Taro’s Izakaya and Ramen restaurant review: Food packed with flavour, except for the most expensive dish

A premium inner-Brisbane ramen restaurant has transformed its night-time sessions to offer an even wider array of flavour-filled delights, and there’s value to be found, if not in the most expensive dish.

Taro's Izakaya and Ramen on Queen St, Brisbane. Photograph David Kelly

Know ramen, know life, reads the server’s T-shirt at Taro’s Izakaya and Ramen in Queen St in the Brisbane CBD. And when you’re slurping up a bowl of noodles in a deeply flavoured broth on a cold night, it pretty much does feel like you’ve found the holy grail.

However Brisbane ramen king Taro Akimoto, who also has outlets in South Brisbane, Ascot and Stone’s Corner, earlier this year decided to expand his repertoire, turning his city ramen enterprise into an izakaya by night – a traditional Japanese bar where alcohol is served alongside affordable snacks and dishes.

Ramen addicts will breathe a sigh of relief, though, as it’s also available, with 12 varieties (from tonkatsu to vegan) plus a list of custom additions and specials on the menu.

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Akimoto has built his ramen operation with careful attention to produce, handmaking noodles in house using unbleached Australian flour, Bangalow sweet pork, halal chicken and organic free range eggs from the Mary River region.

The same principle is followed in this new iteration, with, for example, a sashimi set including Ballina bigeye tuna, Rocky Point grouper and local prawns.

Taro's Izakaya and Ramen on Queen St, Brisbane. Photograph: David Kelly

On a Saturday evening we catch the escalator from Queen St up to Taro’s. It’s a long, thin room with various nooks, a woodwork feature on one wall, wooden cubes for seats, bare tabletops and several larger tables outside.

It’s very casual, with a small central table for condiments, specials lists on clipboards on a pillar and a self-service water cooler near the bar, where you also go to order and pay.

The place is fairly full and often there’s a queue as patrons return for another drink or to order, with one waitress, calm and super friendly, dealing with that as well as delivering the food.

Sometimes she breaks into a run back from the tables to keep up with the demand.

It’s a mixed crowd in the early evening, with a family with young children, couples, solo diners and a couple of larger groups outside.

Taro's Sashimi Triplet. Photograph: David Kelly

We’re inside, with cubes pulled up to a table for two and we decide to trawl the izakaya side of the operation and order a series of snacks starting with menu standards of golden-tipped pork gyoza ($12.10) served with a small saucer of soy and a bottle of chilli oil, and crisp soft shell crab with ponzu ($13.20) to go with a beer (Suntory Premium Malt is on tap and a can of Yoyogi pale ale).

There’s also plum wine, saké, Japanese whisky and highballs, 11 Australian wines, with most from Petaluma – there’s even a $22 Petaluma tasting paddle of sauv blanc, chardonnay and pinot noir – hot green tea with a free refill and a variety of soft drinks and juices. BYO is $5.50 a person for bottled wine and saké only.

A menu note says cold saké, umeshu (plum liquor) and wine is served in Riedel/Plumm glasses, which is rather fancy.

Taro's Walnut Miso and Yaki Onigiri – Ikura. Photograph: David Kelly

Agedashi okoge ($13.20) is a winner, featuring pressed crunchy rice in a broth topped with sliced shallots and nori; belly bits and bean sprouts ($9.90) is also delicious as is the special of Nagasaki prawn toast with local prawns. The little square sandwiches ($4.40) are crunchy and served with a lemon wedge and a splodge of light chilli sauce.

Specials change daily and from the list we also try a small dish of sashimi king prawn marinated in shio koji ($6.60) which is fine but unremarkable.

From the standard menu, puffed grouper rind ($6.60) is a plate of puffed fried fish skin pieces, pork crackling-like to look at as they’re all curled up and super crisp, with aonori (dried green seaweed) salt.

The only disappointment is our most expensive dish, the “ultimate wagyu steak” with wasabi soy ($30.80). It’s cooked well, with the meat pink and thinly sliced, but it’s delivered on the cold side of lukewarm and lowers the food score.

It’s a shame as all the other dishes have been packed with flavour in an establishment that is offering quality, well-priced dishes in a chilled-out setting.

Taro's daily special – duck shallots wasabi. Photograph David Kelly

Taro’s Izakaya and Ramen

Level 2/480 Queen St, Brisbane City

taros.com.au

Open

Seven days. Weekday lunch 11.30am-2pm, weekend lunch 12-2pm and dinner

5.30pm-8pm

Must try

Nagasaki-style prawn toast

Verdict

Food

3.5 stars

Service

3 stars

Ambience

3 stars

Value

4 stars

Overall

3.5/5 stars

delicious.com.au/eatout