Ramen Champion, SUNNYBANK

Ramen Champion is a newer and more modern addition to dining at Sunnybank. It’s beautifully decorated and offers plenty of space and comfortable seating inside which you’ll agree is a miracle if you know Sunnybank at all. This is the second time I’ve been here and although I still prefer ramen at their competition across the road, there were many things I did like more here.

Upon entering, you’ll notice that the place is decked out with cool lights and furniture and that it’s completely spotless and clean. The guys working there are super friendly and always greeting you eagerly as you come through the door. Ordering is super quick with menus being simple and straight forward. Prices for a bowl of ramen start from $9.90 and cheap rice dishes starting at $5.90.  

Last time I was here, I tried the Spicy champion with minced pork which I didn’t enjoy that much. The soup was very thick and it got quite sickening towards the end. After the noodles have finished, there was no real desire to have any more of the soup.  I much prefer the spicy ramen with the char siu pork slices over at Hakataya Ramen; my soup does not go to waste over there.

On this particular visit, I decided to go with their signature dish - ramen champion. I enjoyed it a lot more than I did on my first visit here, but the soup was still very thick and too creamy while lacking flavours making it somewhat bland and hard to get through. Once again, the soup was left after I had finished my noodles.

Our gyozas were filled with mostly cabbage and ginger, I don’t think there was much meat (or any at all) but it was still pretty tasty and nicely crisps on the bottom. Can’t complain though with it only costing $4.90 which is super cheap compared to anywhere else.

One point that these guys do better than their competition is their generosity of free kaedama (which is an additional order of noodles to add to your existing soup). At Ramen Champion, they offer up to four servings of free kaedama as opposed to one over at Hakataya. Serving sizes of a single bowl isn’t small to begin with so even on my hungriest of days, I wouldn’t need any more than one additional kaedama, but it’s nice to know they’re giving me the option to have more.

If you’re after something even bigger, they have their very own challenge – The GIANT RAMEN. For $35 you could attempt a gigantic bowl of ramen and if completed within their time limit (I believe it’s around 20-25mins), you get the $35 back in cash along with $50 of food vouchers to spend in store and your photo on the wall next to the (currently only 6) other champions.

There are a lot of mixed opinions about the food here, some strongly dislike it and some firmly believe it’s the best ramen available in Brisbane. I think it’s decent for the price I paid and would come back again if my friends wanted to, but if I were going for taste alone, I would probably head across the road. You’ll just have to pop in, try their ramen and judge for yourself!

Food: 5.5/10

Service: 10/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
value: 8/10

Overall: 7.5

-wd