Guide
Dish Cult Dines: All you can eat at Paldo Korean Buffet
16 Jan 2023
16 Jan 2023
For those of you who are new to the scene, ramen is a delicious Japanese-style noodle soup.
In Japan, you can find this cuisine everywhere, from street stalls to restaurants, marketplaces and tucked down alleyways. Noodle soup can be eaten for every meal, whether it’s a quick lunch break, a tasty late-night snack or a hearty warm meal on a rainy day.
Ramen Ria is an authentic Japanese street-style ramen bar that makes its noodles fresh in-house on the daily, alongside its traditional and rich bone broth. Every aspect of this restaurant is a cultural experience, from the cuisine to the imported beer, Japanese influenced cocktails and the décor.
Ramen Ria has set up shop in the heart of Christchurch; you can find it perched on Oxford Terrace in Riverside Market. Follow the retro neon lights or let the mouth-watering smell of broth lead the way. Get your fix any day of the week; Ramen Ria’s is open 7-days a week from 11am – 9.30pm on weekdays and 10.30am – midnight on weekends.
Our love for ramen is unrivalled. The classic ramen dishes are served with free-range soy egg ajitama, sweet corn, seaweed nori and spring onions. The signature miso is a crowd-pleaser; the Sapporo-inspired ramen comes with togarashi miso broth, grilled pork chashu, Sichuan spiced ground pork, garlic kikurage mushrooms and firecracker chilli oil.
For a specialty ramen dish, choose the Taiwanese beef ramen, a national dish with beef bone noodle soup, sliced braised beef, bok choy, coriander, pickled red chilli and mustard greens. You can add additional ingredients to your ramen, like the pork chashu, chicken wontons or eggs. Alongside the speciality and classic options, there is brothless ramen or vegan ramen.
Other popular dishes are the Sichuan chilli oil wontons, grilled teriyaki salmon donburi bowl, salmon sashimi, vegan bento boxes and bao buns. We cannot resist a bao; our go-to is the roasted duck with crispy shallots, spring onion and plum sauce. If you have any stomach space left, we recommend squeezing in a delicious bowl of matcha gelato made by sister restaurant Gelato and Tea.
The Japanese-inspired cocktail list is irresistible with expertly crafted creations. The Geisha is one of our favourites, with home-made black Doris shrub, cocoa nib cachaca and lemon juice. Or opt for something strong, flavourful and smoky with the salary man, made with Toki Japanese whisky, egg white, cigar infused syrup and citrus. If you would rather have something more authentic and traditional, dabble in the range of sake and umeshu.
Take on the huge ramen challenge (dates TBC); Ramen Ria holds a competition for those brave enough to enter. The ramen challenge has participants eat a huge bowl of soup, ramen, toppings and additional ingredients! You have to complete the challenge yourself or pay the $50 entry fee if you cannot finish. It is by far the tastiest competition we’ve ever heard of; if you finish within 10 minutes, you will get a $50 voucher and a limited-edition t-shirt.
Ramen Ria is a fun and energetic restaurant that is perfect for functions and weekend dinners. Whether you are a food enthusiast, lover of cocktails or in need of something new, this is the restaurant to keep you warm this winter. You can find Ramen Ria at 3/112 Oxford Terrace in Christchurch’s CBD.
