Food
All of their Ramen dishes are chicken-based ones, and aside from that, they serve a few starters and fried rice.
Our starter was a plate of Chicken Karage (Rs. 750). Coated with a deliciously crispy layer of well-seasoned batter, these boneless chicken pieces were fried to perfection, incredibly juicy and succulent. To kick it up a notch, make good use of that slice of lime, pepper and chilli flakes they offer on the side.
This is the Chicken Paitan Black Ramen (Rs. 1600) – a chicken clouded soup enrichened with collagen and savoury garlic oil.
The flavour play of the broth here was mainly garlic and onion – one of the best flavour combos that you can hope for. Having soused up all this deliciousness of the broth, the noodles were absolutely flavoursome too. Garnished with pieces and bits of chicken, it also featured an egg and greens.
This one isn't exactly spicy, which would work fine for those of you who prefer a mild flavour profile.
This was our favourite out of the two – the Chicken Paitan Spicy Ramen (Rs. 1600). If you are one of those people who looks for the Lankan flavour palette in everything you eat, this one should be right up your alley.
The broth here sure packs a massive spicy punch, which we LOVED. Lusciously orange, the minced chicken on top was seasoned to high heaven with more spices. They encourage you to add more chilli flakes if you want to make it even savoury.
Boosted by the aromatic flavours that come from bits of onion and spring onions, this giant bowl of soup was total bliss. If you ever find yourself here, we highly recommend you try this out.
Service & Ambience
They've got a small place, with a couple of basic, metal tables and plastic chairs, so fitting more than 12 people at a time would make it congested.
The ordering process here is quite similar to what we experienced at PappaRich. Each table has a printed sheet where you can mention your name, table number, with a list of all the dishes on the menu. Grab that sheet, mark the ones you want to order and give it to your waiter – super easy! We got our food within around 20 minutes.
Conclusion
We are quite glad about our experience at Hamakaze. This town has a need for more ramen-dedicated spots, and Hamakaze provides it for a decent price tag. Grab a bottle of wine/beer (or any kind of booze) on your way here, if you like – they're BYOB, and free of a corkage fee.