Dojo Ramen Bar

Where and what

Forget dumplings - 2014 is shaping up as the year of ramen, the noodle-and-broth dish that's a staple of Japanese cuisine. Dojo Ramen Bar, a new addition to High Street's increasingly busy eating scene, is part casual eatery, very much part bar, with a DJ spinning tunes and cheerful staff shouting ''Irasshaimase'' as you enter.

A minimal, Japanese-style interior features a large central wooden bar and the occasional Japanese pop-cultural reference - a Nintendo console on the bar, a large Ultraman figurine on the wall. It's loud and fun, and rumour has it the pork broth comes from a secret recipe handed on from a Japanese ramen master.

Where to sit

A mix of high bar-style tables and easier-for-slurping-height communal and two and four-seater tables are inside, while out the back there's a compact beer garden, perfect for summer evenings.

Drink

Dojo is a bar, after all, so the drinks list is actually longer than the menu and features a small, good range of sake (try the Takara Mio sparkling sake - $8 for 150ml, $15 for a 300ml bottle - it's refreshingly dry and perfect for summer), imported Japanese beers at astonishing prices (Hokkaido Lager for $5, Asahi for $8, Sapporo $8 and Koshihikari Rice Lager, $12 for 500ml), a good range of mostly Australian wines and a fun Japanese cocktail list, which includes the Kamikaze (vodka, lime and sugar) and the Yuzu Gimlet (West Winds gin, yuzu juice - from a Japanese citrus fruit - and sugar syrup).

There are regular spirits too or, for those not imbibing, soft drinks and hot or iced green tea.

Eat

The compact ramen menu is the hero here, although the starters - or bar snacks, if you're here for a drink - are delicious and cheap. There's handmade gyoza (pork or veg, $9) and edamame served with chilli, garlic and rock salt ($3.50) - a perfect beer accompaniment. The JFC (Japanese Fried Chicken) with miso mayo ($9) is worth stopping for alone, as are the sticky soy and sesame ribs ($9).

The ramen list is kept simple, as it should be, with four kinds of broth: shoyu (soy sauce), shio (salt) and the popular chilli miso - all of which are topped with chashu pork, egg, spring onion, nori and bamboo shoots - and seasonal vegetables, topped with nori, spring onion, pickled red ginger (beni shoga) and tofu. All are $12.50.

Don't be fooled by what look like sparse toppings - these ramen bowls are huge and filling.

At the moment, Dojo is also serving mazesoba ($11), or summer-style ramen - sesame noodles with tofu, cucumber, beni shoga, spring onions and soy sauce, which is basically the noodles, served cold, without the broth. Or the slurping. But just as delicious.

Who's there

A varied crowd earlier in the night, and post-gig crowds stopping in later for some sustenance.

Why bother

Cheap, healthy Japanese food and a fun, noisy bar atmosphere.