The Great Ramen Challenge

Not a feat for the faint hearted.  When the giant bowl of steaming hot soup and noodles first comes out  of the kitchen even the most seasoned eaters are taken aback.  The 1 kilo of noodles, 2 1/2 litres of broth and 300 grams of meat and vegetables is a daunting challenge.  This entire bowl has to be polished off  in 1 hour with no help.  Matt wasn't the only one taking on the famous challenge tonight, he had a competitor on the table next to ours, hoping to take home the prize of a free meal and a $100 gift voucher.  

The ramen challenge music started and Matt started off strong, working up quite a sweat as the steam from the broth began heating things up.  20 minutes passed and almost 1/3 of the bowl had been eaten.  The noodles had begun soaking up the salty broth and became heavy and thick.  Matt powered through and we thought he was going to be able to make it.  Still 40 minutes to go!

But soon his expression started changing and his pace was slowing.  The salty broth was making him thirsty and the noodles were becoming like a brick in his stomach.  There was only 5 minutes to go and Matt started to look a bit sick...

He didn't quite finish all the ramen but was so close with only 1/6 th of the bowl left.  According to the lady who owns Komachi, almost 700 people have attempted the challenge with 26 successfully making the Ramen wall of fame and some doing the chalenge twice.  Next time Matt!