Subscribe 
The Best Ramen in Melbourne for the Perfect Winter Warmer
From traditional to modern, here's where to find the best ramen in Melbourne worth braving the elements for.
For the best ramen in Melbourne, start with Ginza Kagari’s tori paitan in the CBD, Ramen AKO’s chicken chintan in Fitzroy and Cafe Ogawa’s Yokohama-style iekei in Ascot Vale. From there, the city gets wonderfully specific: Kikanbo’s chilli-and-pepper miso, Sara Craft Ramen’s clam-rich shoyu, Mensho’s house-made noodles, Ramen Shouyuya’s slow-cooked duck, Hakata Gensuke’s cult tonkotsu and Parco’s koji-laced chicken broths.
Melbourne’s ramen scene now stretches well beyond the classic pork-bone bowl, with soupless aburasoba, vegetarian ramen, lobster broth, late-night Chinatown counters and elegant new openings giving every craving its own address this winter. Pull up a stool, order extra noodles and settle in.
In This Guide…
Best Ramen in Melbourne CBD
Ginza Kagari
Ginza Kagari is the Russell Street ramen opening worth queueing for, especially if your default order is usually pork-heavy tonkotsu. The Tokyo-born, Michelin-recognised shop built its name on tori paitan, a creamy chicken broth with the texture of silk and the precision of fine dining. The signature bowl arrives with sous-vide chicken chashu and seasonal vegetables, while truffle, clear niboshi and mazesoba options take things further. Distinctive and deeply comforting, it’s giving Melbourne one of its most compelling new ramen bowls.
256 Russell Street, Melbourne
Sara Ramen & Yakitori Bar
Sara Ramen & Yakitori Bar takes chef Ryo Northfield’s shoyu precision to Bourke Street, pairing serious ramen with late-night skewers. Signature Pork Shoyu is the classic, with light tonkotsu-shoyu broth, chashu pork belly and gobo chips; Ebi Shoyu goes richer with prawn, burnt butter and shrimp umami. Yuzu Duck is the elegant pick, while dinner calls for charcoal momo, tsukune, pork belly with yuzu miso and the omakase skewer set.
14 Bourke Street, Melbourne CBD
Supernormal
Supernormal’s ramen is less slurp shop, more Flinders Lane winter manoeuvre: a lunch-only bowl from Andrew McConnell’s kitchen, served Monday to Friday with bone broth, grilled chicken, soy egg and prawn-and-chicken dumplings. It has the clean-lined restraint you’d expect from Supernormal, but enough warmth to justify leaving the office in the rain. Go for the ramen, stay for something cold, sharp and snacky on the side.
180 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Kikanbo
Kikanbo is Melbourne ramen with a warning label. The Tokyo-born cult shop has landed on La Trobe Street with its signature karashibi miso ramen, a rich pork-and-chicken broth sharpened by chilli heat and tongue-numbing pepper. Choose your levels of kara and shibi, from gentle to oni, then brace for house-made noodles, regional miso, chashu, bean sprouts, baby corn and a room watched over by demon masks. It’s unlike any other bowl in the CBD.
5/260 La Trobe Street, Melbourne
Izakaya Domo
Izakaya Domo is the CBD ramen stop for days that refuse to end at noodles. Across its Little Collins and GPO Postal Lane venues, Wagyu Beef Ramen is the straight play, while Spicy Wagyu Ramen brings the heat. The wider menu does the heavy lifting: karaage, gobo burdock chips, chicken gyoza, assorted skewers, nigiri, sashimi and sake, turning a quick bowl into a full izakaya spread.
118 Little Collins Street, Melbourne CBD
GPO Postal Lane, Shop 28/350 Bourke Street, Melbourne CBD
Kajiken
Kajiken makes an excellent case for ramen without the broth. The Japanese aburasoba chain specialises in soupless noodles dressed with sauce, oil and toppings, then mixed at the table until everything turns glossy and loud with flavour. At the Southern Cross Station outpost, that might mean pork chashu, bamboo shoots, green onion and nori in the original bowl, or minced pork, egg yolk, chives and niboshi in the Homura. It is ramen stripped back to chew, seasoning and texture, and Melbourne is better for it.
