Nao Ramen (Perth)
One of the OGs in the Perth ramen scene, serving up lighter broth variants of ramen and offering guests the ability to customise their bowl of ramen to their hearts desire.
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Before reading ❗️
Who is this suited for?
Guests who are after lighter ramen varieties (if you like heavier ramen varieties, we'd suggest something going to Ramen Keisuke or Tosaka Ramen instead).
What type of food is available?
Ramen (shoyu - soy, miso, spicy miso and shio - salt), cold ramen, zaru ramen, donmeshi (rice bowls) and a Japanese sides like gyoza, takoyaki, karaage and okonomiyaki sticks.
What should I order?
- Either their shoyu ramen or miso ramen with extra noodles and extra chashu (depending on your hunger levels).
How much will it cost?
- Bowls of ramen start from $14 - $15
- Donmeshi (rice bowls) start from $14
- Curry starts from $15.
Where is it?
Nao Ramen is located near Perth Town Hall and the City of Perth Library, just around the corner from McDonald's (corner of Hay St and Barrack St).
What're their socials?
The details 📝
Established in August 2003, Nao Ramen is arguably one of the OG ramen stores in Perth. Their menu features a number of different broths such as shoyu, miso, spicy miso and shio. A number of less common ramen variety are also available at Nao, such as tsukumen (dipping noodles), cold ramen and zaru ramen.
We've been frequenting Nao for over a decade. In 2017, they moved to the upper end of the Equus Arcade, near Jaws Sushi. Previously, Nao was located towards the bottom of the arcade on the Murray Street side, where The Quokka Arms currently is (some of you may remember having to sit outside on chairs while waiting for a table in their intimate old store).
The current Nao store dwarfs their old store and is easily three to four times bigger. It's also located across the hall from their sister store, Nao Curry (more on that later). The dark and moody confines of the store, coupled with the slick, exposed concrete and jazzy musical notes, all add up to make you feel like you've been transported to a ramen store in Tokyo.
Orders
Our go-to order is usually their shoyu ramen or their miso ramen. Both broths run light and savoury in terms of flavour, with the miso ramen having an ever so slight kick to it. We'd recommend either the shoyu or miso ramen if you haven't had ramen before as it's a great, light way to get into ramen. Nao doesn't sell thicker ramen variations like tonkotsu (pork broth) or tori-paitan (chicken broth), so best visit stores like Ramen Keisuke or Tosaka Ramen if that's what you're after.
Everything from the broth, chashu and noodles at Nao are made in house. Four different types of noodles are available (white, green, red and black) and a large range of extra toppings are also available. We'd suggest those with larger appetites to get either large size ramen (1.5x noodles) or extra noodles (2x noodles) as well as extra chashu. To date, Nao serves up our favourite chashu. We'd describe Nao's chashu to have a perfect ratio of lean to fat meat, which is thinly sliced and silky.
If ramen isn't your thing (what are you even doing here?! 😜), you can also order curry, from Nao Curry, or opt for their donmeshi (rice bowls). Nao's curry is made from scratch, with their roux being made from various spices and vegetables, giving the curry a nice, rich, deep flavour. Like the ramen, Nao Curry also offers its diners the ability to customise their bowl of curry with different toppings. Our pick for the curry is their pork cutlet (tonkatsu).
Before visiting 🚙
Anything else I should know before visiting?
- Expect to queue at Nao during peak lunch times
- Nao is open everyday and is open until 8:30 pm on Friday nights
- Nao do not take reservations and is strictly walk-in only. All members of your group are required to be present before being shown your table.
What's the address?
Where do I park?
Nao Ramen is located near a number of paid carparks (e.g. CPP Pier Street, CPP and St. Georges Terrace). Some street parking is available.
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