When you think of vegan food, what comes to mind? Tofu and tempeh doing their best meat impressions, lentils and chickpeas working overtime – maybe even a slab of Impossible meat. Sydney’s vegan scene runs the full gamut, from taquerias to pizzerias. But are committed carnivores ever swayed to visit?
“There’s a stigma that plant-based vegetarian food, vegan food, is boring, bland,” Daryl Chan says. “But we would like to change that.”
Chan is the manager and co-owner of Towzen Sydney, the debut Australian outpost of the Kyoto-born vegan ramen institution. It began in 2004, when founder Minoru Yonekawa slipped soy milk into his family restaurant’s hot-water tofu broth. Diners went wild and a standalone shop soon followed.
That same ramen anchors the menu here, but Sydney also gets its own spin. Much of the offering has been reworked for our multicultural city and a crowd hooked on creamy, porky tonkotsu and chicken-rich paitan broths. Months of trial and error went into cracking those flavours, and the end result is bowls where vegetables do all the talking – without pretending to be something else.
There are seven options to choose from, each coming in their own unique bowl to accentuate their differences. Broths are made fresh daily, simmered overnight with house-made pastes, mushroom tare and oat or soy milk for a rich, creamy base. The nutty, deeply savoury Sichuan tantanmen broth hits with sesame paste, peanut paste and chilli oil, arriving tangled with bouncy noodles and crowned with a butterflied oyster mushroom. It’s the bestseller, and the only bowl with mock meat – though you’d only clock it if someone told you. Want it louder? Go for the mala version for a tongue-tingling, numbing kick.
The mushroom shoyu – slick with chanterelle oil, and the only ramen without milk – is a lighter option, especially next to the Thai green curry ramen, the fiercest of the lot. Then there’s the signature Kyoto ramen, which showcases Towzen’s philosophy in a bowl.
“The whole ramen is rich and creamy, but if you have the umeboshi [on top] and you eat the whole thing together, the sour sting balances out the whole dish,” Chan says.
A tight line-up of sides backs up the soups. The unagi kabayaki, often seen with eggplant instead of eel, is done here with a mix of bean curd and mushroom lacquered in soy (for a surprisingly eel-like chew). Meaty lion’s mane mushroom karaage is built for dunking into the creamy, gently sweet olive oil mayo.
Matcha lovers, take note: powder from the famous Uji tea region lands smooth and creamy, never too bitter or grassy – especially swirled with strawberry purée and oat milk. This Broadsheet writer has never got the appeal of the green-hued drink, but Towzen’s pour is a mind-changer.
Stepping inside the restaurant, in a heritage building, the CBD noise falls away. Ambient hum, New Age on the speakers, the soft hiss of the grill – it feels more Kyoto retreat than city ramen bar.
“Half the customers coming into the restaurant are meat-eaters. Initially 30 per cent, now it’s 50 per cent,” says Chan.
With this much flavour packed into each bite, it’s not hard to see why.
Towzen Sydney
346–348 Kent Street, Sydney
0415 996 353
Hours:
Wed 5pm–9pm
Thu to Sat 11.30am–2.30pm, 5pm–9pm
Sun 11.30am–3pm, 5pm–8.30pm
towzenramen.com/sydney/
@towzen.au
AloJapan.com