Perth is loving ramen, and there’s no shortage of ramen restaurants popping up across the city. Ten and Sen in Leederville is one of the newest and it’s point of difference is a Hokkaido style spicy curry ramen.
Japan is now the Australia’s number one choice for an overseas holiday, displacing Bali that has been our getaway of choice for decades. On a recent trip we spent time in Kyoto, Osaka, Tokyo and the northern city of Sapporo in the Hokkaido region.
Ramen is Japan’s quick and easy meal, in each busy city centre there are hundreds of tiny ramen joints, most only fit 8-12 people inside at a time. Each place has its specialty, we had salty ramen, ramen with cheese, oyster based ramen, pork based ramen, and in Tokyo we checked out the only Michelin starred ramen joint – and it was pretty sensational, a truffle ramen.
For good ramen, you queue up on the street, which in Sapporo where the temperature was minus-17 and snowing in the evenings, the streets covered in ice, we huddled and waited for tasty noodles and broth. If you head to Ten and Sen in Newcastle Street Leederville, you’ll probably have to queue for a little while – but thankfully in Perth there’s no ice and snow.
Their signature dish is a spicy ramen with chewy noodles, a spicy curry broth, mountains of different vegetables and egg, slices of chashu pork and egg. It’s very hearty. You can choose the level of spiciness, but be warned, even the mild register is quite spicy!
Unlike a standard Ramen restaurant join in Japan they also have a decent range of side dishes including some seasonal specials. We enjoyed perfect gyoza, a chewy but flavoursome octopus, and deep fried garlic broccoli.
We paired the delicious dishes with some sake and ginger beers. Sadly the deserts had sold out – but that gives us a reason to head back for a second visit!
Ten and Sen is well placed in Leederville’s bustling cafe intersection, right next door to old favourite Pinchos. Check out recently opened Boundless Books while you’re in the neighbourhood.
Ten and Sen is from the same team behind the popular Rojiura Curry Samarai in Shafto Lane in the CBD. The outlet from Hokkaido is famous for their curry served with rice, and up to 17 different vegetables.
We checkout this Perth eatery recently after dining at their branch in Japan, and can honestly say the Perth offering is almost, but not quite as good, as the same dish we had in Sapporo.
If you’ve been to Japan and want to reminisce about your holiday, or just appreciate really good Japanese cuisine both these eateries are worth a visit.
Spice Ramen Ten and Sen is at 747 Newcastle Street, Leederville. Rojiura Curry Samurai is in Shafto Lane in the city.
