With a fiery and flavoursome menu and a cocktail list that put a smile on my face, Shoryu Ramen’s successful streak is clearly on the up with another branch opening its doors.
I visited the new Shoreditch branch within the first week of opening to see what the fuss was about and took my fellow Japanese food lover, Theo, with me. I was immediately impressed with the decor and the atmosphere that had been created but, most of all, the care and attention that had been put into delivering the most mouth-watering food.
Located on Great Eastern Street, the new restaurant has been designed by Blenheim Design, with counter bars, high tables and a ramen bar where guests can watch the chefs at work. Brown leather booths and modern wooden tables are nestled together for a cosy and intimate feel and the 40-cover site offers the groups familiar menu of Hakata tonkotsu ramen, Shoryu buns, cocktails and sake.
Theo and I ordered cocktails to start and I had to try one from their limited edition Autumn menu as they sounded amazing. Falling in Kyoto was warming with namazake, sloe gin and hints of cinnamon. Theo opted for a Yuzo Mojito, packed full of strawberries, mint, yuzo syrup and rum and they were both delicious.
For our starters we chose soft shell crab tempura and 6pcs of hakata tetsunabe gyoza. The tempura batter was perfectly crisp, with delicate flavours of crab, accompanied by a salad garnish and soy sauce. The gyozas were very tasty with a succulent pork filling packed full of flavour, they didn’t touch the sides!
We both chose ramens for our main and were asked how we liked our noodles cooked (soft or al dente) and both chose soft. Theo had chosen the popular Kotteri Hakata Tonkotsu ramen and it was truly wonderful. It is a style of ramen made with a thick, rich, white pork soup and thin, straight ramen noodles. Creating tonkotsu pork stock takes over 12 hours cooking at a rolling boil, then this is combined with a concentrated stock to finish the soup. It was topped with tender char sui pork belly, double nitamago soft boiled Burford brown egg, nori seaweed, vegetables and sesame and ginger. The love and care that goes into making the broth is reflected in the flavour and it was literally like a hug in a bowl. I chose a fiery Kimchi seafood Tonkotsu, which had a satisfying portion of tiger prawns, scallops and squid and was packed full of heat from the chilli based broth. The noodles are made from flour from the Cotswolds and Shoryu have worked extensively with a UK based Japanese noodle-making master to ensure the perfect noodles for their ramens.
For dessert I opted for the yuzu cheesecake and was so glad I did. The flavour of yuzu was out of this world with a thick buttery base and accompanied with a gorgeous caramel sauce. It was a perfect end to the meal. Theo chose the salted caramel ball, which was a ball of ice cream encased in rice and rolled. It unfortunately was not very salty or caramelly and tasted more of vanilla but was very pleasant and a great palate cleanser.
As well as ramen, the Shoryu menu also includes Japanese staples such as ‘Shoryu Buns’, these fluffy, steamed buns are handmade daily and Shoryu offers a selection of five fillings including char siu barbeque pork belly, soy marinated chicken karaage and wagyu beef with shiso, daikon and shimeji and on Mondays they offer a 2-1 on Shoryu buns with every bowl of ramen purchased. There is also an extensive wine, Japanese whiskey, cocktail and sake menu to suit all tastes and have a sake happy hour Monday-Thursday 5pm-7pm, where all cocktails are £6.
Prior to our visit I was informed that the executive chef, Kanji Furukawa, otherwise known as the ‘Ramen Boss’ has been working with Tokumine since Shoryu’s infancy. Acutely tuned in what makes the perfect bowl of Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen, Furukawa has created a highly crafted menu that focuses on authentic Japanese flavours and ingredients. There is no doubt that the care and attention to the finer details are reflected in the quality of the food at Shoryu. The food is authentic and tasty and the atmosphere buzzing. I highly recommend this restaurant and I cannot wait to go back for another bowl or two.
Address: 45 Great Eastern Street, London, EC2A 3HP