Melbourne CBD and Glen Waverley
Mensho
Mensho is Russell Street ramen with a passport full of stamps and a brain full of ideas. The Tokyo-born name is Michelin-recognised, but the Melbourne magic is local: noodles made in-house daily, Victorian produce and bowls that read like delicious experiments. Matcha ramen turns green tea into savoury depth, Toripaitan wraps duck char siu in silky chicken broth, and the Wagyu ramen is the flex order. Clever, strange, rich and beautifully controlled, this is ramen for people who like plot twists.
166 Russell Street, Melbourne
Musashi
Musashi earns its place as a Chinatown ramen stop with stamina. Behind the Russell Street izakaya is Rikisai Miyajima, whose 25 years of ramen-making and family-recipe foundations shape a menu built on springy noodles, generous broths and late-night appetite. The bowls move from classic comfort to louder orders like Red Dragon miso with soy-braised pork belly and Wagyu Yakuza with torched M9+ beef. Karaage, sake and weekend hours stretching to 3am make Musashi a very useful CBD address.
Level 1/181 Russell Street, Melbourne
Sara Craft Ramen
Sara Craft Ramen has a blade-sharp point of view in a city of heavy bowls. Inside its 21-seat Little Lonsdale counter, French-Japanese chef Ryo Northfield favours clarity over weight: Haruyutaka noodles, precise broths and combinations that feel almost couture. The Asari Shoyu is the move, with clams, burnt butter and aosa wakame; Yuzu Duck and Mentaiko Mazesoba show the same restraint with a sharper aftertaste. This is ramen with posture and serious hands.
Shop 3/391-393 Little Lonsdale Street, Melbourne
Shujinko
Shujinko is Melbourne’s late-night ramen workhorse, made for post-shift dinners, Chinatown queues and bowls after midnight. The flagship has been serving Tokyo-style tonkotsu since 2016, with pork bones simmered for 12 hours, fresh noodles and aburi pork belly doing the heavy lifting. The Black Ramen is the regulars’ pick, folding bonito into the tonkotsu for a smoky, seafood-rich depth. Open until 4am on Friday and Saturday, the Russell Street original remains the CBD go-to, with Brunswick and Glen Waverley now feeding the craving closer to home.
Melbourne CBD, Glen Waverley, and Brunswick locations
Mr Ramen San
Mr Ramen San has earned its Chinatown queue. Hidden inside MidCity Centre, this Kyushu-style ramen house makes its Hakata noodles daily, pairing them with a 10-hour broth and a menu that runs deep, from classic chashu tonkotsu to teriyaki chashu and vegetarian bowls. The extra-noodle policy is part of the charm: finish your first serve with broth still waiting, then ask for a second round. Simple, generous and still one of the CBD’s most dependable ramen stops.
Shop 12A, MidCity Centre, 200 Bourke Street, Melbourne
Best Ramen in Melbourne’s North
Ramen AKO’s
Ramen AKO’s feels personal in a way few ramen shops do. Named for owner Sho Iijima’s mother, Ako, this Fitzroy counter takes its cue from her chicken soup, turning it into delicate shio ramen with serious technique behind it. The signature chicken chintan is clear, clean and quietly restorative, while the thicker paitan has more body without losing its restraint. Noodles are made in-house, the vegan mushroom broth has depth, and the aburamen is the order for anyone chasing chilli, anchovy powder and glossy dry noodles.
