Hot in the city: Canberra’s much-loved Ramen Daddy is evolving and moving

What started as a shared interest for fine-dining chefs John Leverink and Eddie Tsai from The Boat House – making the perfect bowl of ramen in their spare time – quickly became an obsession.

Their colleagues at the fine dining establishment frequently ate ramen prepared by the duo for their staff meals as they perfected their recipe and approach.

As they mastered all the elements of creating a scrumptious soup to slurp, they turned their fun obsession into a new business. Ramen Daddy first operated at pop-up venues and events such as The Forage and Assembly, then nourished Canberrans with their cook-at-home packs during lockdown before opening their permanent home at Verity Lane Markets.

Now the evolution will continue for the much-loved Ramen Daddy with an expanded focus on Japanese street food with a new location and name.

The Ramen Daddy shopfront at Verity Lane Market will be serving their last bowls of broth on 27 August and re-emerging bigger and better as ‘Canteen Ramen Bar and Bottle Shop’ at the Dairy Road precinct in Fyshwick. The team is looking to bring their passion for Japanese food, Sake and local wines to Canberra’s ever-growing dining scene.

What you can expect from the Canteen menu is the time-honoured precision for ramen and its importance in Japanese culture with a flair for modern cooking. The expanded team will be serving the flavours of Japan with modern and classic techniques.

Eddie, along with head chef Regi Enriquez (from Ramen Daddy and Fox & Bow) and sous chef Ao LI (from Aubergine and The Boathouse) will put their spin on much-loved Japanese and Taiwanese classics.

For lunch, expect bowls of noodles, rice bowls, sandos and snacks.

At dinner, expect a casual Izakaya bar with plenty of room for post-work drinks and snacks in the shared courtyard and outdoor garden. The restaurant area will be perfect for a more intimate dining experience heavy with charcoal and smoky flavours infused into vegetables and proteins.

The new space designed by Craig Tan Architects will be an intimate and inviting place for people to gather, taking inspiration from the handcrafted details of Japanese architecture. The materials lining the interior are left in their natural state, showcasing their true texture and will form a patina with age. It will be further detailed with steel and timber, handcrafted by local Australian artisans.

Similarly, the process of making ramen is celebrated by featuring the kitchen areas in red oxide pavilions that frame the central gathering space. As part of the fit-out, a new outdoor courtyard designed by Jane Irwin Landscape Architecture will be opened to the public.

Canteen’s new home will fill one of the final tenancies in this stage of the Dairy Road Precinct, expanding the ever-evolving community of makers that has grown there. The industrial location is already home to Barrio Collective Coffee roasters, Big River Distilling Co gin distillers, Capital Brewing Co beer brewery, Keep Co co-working, Screencraft video production, Jasper + Myrtle chocolatiers, Grainger Gallery, NinetoFive Interiors, The Modern Object furniture shop, Nourish and Breath naturopathy, yoga studios, Flow Yoga and Yoga Mandir and Red Robot industrial design.

Canteen Ramen Bar and Bottle Shop is opening for lunch and dinner from mid-August, located at Building 3 Dairy Road Precinct.

Original Article published by Sophia Brady on Riotact.