“This place does a lot of ramen…” ~ the stupidest thing said that evening
The Tori Kara-Age Ramen noodles
A sign of a good restaurant is a busy restaurant. However, this also comes with queues. My one piece of advice? Get to Shoru Ramen EARLY. If you’re going after work, get there no later than 6.30pm.
Inside, it’s busy and bustling, with giant bowls of ramen briskly being transported to hungry diners. Décor is smart, and unobtrusive. Service, as you may expect, is quick. There’s even a gong that gets sounded either every time a table is free or every time someone leaves. I couldn’t quite work it out.
But enough of that, let’s get down to the food. With over 16 different and unusual Ramen options (including a gluten-free rice noodles dish), there’ll be something to whet your appetite.
Our starters consisted of the edamame which came with a sprinkling of garlic salt and were perfectly fine. We also had the pork Gyoza dumplings which came with plenty of spring onions and crushed ginger. Fragrant and moreish although you really need to make sure you have space for when your noodles arrive.
The Tori-Kara Age Men (rice noodles or normal noodles in a mushroom soy broth) comes with hardy chunks of chicken, sheets of seaweed, spring onion, spongy pink and white fish cake, half an egg and something else that looks like dark brown string. I suspect its some type of seaweed. Or mushroom. Maybe.
Soba Cha Buckwheat tea
For those who like a bit of a kick, there is the Piri Piri Tonkatsu ramen noodle soup which comes with pork. Similarly to the Tori-Kara Age Men soup, it comes with all the other stuff too.
As with most large soupy dishes, you’ll most certainly feel full by the end of it.
There are also many unusual drinks, and we loved the Soba Cha Tea, a buckwheat tea that tastes nutty and rich, even though it’s supposedly got zero calories, is decaffeinated and also good for people with high cholesterol. When you finish the teapot, have a nibble of what’s left – it’s pretty good also.
Shoryu Ramen has given the relatively overlooked noodle a proper overhaul and managed to make it high-end, without compromising on its origins. Whilst the rise of the Noodle isn’t anything new, Shoryu Ramen is authentic and different to the rest of the Wagamama-style restaurants out there. Who wants to go back again with me?
Big noodle smiles.
Shoryu Ramen Restaurant
How much? £40 for a meal with drinks for two.
Why go there? More ramen than you can shake a stick at.
Where is it? 9 Regent Street, London SW1Y 4LR
Telephone: There’s no point calling, they don’t take bookings
Website: http://www.shoryuramen.com/
We had nice Ramen at Shoryu, big enough to share. That is worth thinking about if you’re in that area and not so rich. Defiantly going back, great food and atmosphere.