Nichi Getsu Do literally translates to sun moon place and it's based off of an old idiom nisshin-geppo: It's meant to reference the sun and moons unrelenting cycles, where progress is achieved through unrelenting passion and commitment. The owners Curtis and Kobayashi met over 30 years ago in Australia and then opened a ramen shop in Sapporo 23 years ago. Now, they've opened up Nichi Getsu Do together back here in Sydney. I stumbled upon this place by following a trusted account @munications so show them some love if you can.
Sapporo, as you may know or may not know, is the birthplace of miso ramen. Invented in 1961 by Morito Ohmiya, being so far north it was developed here and rose in popularity because cold weather demanded a bolder and heartier broth. It's probably not the best ramen to try on a hot summer day, but being that the signature ramens here are miso based, I had to check it out along with some extras.
$25 - Special Miso Ramen - chicken, pork, and vegetable stock with miso, braised vegetables, corn, onion, ramen egg, walnut miso, and grilled pork belly chashu.
$12 - Fried Chicken Kara-age
$8 - Extra Chashu
First off, the fried chicken kara-age is a total miss. The batter isn't great, it was dry and overcooked, and you get four small pieces. I can't recommend this. The extra chashu isn't necessary either unless you're really hungry, the chashu pieces here are very thick and the one piece is more than enough. That being said, the chashu is nice.
The ramen broth itself, I just don't think I'm a miso ramen person. There's a lot of depth, richness, and complexity in the broth but the miso runs a bit too salty for my palate. The chashu, egg and noodles are pretty great though. The chashu is tender and well cooked, the egg has good flavour and wasn't overcooked, and the noodles have great bounce. The walnuts were interesting as well. If I were into miso ramen I'm sure I'd revisit here often, but as it stands the next time I visit I'll probably try their classic shoyu ramen.