368 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
Misoya Sake Bar
Misoya Sake Bar is Fujio Tamura’s Sydney Road original, and Brunswick’s answer for anyone craving the deep comfort of miso ramen. The Misoya Special is the signature: thick chicken-and-vegetable miso soup, egg noodles and seasonal vegetables in a bowl that eats big without feeling heavy. Tan Tan Men turns up the chilli and sesame, Vegan Miso Ramen keeps the richness meat-free, and Gluten-Free Shio Ramen covers dietary needs without making them feel like an afterthought. Order karaage, gyoza, edamame and a sake pour on the side.
165A Sydney Road, Brunswick
Ramen Shouyuya Sake Bar
Ramen Shouyuya is Brunswick ramen with the volume turned down. Chef Fujio Tamura, also behind Misoya Sake Bar, keeps the menu to three shoyu bowls: chicken, vegetable and slow-cooked duck inspired by kamo nanban. Chicken and duck broths are built on niboshi dashi and chicken stock, while the vegan bowl turns to kombu and dried mushroom. Noodles are made in-house on a Yamato machine from Japan, with soy-garlic wings, ganmo nimono and mitarashi dango rounding out the meal.
692 Sydney Road, Brunswick
Shop Ramen
Shop Ramen began as a 10-day pop-up and became part of the inner north’s regular rotation. Fitzroy, Preston and Brunswick now get its Tokyo-style bowls, vegetarian ramen with cashew milk, tofu, pickled shiitake and vegetables, and extras that happily colour outside the lines. Yuzu oil, American cheese and jalapeños all have a place here, as do umeshu whisky milkshakes and ice cream pie. It’s not traditional, and not trying to be.
Fitzroy, Preston & Brunswick
Gogyo
Gogyo is the Fitzroy ramen house built around fire. From the Ippudo family, it is known for kogashi miso ramen, made by setting miso paste alight in a hot wok before chicken broth turns the smoke into something dark, savoury and bitter at the edges. Tonkotsu, chilli shoyu and vegie soba fill out the menu, but the burnt miso is the Brunswick Street order with real heat behind it.
413 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
The Dojo Ramen Bar
The Dojo Ramen Bar treats vegetarian ramen as a first choice, not a sad side quest. Northcote, of course, gets the brief: soy milk and nut extract for a creamy vegetable bowl, spicy veggie for heat, shoyu for the purists and sesame mazesoba for brothless satisfaction. There’s pork and chicken on the menu too, but High Street’s clever little trick is making the plant-based bowls sound like the ones everyone else should be ordering.
333 High Street, Northcote
Best Ramen in Melbourne’s West
Cafe Ogawa
Cafe Ogawa gives Union Road a ramen address with real Tokyo lineage. Atsushi Ogawa’s Yokohama-style iekei is the headline: soy-seasoned pork broth enriched with chicken oil, then set with spinach, nori and chashu braised in a master stock with years of memory behind it. Diners choose thin or thick noodles made at Ogawa’s own factory in Japan, a detail that tells you how serious the operation is. Coffee, vinyl and Ascot Vale daylight make the whole thing feel unusually calm, exact and lived-in.
217 Union Road, Ascot Vale
Parco Ramen
Born as a lockdown pop-up inside Shujinko, Parco Ramen now has a loyal following in Moonee Ponds and Collingwood for bowls that sidestep the usual tonkotsu script. Chefs Federico Congiu and Manato Deleon build creamy chicken broths, house-made noodles and koji-laced depth, then send out lobster ramen, truffle-rich bowls, gyoza, karaage and chashu don in neon-lit rooms made for quick, happy slurping.
Moonee Ponds and Collingwood
Best Ramen in Melbourne’s Eastern Suburbs
Suupaa
Suupaa takes Tokyo konbini culture and runs it through Cremorne’s lunch-break brain. From the Future Future crew, this Dover Street spot deals in onigiri, sandos, nikuman, bento, Japanese snacks, Matcha Milo and banana cold brew, but the ramen is the reason it belongs here. The current menu’s Black Garlic and Sesame Tan Tan is a dry-style bowl of black garlic and sesame ramen noodles, broad bean furikake and Suupaa’s burnt garlic rayu, with occasional ramen specials worth pouncing on when they appear.
