.....

[ Original Review with Photos: http://foodofhongkong.blogspot.com/2011/04/ryo-tei-12.html or shortened link @ http://bit.ly/mkOpCo]