On the hunt for ramen again… after asking all our London based Japanese friends and lots of goggling, I have concluded that good ramen just doesn’t exist in London. Still, when you have the hankering, you have to accept what is out there.
Food
I liked the place straight away, because as soon as we had settled into our seats from the cold outside, we were given complementary green tea. There were a few ramens on the menu, but I went for the Miso Ramen (£5.40). This came with scattered corn, one piece of pork, seaweed. Not the greatest, with a red miso stock, pleasing noodles, and the pork was fatty enough in places, but nothing to get me excited either. Quite acceptable for the price really, but not somewhere I would be hankering to go back to. The Tonjuru Set (£7) - with potato croquette and chicken skewer was definitely more pleasing. This is a very homely soupy dish, dominated by turnip flavour. Very nice on a winter’s morning, but definitely not refined. The potato croquette and chicken skewers were both piping hot and had a nice coating, but both lacked flavour, and we had to rely on the brown sauce and mustard provided to add flavour.
Rating - 6
Atmosphere
There are a few restaurants on the street, we chose this because of the sushi bar and the appearance of some Japanese people eating there. We were seated in the downstairs area. Minimalist décor, but with some Japanese screens and cloth. It’s a small and cosy, and casual sort of place. There were a mix of both Japanese and western clientele, usually friends or couples.
Rating - 1.5
Service
Typical London Japanese, if I can call it that. They were very polite, however, it took awhile to pay the bill. Certainly not the standard of Japan. There was one waiter serving downstairs, and she was excellent. Efficient, polite, and managed to keep everyone’s tea filled up too.
Rating - 3.5
C-factor
The price is bang on for the food and the area.
Rating - 1.5
Brownie Points - 12.5
Info
56 Brewer Street
London
W1F 9TJ
Phone +44 (0) 20 332 8399
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