Tuesday 5 November 2019

Eating Out: i like ramen (plus art, dinosaurs, bubble tea, and Puffs)

Vegan ramen restaurant i like ramen is a place I have eaten at a number of times before. They started as a Gold Coast pop up, then a Brisbane pop up, then moved to a Brisbane and Gold Coast restaurant, then just a Brisbane restaurant. They have recently closed their Brisbane restaurant, with plans to re-open a restaurant down at the Gold Coast. However, I did have a couple of visits before they closed, which let me round out my menu experiences with them. Always a good thing to feel like you haven't missed out on trying something you really wanted to! Both these visits coincided with other reasons for being in the area, so I will share a bit about those fun adventures as well.

I went after work one Saturday afternoon, for an early dinner and to do a few other things in the area. First up, I wanted to go and see a small art exhibition put on by Cute Girls Art Club at a nearby bar. It was really nice, with lots of cute art, often with a witchy theme (which I love). There were a lot of gorgeous pieces, but I was especially taken by this sweet black cat painting.

Art at Cute Girls Art Club


Then it was on to dinner! The last time I had been, I was disappointed with my Chick'n and White Miso Ramen, and envious of my friend's Tokotsu Ramen. This time, I finally got a delicious bowl of Tonkotsu all to myself! And it was outstanding. Yellow ramen noodles, confit cherry tomatoes, marinated bamboo shoots, spring onion, sprouts, nori, and sesame seeds in a rich and creamy broth. It was so good! The confit cherry tomatoes were out of this world!

Tonkotsu Ramen at i like ramen


Afterwards, I headed out to B Lucky & Sons Arcade and Bar, just a short walk away. I had seen someone post an IG story of themselves there, and I spied a Jurassic Park game in the background! It is a bit fancy, you have to walk through an area where you have to buy and load a card with money so you can play the games. I was a bit nervous at first, I am used to eating out on my own, going to galleries and movies and things on my own, but an arcade seems like a group activity. But then I thought, meh, I wanna play the dino game, so I did. Set after the events of JP3, it foreshadows the events of JWFK as you have to rescue dinos off the island before a volcano erupts. Key word rescue, I didn't want to be killing. I chose the T Rex event, but sadly even though I did finally rescue the T Rex, they make you shoot a lot of other dinos in the process. They claim it is a tranquilizer gun, but at various times I had grenades or ice bombs and you saw them blow apart! Oh no! Sadness! Lies!

Jurassic World Arcade at B Lucky and Sons


They have some fun drinks there, including some non alcoholic bubble teas. They also have a vegan pizza there, it looks spicy, but I had already eaten something delicious and non-spicy. But I did get the Sweet Melon Bubble Tea - watermelon and Vanilla syrup shaken with peach tea, coconut jellies and fruit pearls. It was sweet and yummy, but had so much ice in it that the peals and jellies all got trapped underneath, and it was quite the tactical exercise to get them out using only a straw.

Sweet Melon Bubble Tea at B Lucky and Sons


But enough random stuff, back to the food. The next (and, unbeknown to me final) time I was at i like ramen, I was there for a pre-show dinner with my friend Amy. We started off by sharing some of the Panko Mushrooms - crumbed mushroom pieces in sour cream and onion seasoning, served with aioli. I have had this before, and it is always good.

Panko Mushrooms at i like ramen


Amy kept the mushroom theme going with the Mushroom Ramen (shiitake and soy mushroom broth with ramen, shiitake and king oyster mushrooms, spring onions, shallots, nori and sesame seeds) with some tofu added.

Mushroom Ramen at i like ramen


I was tempted to get the Tonkotsu again, though decided to try the Mean Green. I hadn't tried it before, and I was under the weather so getting lots of greens seemed like a wise decision. It had spinach ramen with a clear vegetable broth, pak choy, wakame, seared broccoli, spring onion, sprouts, sesame, nori, and I added some tofu as well. This was delicious, and exactly what I needed.

Mean Green Ramen at i like ramen


The play we saw wass Puffs the Play, which is honestly the best play I have ever seen. And if you ever get a chance to see it, see it a million times!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

Garden Gizmo


Unlike Dim Sim and (especially) Sahara, Gizmo was not much of a tree climber. So I don't have a photo of her in the tree from when we lived in Sydney. But I do have this sweet photo of her posing in the garden.

4 comments:

  1. I love the black kitty painting!
    Man, both bowls of ramen look so incredible, and all of the add ins sound so well thought out. You find the best food, I will always think that!
    Gizmo looks like a little mother nature model!!!

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    1. She had a mother nature vibe about her, that's for sure. My sweet nurse kitty.

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  2. Such a beautiful painting!
    That's great that you were able to get the Tokotsu ramen; it looks amazing! I really like the sound of the mushroom one, too!
    Also, the bubble tea looks so cute with the little panda holding onto the straw!

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    1. Yes! I left him behind so they could reuse him, but it was a cute addition.

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