FAQ: Shoryu Ramen Opening Day

November 07, 2012 at 11:47AM via Instagram http://instagr.am/p/RuigrGCc62/

Shoryu Ramen
9 Regents Street, London, SW1Y 4LR

Shoryu Ramen, the second ‘tonkotsu centric’ eatery in a week, opened at lunchtime today and this picture of their “Yuzu Tonkotsu” generated a lot of interest and many questions! Instead of trying to reply to them all in 140 characters or less here’s a FAQ

IMPORTANT: Bear in mind that this is based on ONE visit having tasted the ONE offering called Yuzu Tonkotsu (“a rich tonkotsu pork & chicken soup: topped with a blend of yuzu citrus and chilli pepper, BBQ pork, kikurage black mushrooms, nori seaweed, bean sprouts, spring onion and sesame”)

• Q: Is it better than Tonkotsu/Bone Daddies… etc… etc… ?
  Naturally, everyone wants a comparison to nearby Soho competitors Bone Daddies, Tonkotsu, Ittenbari, Koya etc. For me, I think it’s definitely better than Tonkotsu (Dean Street) and Ittenbari (Brewer Street) in terms of size and flavour. However, the topping at Shoryu is different to what I’ve had in the past from tonkotsu elsewhere. So bear this in mind! Shoryu also clearly states on their website that they specialise in “Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen”. I’m not sure is this the same or a different ramen ‘style’ offered by all their competitors! What I had today is definitely different to my experience elsewhere!
• Q: Is it “authentic”?
  You’re asking the wrong person! I am not Japanese, I’ve never had Tonkotsu in Japan… or even been to the country! I can only tell you if I liked it… and I did!
• Q: The broth looks so milky, how did it taste?
  The broth was unexpectedly milky and looked somewhere between tonkotsu I’ve had in the past and a chicken soup! The Shoryu broth was lovely and rich on chicken flavour and creamy in texture. I would say it was my favourite broth I’ve had in London so far. But bear in mind that I’ve been ONCE and I had something the ‘Yuzu Tonkotsu’ which comes with ‘yuzu citrus’ and ‘chilli pepper’, both very strong flavours which probably contributed a lot to the taste.
• Q: What were the toppings like?
  First obvious difference is that there was no soft boiled egg on top (although it was available as an extra for £1.50. Shorya Ramen states that they specialise in ‘Hakata Tonkotsu’. I don’t know what this style of tonkotsu is supposed to taste like OR whether it is supposed to come with an egg or not. Maybe someone Japanese can comment. Second difference is that the pork didn’t seem to be the traditional big slice of ‘chashu’ pork roll. The pork was nice, but some people might be a little upset about the difference.
• Q: Overall – What did you think?
  Overall, I thought it was excellent, I’m writing this 3 hours later and I’m still full! It’s difficult to gauge size, but I think that the bowl size is larger here than everywhere else I’ve been so far. You get a huge portion. The bowl itself is very wide so it might be an illusion, but it was extremely filling! Asking for a judgment on one dish is difficult so I will be back to try another dish. After my recent experience of liking a place so much I went back on the second day I hope that the standard will remain high!

Review to follow…

Shoryu Ramen
Ad: 9 Regents Street, London, SW1Y 4LR (map)
Ww: www.shoryuramen.com
Tw: @shoryuramen