As well as a memorable name, this welcoming sliver of a space in backstreet Prahran provides a memorable vegan ramen. A beguilingly complex sesame dashi or mushroom dashi broth anchors a guilt-free meal that will feed body and soul. Carnivores needn’t feel the chill wind of disappointment, however: eight-hour cooked chicken broth forms the base of most ramens here, including the house signature with the choice of free-range pork belly or free-range chicken breast, or jazzed up into the spicy miso version. As a bonus, they’re happy to make half serves, and Suntory beer is on tap. 6A Anchor Pl, Prahran; yokuono.com.au

A seat at Yakikami’s refined wagyu omakase counter is one of Melbourne’s great dining indulgences but it also plays a strong ramen game in its sleek Toorak Road dining room. Pork and chicken chashu with jellified egg in an 18-hour chicken broth will stave off winter in style but for ramen with a point of difference, the mini asari yaki version goes light on the broth and big on the clams rounded out with pan-fried chilli, garlic and cherry tomatoes for a saucy rather than soupy experience. Pro tip: don’t miss Yakikami’s binchotan-grilled yakitori, either. 150 Toorak Rd, South Yarra; yakikami.com.au

The soup arm of the Shyun tripod of Japanese eateries on Koornang Road, Shyun Ramen has kept the south-east supplied with crowd-pleasing bowls of noodles for more than a decade. Devotees of tori (chicken-based) and tonkotsu (pork-based) ramen can finally coexist in harmony in the dining room, which does a bustling trade in both chicken tori-gara soup and pork tonkotsu broths, both infused over 10 hours of careful simmering. Diners can further customise their soup base – creamy miso, or the umami boost of shoyu (soy sauce) – and take their pick from optional extras like karaage chicken and spicy pork mince. 73 Koornang Rd, Carnegie; shyun.net.au

This Smith Street joint takes its ramen so seriously it invites customers to film their slurping skills. Even if you’re not up for joining the competition, the ineffable combination of ramen, sake and a killer vinyl soundtrack makes Fumi and Takako Tamura’s joint a winner. The signature shio ramen sees pork cha-shu in a delicate chicken broth and fish dashi, while the 10-plus selection includes a vegan version going hefty with agedashi tofu in a konbu and shiitake dashi. Whichever way you jump, slurp like no one’s watching. 343 Smith St, Fitzroy; tamurasho-ten.com

The multiplicity of ramen is in evidence at this humble Sydney Road shopfront. Duck behind the noren curtains and dive into the mysteries of shoya (soy sauce ramen), which is a cleaner, less calorific beast than its more common tonkotsu counterpart. Expect a clear, rich and umami-packed broth, and punk it up with chicken, vegetable or slow-cooked duck. If you want to compare and contrast, owner and chef Fujio Tamura also owns nearby Ramen Misoya Sake Bar, which is all about miso ramen made with a chicken or vegetarian broth base. 692 Sydney Rd, Brunswick; ramen-shouyu-ya.square.site

It’s a reliable solace during a long, grey Melbourne winter that Andrew McConnell’s salaryman hangout Supernormal serves up ramen as a cold weather special for lunch each weekday. A multi-layered thing of pure comfort, its double cooked chicken bone broth base is gussied up with thin noodles along with charry grilled chicken and a lusciously jammy soy-marinated egg – plus they throw in a couple of the excellent prawn and chicken dumplings you can otherwise find on the main carte. Heed the words “until sold out” and beat a hasty path to the Flinders Lane venue each Monday to Friday to avoid disappointment. 180 Flinders Ln, Melbourne; supernormal.net.au

If you’re into artisan ramen getting its luxe on beneath futuristically playful ceiling panels, Sara is for you. A delicate shoyu (soy sauce) stock provides the foundation for ingredients like M9 wagyu sirloin, Hokkaido scallops, meaty little clams and yuzu smoked duck to hog the spotlight. There’s French technique on display – the lemon black pepper paste amping up the wagyu, the burnt butter riching up the clams. Then there’s the choice of noodles to contend with: will it be the curly noodles, aged for two weeks in-house, or the straight numbers? Ponder the dilemma over a pre-dinner sake. Shop 3/391-393 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne; sararamen.com.au

