Life is slowly returning to the once thriving red light district of Kings Cross and Potts Point. Nearly a decade after reactionary lockout laws ravaged Sydney's night life, changing the party suburb into a ghost town of apartments and shuttered pubs, glimmers of hope have held steadfast through thick and, often, thin. One of those little-restaurants-that-could is Michael Mu Sung's pint sized Farmhouse, and now, directly across the road from the big sister comes Bones Ramen.
Mu Sung, alongside head chef Jacob Riwaka (Rising Sun Workshop) have kept things simple at this 20-seat hole in the wall diner. Ten seats overlook the theatre of the kitchen at the bar and a further ten outside. With exposed red brick interiors, ocean blue tile detailing and parquetry wood floors, the ecclectic and bare bones decor reflects the strict eight-dish-only menu.
The Bones Ramen menu features lacto-fermented nuka pickles; smoked chilli and egg yolk potato salad; and the crowd pleasing fried Bannockburn chicken thighs with yuzu mayonnaise for starters. There are four ramen bowls of pork broth with chashu, soy egg, watercress and menma; chicken paitan with whole chicken chashu, soy egg, shallots and menma; scallop silks, ebi shinjo, shallots and nori; or the vego friendly bowl of Jerusalem artichoke, celeriac chashu, shiitake and oyster mushrooms with roast tomato.
It may just be eight dishes, but there's a whole lot going on in this kitchen and attention to detail is incredibly high. “Unique to Bones will be our in-house production, barrelling and storage of taré, which is the soy seasoning for the broths. Controlling this from the restaurant means we’re able to ensure continuity across our bowls at the highest possible standard,” says Riwaka.
Unsurprisingly, these exacting standards have been given to the drinks on hand at Bones, too. Australian beers Sailors Grave, Resch's and Yulli’s are all on the menu, while lower-intervention wines are the foundation of the wine list — Clo, Trutta and La Petite Mort — drops that pair well with the spicy broths and fried foods from the kitchen.
There may be less bleary eyed competition at the taxi rank these days, but this is the uptick we love to see for the suburb that raised many of us. Even if it means we're throwing back more juicy vinos and less Jägerbombs, maybe change can be a good thing after all.