Last Updated on February 19, 2024

Ramen Revolution

London’s ramen revolution kicked into gear in 2012 and one of the important openings was Shoryu Ramen, the brainchild of the Japan Centre’s CEO Tak Tokumine. The Shoryu Ramen group specialises in ‘Hakata style’ tonkotsu (pork stock) ramen served at their 11 sites across London, Oxford and Manchester.

The latest Shoryu Ramen restaurant opened in September 2022 on bouji Kensington High Street close to both the tube and the Design Museum, and we’ve been asked to review. If you’re not already in the ramen loop, the dish consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a broth; but beyond that simple formula, there is now a multiverse of ramen options available some of which are less than traditional. The team behind Shoryu Ramen are natives of the city of Fukuoka on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu and they are keen to celebrate their local food culture. Hakata is the district of the city that contains the railway station and borders the Mikasa river. The local favourite Hakata ‘tonkotsu ramen‘ is made with a thick, rich, white pork soup and thin, straight ramen noodles’ and this dish is the keynote offer at Shoryu Ramen along with a range of other options such as their signature fluffy ‘Shoryu Buns’ filled with char siu bbq pork belly, soy marinated chicken karaage, crispy pumpkin croquette, or Japanese tofu.

It’s always good to make a big entrance and as I came into the restaurant I was greeted with a welcoming bang on a Taiko drum from the charming staff. Although the restaurant has 70 covers, Maja Myall’s design gives the space a more intimate feel.

There is light wood parquet flooring and ash wood tables, the drama of an open kitchen with a counter bar, Japanese paper lanterns and stylish paper lampshades. We sat at a mini dining pod and there is also an informal bar area with white tiles and traditional Hakata Bei Wall (mud wall) decoration, which offers delicious-sounding sake cocktails such as the Yuzu Mojito with fresh strawberries, homemade yuzu syrup, and yuzu umeshu over crushed ice, and Japanese beer. We opted to drink the Kikizake Sake Flight, three different pours from the Gekkeikan brewery, the brewers to the Japanese Imperial Household. But before I talk about the booze I should focus on the reason for being here, the ramen.

I love eating a steaming bowl of these satisfyingly springy noodles at this time of year. It always feels like a super healthy comfort food with an endless variety of stocks and toppings to keep the palate amused. The bowls at Shoryu Ramen are a generous size with a substantial portion of noodles which can be cooked to three levels of softness. The Miso Wafu Chicken Ramen brings together a rich, smooth broth of soy milk, white miso, kombucha soy broth, delicious tender chunks of chicken karage (fried), kikurage mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, spring onion, the zing of red ginger, and nori (seaweed).

The White Natural is the restaurant’s vegan take on what is traditionally a meaty dish. It’s clean and light again using soy milk but this time with a miso, kombu and shiitake broth, atsuage tofu, kikurage mushrooms, menma bamboo shoots, spring onion, broccoli and nori. It’s a great option for non-meat eaters with no compromise on flavour. Sides delivered as well as the ramen.

I’m a huge fan of Takoyaki (spicy deep-fried octopus balls) which were the largest I’ve tried and slathered with an enervating blend of Japanese mayo, takoyaki brown sauce, bonito flakes and aonori seaweed. Goma kyuri cucumber was sliced into slivers and decked with a rambunctious hot chilli and sesame mix, and a plate of wakame seaweed tossed in a tasty wasabi yuzu dressing with a mixed salad and shredded carrots was a super-healthy mixture of greens.

So what about the sake? We started with the refreshing Gekkeikan Taru sake. It’s the brewer’s signature sake and has rich cedar notes from being stored in the Taru (“barrel”) for up to 2 weeks. Gekkeikan Gensen Sozai Junmai (non-additive) sake is dry and full-bodied made from rice polished to 70% of its original size. Our final tasting, Gekkeikan Tokusen, is an elegant sake brewed at low temperatures with a satisfying umami flavour profile. It was great fun tasting the different sakes and their diversity of flavour and if you haven’t investigated the world of sake then you’re missing out!

For desserts, we tried the yuzu sorbet which was deliciously tangy and a soft serve mango and passion fruit mochi ice cream with Hong Kong milk tea.

The Shoryu Ramen group is setting the bar for ramen restaurants around the UK. If you’re a ramen aficionado or new to the noodle-slurping experience then you should find your local branch and visit.