The Hakata Gensuke chain has always been synonymous with tonkotsu broth; the rib-sticking, milky texture achieved through long, slow boiling of pork bones. But answering calls for a pork-free version, the global brand dedicated its QV location to tori (chicken) ramen. Its tori paitan builds on its chicken-bone broth with umami-rich fish dashi, with meltingly tender chicken chashu. Fans of the burn can also order their ramen in Hakata Gensuke’s signature ‘God Fire’ style – with the house-made Spicy Fire hot sauce, available from the manageable 0.5 through to the you-have-no-one-to-blame-but-yourself level 4. QV Melbourne, Constance Stone Lane, 200 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne; gensuke.com.au

The city’s ramen splinter faction of tantanmen lovers is collectively obsessed with the Japanese take on China’s spicy Sichuan Dan Dan noodles, and this is one of their favourite haunts. A wriggling heap of ramen noodles loll in a kickingly spicy soup (fear not, newbies: spice levels are customisable) with lip-tingling chili oil, a tasty rubble of pork mince and the leavening fresh crunch of beanshoots and spring onion. That’s not their only ramen trick; head to tonkotsu town, try an abu (dry noodle) ramen or keep things on the vegetarian straight and narrow. 369 Little Collins St, Melbourne; littleramenbar.com.au

This globe-conquering chain of ramen shops originated in Fukuoka, the birthplace of tonkotsu ramen (also known as Hakata style), and does no disservice to the rich, collagen-creamy broth and al dente noodles, but we’ll admit that real estate is a reason to love Ippudo. A native to Melbourne’s shopping centres, it’s a beacon of respite from the retail frenzy. Let your loved ones go crazy in the climate-controlled shops while getting down with a labour-intensive broth dressed up with pork loin and a bunch of bang-on additions; seasonal ramens and one-off specials keep the Ippudo fans coming back. Multiple locations; stores.ippudo.com

Tucked inside the food court of The Glen Shopping Centre, Ramen Ramen’s unassuming location doesn’t detract from what’s in the bowl. The handmade noodles are crafted using dough that Ramen Ramen proudly proclaims to be aged for three days; the extended fermentation leading to springy, bouncy strands. A tonkatsu-style broth, made with both chicken and pork bones, bubbles away for at least a day, to achieve the milky, collagen-rich base popular on the Japanese main island of Kyushu. Solo slurpers will love the row of bench seats for one, at which discreet screens hide you from your neighbour as you inhale. The Glen Shopping Centre, 235 Springvale Rd, Glen Waverley; theglen.com.au/stores/ramen-ramen

Japanese cuisine mightn’t be widely known as a safe haven for dietaries (as any English-speaking coeliac visiting Tokyo can probably attest), but you’re in safe hands at Misoya Sake, where chef Fujio Tamura builds his miso ramen base with chicken and vegetarian stocks, giving Melbourne one of its best bowls of vegan and gluten-free ramen in one go. The latter arrives with a shio (salt) base, made luscious and cloudy with a chicken paitan bone broth. If you’re a fan of Tamura’s handiwork, follow him to new sister venue Ramen Shouyuya just down the road for shoyu (soy sauce-based) ramen. 165A Sydney Rd, Brunswick; /misoya-sake-bar-brunswick.square.site/home

At the moment, it feels like a new global ramen chain opens in Melbourne every other week, precipitating instant queues (two years on, and there’s still a line outside Mensho Tokyo). The latest is Kikanbo Melbourne, a Tokyo chain known for its fiery miso-based broth, with an underpinning of pork and chicken bones and vegetable stock. You can customise your heat level all the way up to ‘oni’ (demon), adjusting the levels of chilli heat (kara) and the numbing heat of sansho pepper (shibi). Hunks of slow-cooked pork belly and a jammy whole egg complete the signature karashibi miso ramen. 5/260 La Trobe St, Melbourne, @kikanbo_melb