Editor's Rating

8.5
Food/Drink
9
Ambience
9
Service

Hello guys, have you tried Bariuma Ramen? Since its opening in CityWalk Sudirman 2 months ago, we finally visited it last month after we missed the grand opening event. FYI, from what we were told in the invitation email, Bariuma Ramen is one of the most widely known ramen in Japan and currently already have branches in Singapore and Malaysia. Established in Hiroshima – Japan, Bariuma is known for its thick broth of soup and tasty homemade noodle, garnished with the most delicious toppings.

“Bariuma” itself comes from “Bari” means “super” and “Uma” means “tasty”, in other words, it means “Super tasty”. The founder of Bariuma Ramen believes that a tasty bowl of ramen has to have super rich and thick soup suit to the modern style. It developed the Rich Tonkotsu Soy Sauce based with the finest soya and cooked with authentic tonkotsu flavor. Now, after opening more than 50 outlets in Japan, Bariuma Ramen is ready to be enjoyed by people in Indonesia.

The outlet here in Jakarta is located on the Level 1 of CityWalk Sudirman, which recently has been dominated by Japanese businessmen from the offices nearby. The place is not big, but separated into 2 main areas: inner area – non smoking, and the outer area – smoking. My first impression is that the place is clean, bright, and well-decorated with simple Japanese-style ornaments. I fancy the hanging lamps and the other side of wall where they put Japanese writings with touch of calligraphy.

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Bariuma Ramen specializes in Tonkotsu Ramen (with pork) but Chicken Ramen menu are also available. The uniqueness is that they have different colors to separate the flavors: Red for pork, Black for Chicken. And this doesn’t only apply to the bowls, but also to the chopsticks and spoons provided on every table.

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For the pork ramen, there are 5 kinds of ramen: Bariuma (IDR 58,000), Ajitama-Uma (IDR 68,000), Nori-Uma (IDR 68,000), Kara-Uma (IDR 68,000), Chashu-Uma (IDR 88,000). Chashu-Uma is the most pricey because a bowl of it gets 4 pieces of grilled thick-cut chashu.

The noodle is all homemade and we can freely choose the hardness: original, firm, soft.

 

Ajitama-Uma Ramen IDR 68,000

Pork-flavored shoyu soup, with grilled thick-cut chashu and flavored egg.

While Bariuma Ramen is their signature dish, we skipped it and tried Ajitama-Uma instead. The difference is just the additional flavored egg (ajitama). FYI, this flavored egg is left for a day soaked in shoyu and finished with bonito bouillon. The egg was tasty and firm, although I was a bit disappointed that it wasn’t half-boiled, but fully-boiled.

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The so-called “rich tonkotsu soup” was rich in flavor, yes, but consistency-wise, it was a bit unclear where it heads to. From the looks, it has a white-ish and transparent parts altogether, indicating a super oily soup. It is not really pleasant to look at that and actually slurp it, LOL. But the noodle was totally my type, not too thick and not too thin, just perfect, and since I ordered it firm, I loved the consistency so much.

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Kara-uma Ramen IDR 68,000

Basically the SPICY VERSION of the signature Bariuma Ramen.

Soup contains chili paste, chili oil, and chili powder. Must say I was totally sold from the first spoon of soup. Bold and kicking, with perfect firmness of noodle and delicious chashu, what else can I ask for? If you like spicy food, this is simply a MUST TRY.

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Karaage (4 pcs) IDR 35,000

Marinated with garlic, shoyu, vinegar, and black pepper. Love, love, love the crunchiness, but missing one big point of my favorite ingredients: ginger.

8 pcs portion is also available for IDR 68,000.

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Taru-Taru Karaage (4 pcs) IDR 39,000

Same comment with above, but this one is forgivable because the Taru-Taru a.k.a. tartar sauce made up for the lack of ginger.

8 pcs portion is IDR 69,000.

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Yakitori Tori Combo IDR 39,000

Consists of chicken and white leek, 2 chicken thighs, 2 chicken breasts.

Succulent chicken, well-seasoned, but somehow a little over-grilled. Great companion for the ramen as well as beer when you need something to munch first before the actual feast.

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And of course, eating ramen is never complete without a gyoza… or two!

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Age Mayo Gyoza (5 pcs) IDR 39,000

Tried 3 types of gyoza dishes and this one was my favorite. The gyozas were deep-fried nicely leaving crispy crusts and softer filling that will make nice cracking sound when eaten. The mayo gave a sweet touch enhanced with fragrant spring onions make this dish super unforgettably delicious. Recommended for sure.

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Teriyaki Gyoza (5 pcs) IDR 39,000

Served with teriyaki sauce and sprinkled with sesame sauce, this sounds too nice to be missed. I like how they are still served connected one to another, doesn’t look too pretty but it feels like homemade gyoza. XD The teriyaki sauce was basically just sweet like typical teriyaki sauce, but the additional sesame seed gave more texture to it. This was okay but not something that I will order again.

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Spicy Gyoza (5 pcs) IDR 39,000

These spicy gyozas were indeed spicy for Japanese restaurant’s standard and left a burning sensation in mouth after eating. It wasn’t that terrible burning sensation, but a light one after we eat spicy food using chili. The gyoza itself was kind of sour and we didn’t know if we were just unlucky that time or it was made that way.

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Ishiyaki Chaofan Chashu IDR 45,000

As if those we ordered weren’t enough for 2 of us (yes, we just visited this place 2 person only yet we ordered so many food like usual), we didn’t want to miss the Ishiyaki (stone-grilled) dishes.

The rice was fried rice and it was a dry fried rice with almost no taste, mixed with chashu cuts which were given generously. It was like everywhere I saw chashu and the rice was almost covered by it, not that I am complaining. XD Taste-wise, the chashu was savory with a hint of sweetness, and totally enhanced the flavor of the fried rice. However, I still think that the fried rice should have more defined taste rather than depending too much on the chashu.

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Sapporo Beer IDR 39,000

If you’re a beer person, trust me, this will work wonder in helping your body digesting all the oily stuffs you just eat. And it refreshes the mind, LOL I made that up. But yes, Sapporo beer is nice!

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We tried quite a lot of their menu and so far I was quite impressed. Mr. K is not a fan and he was/is very skeptical about Hiroshima Ramen as he always thinks that their ramen has no “personality” compared to other areas’ ramen such as Hakata or Tokyo. For me, ramen dishes from Bariuma Ramen are quite tasty and very enjoyable, especially the Kara-Uma. It all depends on one’s preference, so why don’t you try yours now if you haven’t? 😉

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*All prices are subject to 5% service charge & 10% government tax

*The Food Escape team are not paid whatsoever for writing this post.

** This review is written based on our visit on 25 May 2015.

 

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BARIUMA RAMEN
CityWalk Sudirman Level 1 Unit 5
Jl. K.H. Mas Mansyur Kav. 121
Jakarta 10220
Ph. +62 21 2970 4018

Opening Hours:
Mon-Sun 10AM – 10PM