The restaurant is set up with bench setting, to my knowledge very Japanese in style of seating arrangement. There are only 18 seats and the 2 chefs and 1 waitress do a good job of sending out the meals in an efficient manner. There is a digital ordering system. Each setting has a pull out digital menu tucked neatly under the counter which slides out and you simply select your meals on the screen which automatically sends you selections to the kitchen for processing.
I decided on a couple of entrees to share and a main noodle dish each. We had the Gyoza which is for those uninitiated in the ways of Gyoza is a pan fried dumpling which is steamed as well as having a crispy base. The dumpling were I think made with pork and a pleasant way to start the meal. The other entree ordered was 2 pieces of crispy fried chicken. Very crisp and very hot, once allowed to cool they were delicious, though definitely don't be too aggressive with that first bite or you may end up with a blistered tongue.
For mains I had the Special Tonkotsu Soup Ramen and Pinkie had the Special rich fish based Tsukemen. These with require explanation. The Ramen comes in quite a large bowl filled mostly with noodles and soup broth topped with wafer thin sliced roast pork loin, a halved firm, soft boiled egg and little of what I think was some kind of bamboo shoot. There are then toppings to add at the table to add extra flavour to your liking. There are pickled mustard greens of a type, some Japanese rice seasoning, vinegar and soy sauce. I like my Asian soups with a bit of acidity which is fortunate because when pouring the vinegar I got the age old tip gently, gently and then just at the wrong time it comes out in a gush of vinegar. A good mixing of the noodles and no harm done.
Pinkie had the more interesting dish I would say and it came with a small card giving instructions in both Japanese and English on how best to eat the noodles. I think this is great as often when trying to eat new cuisines there is a lot of benefit in having at least a little knowledge as to how the meal should be consumed. A great example of this is when a non Australian tries to eat Vegemite for the first time. As any Aussie knows you get your toast spread with a generous amount of butter or margarine and the then scrape on a thin quantity of the black goodness that is Vegemite. Now, when a person from other lands comes to try Vegemite they may look at it in the same way as Jam or Peanut butter and in so doing end up covering the bread with a thick coating of Vegemite which 99 out of a 100 beginners are not going to enjoy.
So back to the noodles. You receive a large bowl of hot noodles topped with pork eggs and bamboo shoots and alongside you receive a bowl of something between a soup and a sauce. You are instructed to dip you noodles into the sauce/soup and enjoy. The temptation is to pour the sauce over the noodles and dig in. This is an error. By dipping your noodles, when you have completed eating you then add soup broth which is provided in a Thermos jug to your sauce bowl and drink up the remains to finish you meal.To wash all this down I got a Japanese soft drink which was okay but not anything to far out of the ordinary.
All in all I would say Sanpomen Ramen is worth checking out and for a good quick meal which fills the belly and leaves you satisfied.
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