New CBD spot Sara Craft Ramen & Bar is the work of chef-owner Ryo Northfield, a protégé of Hiroyuki Sakai, otherwise known as “Iron Chef French”. (If you’ve ever gotten sucked into an episode of the Japanese cooking show Iron Chef on SBS, you might remember Sakai – either for his takes on French cuisine or for wearing shiny red chef whites with a sky-high toque and dramatically holding up a pear.)

Sara is not a French restaurant, but the French and Japanese techniques Northfield learnt from his mentor are evident in his cooking.

“It’s not an authentic style – but if you go to Japan, each ramen master makes it their own way,” says Northfield. “I'm really happy to have a different ramen in Melbourne.”

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The foundation of Northfield’s ramen is a light shoyu (Japanese soy sauce) broth that lets the ingredients shine. Sara’s tonkotsu (pork bone) shoyu, topped with a spiral of chashu (braised pork belly), gobo (burdock) chips and the (optional) addition of house-made chilli oil, is a lighter alternative to the popular Hakata-style pork ramen easily found around the city.

“Usually, a pork stock is very creamy and rich. But my pork stock is quite clear and not too heavy,” says Northfield.

Meanwhile, the asari clam shoyu ramen gets a slight French twist, with burnt butter adding a toasty richness to the dish. There’s also a yuzu and smoked duck ramen made with a combination of duck and shoyu stock. Then there’s an A5 Wagyu ramen, which Northfield says is rarely found in Japan. He adds dimension by spiking the broth with a black pepper sauce he would normally serve with steak.

Diners can customise their bowls with straight noodles or two-week-aged wavy noodles, which are made in-house. There are also various rice dishes available, including aburi (flame-seared) Wagyu sushi with wasabi stem relish, and kaisen rice bowls with fresh tuna, kingfish, salmon crab and tobiko.

The 21-seat venue was designed by T-A Square and has a dark grey interior with an orange cut-out ceiling fixture and plenty of cosy nooks for slurping up a quick lunch or lingering over dinner.
Once the site’s liquor licence is approved, Northfield plans to introduce a cocktail and sake selection.

Sara Craft Ramen & Bar
Shop 3/391-393 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
No phone

Hours:
Mon to Fri 11.30am–2.30pm; 5.30pm–8:30pm
Sat & Sun 11.30am–8.30pm

sararamen.com.au