January sees the return of the Grillbird Ramen - the long-awaited sequel by chef Ben Smith. Making his own broths and using hand-pulled noodles, each bowl is a faithful interpretation of the traditional techniques and flavour combinations - but with a little Grillbird twist.

 

There are four ramens to choose from: the Pork Tantamen - a pork broth w/ Tokyo-style noodles, spicy saboro pork mince, a slice of chashu pork neck and Szechuan chilli rayu; the Pork + Clam Tanmen - a Chintan style broth of pork and clams, served with sliced pork chashu, steamed clams and yuzu koshu; the Smoked Tori Paitan - a chicken ramen with a dumpling made of smoked leg meat, sliced smoked chicken breast, crispy chicken skin and a soy-cured egg yolk; and the vegan Mushroom Shoyu - a mushroom and miso broth with mushroom XO sauce, soba noodles, tempura mushrooms, grilled spring onion and Thai basil oil.

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To start there is house-made milk bread with miso butter, the Devilled Ramen Egg topped with spicy mayo, chilli rayu and trout roe, the Siu Mai prawn toast - a mix of pork and prawn mince on toast, served with shiso relish and sweet chilli sauce. Classics such as Chicken Karaage return to the menu, and the Welsh rarebit gyoza skirt - cheesy gyozas set in a crispy pancake.