• Kokoro Ramen (Melbourne)

It was 2005 and I was in a ski town near Kanazawa, Japan. The snow was plentiful that season and we navigated over the icy roads to find an inconspicuous ramen house.  Our eyes widened as steaming bowls of noodle soup were placed in front of us one-by-one.

Ramen is a cold weather food in Japan, here it is as you wish but rarely vegetarian.  The popular Kokoro Ramen has changed that with a dedication to vegetarians taking a page of their menu.  It is one dish.  Vegetarian ramen.


The broth is slightly salty and filled with egg, seaweed, corn, mushrooms, spring onions and, of course, squiggly egg noodles.  To accompany is a serve your-self bar of kimchi.

As I sat slurping my hot soup, I smiled at how restaurants are bringing vegetarian to the norm.  Not only was the meal vegetarian, but it was tasty, wholesome and filling too.

Kokoro Ramen fills up most lunch times, and dinner is popular too.

For vegetarians I would recommend it.  It is vegetarian and authentic ramen.

Kokoro Ramen
157 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne 3000
03 9650 1215
Kokoro Ramen on Urbanspoon