Shop 1/65 Dover Street, Cremorne
Snow Monkey Ramen
Snow Monkey Ramen brings a little alpine mythology to South Yarra, its story beginning on the slopes of Hakuba before settling into a Toorak Road shopfront. The cooking borrows from France and Japan, so the bowls have a slightly more composed feel than the usual ramen rush. Rock Lobster Ramen is the graceful first order, all Tasmanian lobster broth, fish cake and king prawn, while Tonkotsu, Black Garlic, Shoyu and Spicy Miso cover the cold-weather cravings.
CBD, South Yarra, and Brunswick
RamenRamen
RamenRamen is the rare shopping-centre ramen shop that understands speed needn’t mean surrender. At The Glen, the broth is the serious bit: Kyushu-style, simmered for more than 20 hours with pork bones, chicken bones and collagen, then poured over wavy noodles aged for three days. Order the signature tonkotsu for the full-bodied version, chicken katsu for crunch, vegetable ramen for kombu comfort, and matcha or yuzu soft serve on the way out.
The Glen Shopping Centre, 235 Springvale Road, Glen Waverley
Yoku Ono Ramen + Sake
Yoku Ono is for ramen people who refuse to be governed by weather. In winter, the Prahran bar does the steamy stuff: eight-hour chicken broth, spicy miso, Tan Tan sesame and a vegetarian bowl built with serious vegetable depth. When the temperature lifts, hiyashi chuku makes the case for cold noodles, with ramen soaked in broth, chilled, then served as Fresh Tuna Sashimi Ramen with wasabi sauce or Fried Tofu Ramen with tomato, cucumber and sesame.
6A Anchor Place, Prahran
Hakata Gensuke
Hakata Gensuke is Melbourne’s great ramen queue, and for good reason. The signature tonkotsu is the one to measure it by: a full-bodied, collagen-rich pork bone broth brewed for more than 24 hours, with homemade thin noodles, tender pork cha-shu, black fungus and spring onions. Black Tonkotsu goes darker with fried garlic and black sesame paste, while God Fire is the chilli-laced order for anyone who likes their lunch with a warning label. Walk-ins only.
Multiple Melbourne locations
Best Ramen in Melbourne’s Inner South & Bayside
Yakikami
Yakikami isn’t a ramen bar, which makes the bowls feel like a secret hiding in plain sight. The South Yarra Japanese restaurant is better known for binchotan yakitori, robatayaki and Wagyu, yet its ramen has the same precision: a 12-hour chicken broth with pork and chicken chashu, or an asari stir-fry ramen tangled with clams, chilli, garlic and cherry tomatoes. Start with skewers and sake, end here.
150 Toorak Road, South Yarra
Shyun Ramen Bar
Shyun Ramen Bar understands that the real work happens long before the bowl reaches the counter. Named for the Japanese idea of seasonality, this Carnegie favourite builds its ramen around house-made pork and chicken stocks, simmered for hours before being sharpened with shoyu or rounded out with miso. Order the chashu pork for extra richness, the spicy pork mince for heat, or the black pork ramen for that dark hit of garlic sesame oil. Plus, a matcha float at the end? Absolutely.
73 Koornang Road, Carnegie
Ramen in Melbourne: FAQs
Melbourne’s best ramen is spread across five key areas. The CBD is the epicentre, with Ginza Kagari and Mensho on Russell Street, Kikanbo on La Trobe Street, and late-night favourites Musashi and Hakata Gensuke in Chinatown. Fitzroy and Brunswick in the inner north cover vegetarian-friendly options at Ramen AKO’s and Misoya Sake Bar. The inner west has Cafe Ogawa’s Yokohama-style iekei, while South Yarra and Prahran in the east add Snow Monkey Ramen and Yoku Ono. Wherever you are in the city, there’s a serious bowl nearby.
