29 September 2012

Dragon Boy Japanese Noodle Bar ~ World Square, City

First Menya Mappen, then Hana Hana, now Dragon Boy. Is the Japanese noodle bar officially a craze?
[Last updated March 2013]




Some kind handsome stranger in the twitterverse told us about Dragon Boy, a Japanese noodle bar in World Square. We visit as soon as we possibly can with our partner in swine, Miss Piggy.

Dragon Boy is same-same-but-different to the immensely popular Menya Mappen and Hana Hana Japanese noodle bars, it's good, fast and excellent value. The menu is brief which is a good thing, it's wise not to stretch a small kitchen. There's udon noodles of course (no soba noodles, sniff, sniff), as well as a few rice bowls and curry dishes, plus the expected array of deep fried everything.

We learnt about Dragon Boy only a week after stumbling upon a new Menya Mappen in Bondi Junction. We're so happy that this uniquely Japanese style of fast food is catching on in mainstream Australia, and hope it's much more than a passing fad.



We all go for the old favourite, bukkake udon with egg - $4.90 (small), and all agree it's as good or better as any we've tried in town. A sign says the noodles are imported from Japan, maybe that has something to do with it. Similar joints we visited in Japan handmade their noodles on the premises, or had them delivered fresh daily. Maybe if the noodle bar craze keeps gathering steam such joyous things will happen here, we can only dream...



As always there's a range of extra side snackages: renkon (fried lotus root) chips are divine as always, croquettes are hellbento fun, the fried edamame is a winner, and the 'pudding' is creme caramel made on the premises.



We also squeeze in a beef bowl  - $5.50, which is good value, but it's one of those dishes that always tastes better when you make it yourself, or with Frances.



Seared Salmon Rice Bowl $9.90 - makes Mr Shawn giggle like a Japanese schoolgirl. Oishi desu.

Back again March 2013...



We get the Spam onigiri ($2.50) for a joke but it is surprisingly delicious, the spam is slightly pan fried and spiced we think. We dig how the udon soup ($3.90) is actually hot at Dragon Boy. At other joints the soup seems luke warm. The salty broth of the udon with the lardy spam on the side makes for a perfect hangover feed.




Dragon Boy is at World Square, corner of Liverpool and George Streets, ground level, in the walkway leading up to Pitt Street that has the big bull statue.

9 comments:

  1. Hellbento fun sounds like my kinda place! And I'm loving the look of the fried edamame too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yummmmm and right at my doorstep too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. hit this place up tonight. bukkake udon just as good as menya mappen, although not so crazy busy as menya.

    they didn't have the fried lotus root and edamame dammit, so i had the croquettes which were good, the jellyfish tasty and the veggies which were crazy sour like menya and not for me.

    nice people and nice place. definitely worth checking out.

    ReplyDelete
  4. i once worked as a concierge at hordern towers (the apartment block on top of the rydges hotel) and there's a little secret about the bull in the arcade.

    the balls are not original. take a closer look next time.

    (someone decided to saw them off in a drunken stupor on asummers night in 2004)

    meanwhile thanks for tonights dinner suggestion!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sunday Open ? business time ?

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Dragon Boy’s Japanese noodle bar, tastes like heaven! Thanks to my friend who gave me some air philippines booking ticket to Sydney!

    ReplyDelete
  7. It's ok, but the lack of soba noodles means I'm sticking to Menya Mappen :(

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment joy - please keep your musings happy - if you want to complain about a restaurant please do it on a restaurant review site (or your own blog) - we're all about celebrating cultural diversity and the great eats that come along with it :-)

Our ethics: We pay for all our own meals and travel (though sometimes Mum shouts us).