Eat Like Ushi

Rounding out the trio, I visited Shoryu for an early weekend dinner. The menu is certainly more extensive than Bone Daddies and Tonkotsu, offering a greater deal of ramen types and starters compared with the other two. I suppose this is good for variety, but only if the main ramen focus was maintained up to scratch.

Some of the reviews of Shoryu have been mixed. The most frequent complaint is the excessive heavy-handed wasabi in the Wasabi Tonkotsu to the point of it being inedible. I would never have ordered that anyway, but it's good to know.

- Matcha latte - sweet green tea latte, which London has been missing;
- Char siu Tonkotsu (rich tonkotsu pork broth with bbq pork, nitamago egg, kikurage mushrooms, beansprouts, spring onion, sesame, ginger & nori) - a generous serve beautifully presented and satisfying, but seemed to lack the deep rich flavour found in Bone Daddies and Tonkotsu;
- Chicken kara age - simply cooked, needed more seasoning;
- Pork belly Hirata Bun (steamed buns filled with shoryu spicy meat, greens & kewpie mayo) - quite an unimpressive version with heavy bun, ugly lettuce and only a thin slice of pork belly.

I'd come back to Shoryu only if other people wanted to come here to try it and/or eat the side dishes. It isn't bad, I just feel BD and Tonkotsu are better. Shoryu does have a more extensive drinks (including alcohol and the abovementioned Matcha latte) so maybe that might tip you one evening.

Next time I would order the Char siu Tonkotsu for a safe dish, or branch out creatively to Dracula Tonkotsu (deep roasted tones from caramelised black garlic mayu, balsamic vinegar and garlic chips), Sapporo Miso (miso pork broth, bbq pork, nitamago, nori, sweet corn, seasoned beansprouts and spring onion) or maybe just their simpler signature Shoryu Ganso Tonkotsu (tonkotsu & miso broth with added spinach & garlic).

The triad of London's ramen has arrived with many people debating which is the best of them - Bone Daddies, Tonkotsu or Shoryu. I greatly enjoyed Bone Daddies, with friends telling my Tonkotsu had better kara age but not as good ramen. There is no better reason to try it than to form a healthy debatable opinion.

- chicken karaage (horrible photo) - simple flavours, although I felt the chicken pieces had a bit too much fat layer;
- pork gyoza (horrible photo) - simple, juicy, nice;
- Tonkotsu ramen (rich, sea salt-based pork stock and thin noodles topped with slices of melt-in-the-mouth pork belly, half a seasoned soft-boiled egg, menma, bean sprouts and spring onions) - generous amount of beautiful fatty broth with excellent toppings;
- Mochi icecream (yuzu, salted caramel, black sesame) - chewy, cold interiors, sweet to finish.

I liked the Tonkotsu ramen better than Bone Daddies, but not the karaage. People will disagree.

Next time I would order Tonkotsu ramen again - no need to mess with the winning original and namesake formula. For a change, Tokyo ramen with lighter broth of chicken & pork with soy would be worth trying.

London has a well known negative reputation for Asian food (ie. Oriental to the locals). In particular all the Europeans who I've met in Melbourne universally agree London Japanese food is expensive, overpriced, poor quality. Even the recent opening of a Japanese restaurant by a well known Kyoto kaiseki Michelin-star chef hasn't been well received for a variety of reasons. I have had a ramen and udon bar on my list for a few months now, so it seemed appropriate now that winter is coming to try one and hope for the best.

Bone Daddies (odd name for a ramen bar?) is the first ramen place I've considered going to here. Maybe because of good advertising and simply the fact that it is new and hip. Reviews have been mixed so far - the main complaints have been about the T22 chicken ramen. I don't think I've ever had a chicken-based ramen in Japan, so I was happy to avoid that anyway.

Peak times supposedly involve lines, so 2pm on a weekday seemed perfect. The setting is made for all sorts - sharing tables, window seats for singles, small tables for privates. The walls are nicely decorated with Japanese posters.

I tried two typical staples - Fried Chicken and Tonkotsu Ramen.

The Fried Chicken (aka tori kara age) is the same as you'd find in Japan - crispy fried, juicy good quality chicken, no added flavours. Simple, effective, authentic. A touch of lemon helps and chilli on standby if you roll that way.

Tonkotsu Ramen (aka pork broth) is as basic as it gets. Like all great Asian noodle soups, the broth is the most important part, and they have done it well. Simple light pork flavour, some murky fat emulsifying through and just done well. Often Japan places to layer this with salt, soy or miso flavour but this was plain and tasty. I had to specifically ask for 7-spice (shichi-mi) and even the wait staff didn't seem to know what it was, which was strange. Within the broth was some typical Japanese char-siu (not the same as the red and 5-spiced Cantonese if that is what you are expecting), bean shoots, garlic chips, bamboo shoots, spring onion and a perfectly soft-boiled egg. My only suggestion would be to have more broth added to the dish as it runs out pretty quickly after a few initial ladles to taste it on its own.

The prices aren't cheap, but expected for a new place in Soho London. I suppose the only real complaint here is a cup of green tea for £3 - extortionate.

Next time I would order the Tonkotsu Ramen for a safe bet. Chicken broth would be an unusual change just to test it (since 6 dishes are chicken broth based and only one pork) of which the Sweet 3 Miso Ramen appeals to me most. The snacks are all supplementary options but none seem necessary - you are here for the ramen.

2013

As my time in London came to a close, Bone Daddies became the restaurant I most frequently ate at and the one I would unhesitating go back to for any meet. I may have attended 6 times in 2013, of which 4 were during my final month of October. The reason was simple - the tonkotsu ramen was still delicious but the addition of the spicy pig bones was a sensation. Soft pork ribs doused in a thick sweet sauce (honey/sugar, mirin, rice wine, soy is all I could determine from it) are incredible. Keep going back.