Ginza Kagari on Russell Street is a strong pick for a special-occasion bowl, known for its silky tori paitan chicken broth and Michelin-recognised technique. For serious chilli heat, Kikanbo on La Trobe Street serves karashibi miso ramen sharpened with tongue-numbing pepper. Mensho, also on Russell Street, offers more experimental bowls like matcha ramen and Wagyu ramen. For a soupless option, Kajiken near Southern Cross Station specialises in aburasoba. Musashi and Hakata Gensuke in Chinatown are the CBD’s go-to spots for a rich, slow-simmered tonkotsu broth late at night.
The four styles differ mainly in their broth base. Tonkotsu is a pork bone broth simmered for many hours until it turns rich and cloudy, as seen in Hakata Gensuke’s signature bowl brewed for more than 24 hours. Shoyu uses a lighter, soy-based broth that lets the noodles and toppings carry more flavour, the approach taken by Sara Ramen & Yakitori Bar. Miso ramen is built on a fermented soybean paste for a heartier, savoury depth, exemplified by Misoya Sake Bar’s Misoya Special. Shio is the lightest of the four, seasoned simply with salt, as in Ramen AKO’s clear chicken chintan.
If you’re new to ramen, start with a classic tonkotsu or shoyu bowl before branching into spicier or more experimental styles. Sara Ramen & Yakitori Bar’s Signature Pork Shoyu is a good entry point, with a light tonkotsu-shoyu broth, chashu pork belly and gobo chips. RamenRamen’s signature tonkotsu at The Glen is another approachable option, full-bodied but not overwhelming. Once you’ve got a feel for the basics, Kikanbo’s karashibi miso is worth trying for a gentler kick, with adjustable spice and numbing pepper levels so you can build up gradually rather than diving straight into the hottest bowl on the menu.
Vegetarian and vegan ramen is well covered across Melbourne. The Dojo Ramen Bar in Northcote builds its menu around plant-based bowls, using soy milk and nut extract for a creamy vegetable ramen alongside a spicy veggie option. Ramen AKO’s in Fitzroy offers a vegan mushroom broth with real depth, while Misoya Sake Bar in Brunswick serves a Vegan Miso Ramen alongside a Gluten-Free Shio Ramen. Shop Ramen’s vegetarian bowl, made with cashew milk, tofu and pickled shiitake, spans Fitzroy, Preston and Brunswick. Ramen Shouyuya in Brunswick also has a vegan bowl built on kombu and dried mushroom.
Chinatown is Melbourne’s late-night ramen hub. Shujinko’s Russell Street original has been serving Tokyo-style tonkotsu since 2016 and stays open until 4am on Fridays and Saturdays, with Brunswick and Glen Waverley locations now closer to home for the same craving. Musashi, also on Russell Street, stretches its weekend hours to 3am and is known for louder orders like its Wagyu Yakuza bowl. Mr Ramen San inside MidCity Centre is another dependable late-night stop, with an extra-noodle policy that rewards a long night out. Expect queues at all three on weekend nights.
Several Melbourne ramen bars make their noodles in-house rather than sourcing them externally. Mensho and Ramen AKO’s both produce fresh noodles daily, while Kikanbo and Parco Ramen do the same as part of their signature bowls. Ramen Shouyuya Sake Bar uses a Yamato noodle machine imported from Japan, and Cafe Ogawa’s noodles come from Atsushi Ogawa’s own factory in Japan. Hakata Gensuke and Mr Ramen San round out the list, both known for fresh, house-made noodles behind their tonkotsu and Hakata-style bowls respectively.
Still hungry after working through the best ramen in Melbourne? Keep the feast going with our guide to Melbourne CBD’s essential restaurants, or swap broth for a nightcap at the city’s best cocktail bars. From steamy noodle counters to moody after-dark drinking dens, Melbourne knows how to make winter taste better.
