This could be the best ramen in Canberra

Canberra is full of hidden gems and White Chaco is one of them. You could easily walk right by it without even knowing it’s there and I guarantee that many of you have. That’s because it’s tucked away on the ground floor of the Nibu Building on Lonsdale Street in Braddon. Look for the sign on the footpath and you’ll find it to the right as you enter.

I’ve been a few times. The first was for their soup dumplings (they’re up there with the best I’ve had in Canberra) and their Taiwan style popcorn chicken. It was equally delicious, perfectly crunchy, not too greasy and full of flavour.

Their ramen has been on my ‘to eat’ list for a little while. Mr Eat Canberra and I attempted to visit last month, at about 6:30pm on a Friday night, without a booking. This was not a good idea as they were full so we missed out. 

The décor is simple but stylish and the venue is small. I counted 11 tables with a bar bench so their capacity is probably 26 people at a time. Hence why bookings are recommended as it gets extremely busy and their 26 seats fill up fast.

Eager to try their ramen, I returned recently for lunch to finally get a bowl. The menu is a fusion of Japanese and Taiwanese flavours and dishes.

I started with the seared scallop sashimi, lightly aged Hokkaido scallop with fresh wasabi and kombu soy. It’s fresh and flavoursome with a slight charred flavour from the sear.

The wasabi king prawn baos were next. Seaweed panko crumbed king prawns with wasabi mayo, greens, onion and nori. The prawns were big and juicy and the crumb was flavoursome and crispy.  You get two per serve and they’re quite filling.

They have a good selection of sake, shochu, wine, beer, ciders, whisky, interesting cocktails, as well as non-alcoholic options, with Canberra spirits, wine and beer featured on the menu.

I tried the pear wine, a sweet and refreshing drink with the flavour of pear shining through. It was delicious chilled and served on ice.

Next up was the ramen.

They have five different bowls of ramen to choose from (see descriptions in the photo below). The Chaco Black Ramen and the Chaco Green Ramen were recommended but I wanted to try something a little more traditional for my first one.

I lost interest in the truffle ramen as soon as I read ‘truffle oil’. Do you know much about truffle oil? A wise and talented Canberra chef, and a Canberra truffle farm owner refer to it in an entertaining way. They say “Truffle oil has as many truffles in it as baby oil has babies in it….”

After learning more about truffle oil this saying has stuck with me because it’s usually made synthetically.  You can Google it for more information. Some truffle oil is probably authentic but I prefer to avoid it.

So I went with the Pork Ramen. A bowl filled with pork and poultry broth, wakame, lava egg, smoked chashu and fungus.

I knew I was in for a treat as soon as it arrived. It looked beautiful and I could smell the broth. It was served with a long handle wooden ramen spoon, making it even more authentic and taking me straight back to many of the ramen restaurants I’ve eaten at in Japan.

The lava egg was perfectly gooey and lightly marinated. The broth was thicker than others I’ve had in Canberra and it coated the noodles, carrying the flavoursome broth with each mouthful of noodles – amazing!

The broth was silky smooth and left an enjoyable coating of flavour in my mouth. The noodles were cooked well and they had a slight chew to them. The chashu fell apart and melted in my mouth – perfection. The fungus added a nice texture to the ramen and I enjoyed every mouthful.

I can happily say that this is now the best ramen I’ve had in Canberra. I’ll be heading back to try the Chaco Black Ramen and more of their other dishes soon.

DETAILS

Address: G10/27 Lonsdale St, Braddon
Trading Hours: Open Thursday – Monday for lunch and dinner, closed on Tuesdays and open on Wednesdays for dinner only.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WHITE-CHACO-1158608827509250/
Instagram: @w.chaco