One of the best veggie ramens I’ve ever tasted.
Ordered the only veggie ramen they had. They have chilli oil on the side to make it spicy. The noodles are very soft, different from what I am used to at ippudo. Would go again!
London is a city where diners are spoilt for choice. Whatever cuisine is fancied, it can be found. Ramen restaurants have been popping up all over, but this was the first time that I had the chance to try it. This was out of pure chance as originally my friend and I had decided to meet at Leon. Just next door to Leon, Tonkotsu was spotted. It intrigued us with its sign of ramen. As there was no menu displayed on the outside, we had to venture inside to see what the food choices were.
While we were in London, K and I took the opportunity to catch up with a friend who was in the city completing a year of research work. Luckily for us, her many months of experience meant that the choice of restaurant was a London favourite – Tonkotsu! Named after a classic type of creamy, pork-based ramen, this restaurant is considered one of the best in the city if you’re looking to devour a bowl of these Japanese noodles (slurping encouraged!).
Chicken soup for the soul, in all it’s various iterations were an essential 90’s read, absolutely brimming with the overly emotional and let’s be honest, unhelpful advice like ‘Think Positive’, ‘Be yourself’ and other sayings crafted as inspiration. But in the 90’s, I was a teen and these trite sayings are what passes for deep and meaningful in your teenage years, so I read these books in awe and wonder.
What: Ramen at Tonkotsu
Where: Southwark, London, UK
Food Review:
To order: Mushroom and Miso Ramen and tap water. The wayer came first, with cucumber, making it refreshing and definitely a must have on a hot summers day. For the lunch menu the dishes are kept minimal in order to get orders out quickly so the only option i could have on the menu was the miso and mushroom ramen.
Settings Review:
The seating area ranged from single dining to large tables encased within a small yet not clostraphobic room with large bay to let light come flooding in. The room is dimly lit which is great for a lunchtime on a sunny day. The simple and eastern vibes add to the ambience of the place giving in a authentic vibe.
Halal: No
Positives: quick fast dining, simple and delicious
Negatives: could do with a couple more non-meat items
3 Word Review: Quick filling lunch
My sister and I came to Tonkotsu today and the ramen was outstanding! Absolutely delicious. We also shared the cauliflower wings which tasted fantastic. Claudia provided such a great service, always smiling and being super welcoming from the second we walked in! Thank you so much, we will come back for sure 😊
First time here and I’ll say that their starters our incredibly tasty, that was a real unexpected surprise. We had some cauliflower wings, chicken karage to start off which were great. The ramens for mains are good but I still prefer Shoryu ramen. Also most of their ramens are around 2500 calories which is insane!
Friendly staff, nicely location, quick service, would come again!
They have very friendly service. But the taste of the broth is kinda weird, just feels bitter and too complex and thick. The mushroom dumplings are also strange, strong bitter flavors. Just doesn’t taste like any Japanese noodles restaurant I’ve been before.
Food was pretty good. They've got a lunch time deal for under £10 that includes a small ramen and a side. I got the pork gyoza and mushroom ramen which were both nice enough. It was easy to find a table when we went on Friday lunchtime, imagine it's busier mid week. There's indoor and outdoors seating, so perfect if you want to sit in the sun. Staff were great & very quick, ate and paid within an hour lunch break
Decent bowls of ramen. The geki kara had good flavour but it was supposed to be spicy hot and wasn't at all. The pork was somewhat dry. My lunch companion had the chilli chicken ramen which wasn't chilli, and although it was tasty, wasn't much different from the flavour of instant noodles. The noodles are made at one of the branches and were nice in texture and flavour. The yuzu drink was also nice, but was mostly ice.
There are better ramen places in London.
Great food & service. Japanese music and atmosphere makes you feel like anime character 😀
Even though chilli should mean 🔥 spicy but nothing that a few spoons of chilli oil could not resolve!
Vegan ramen was super tasty according to my partner too.
Must try their unique ice cream desserts.
I lived in Japan for a few years and Tonkotsu's curry tasted just as I remembered eating in casual Japanese restaurants in Japan (like CoCo Ichibanya) - just the right consistency, full of flavor and the fried chicken on top was crispy and juicy. I also had the gyoza, which was cooked perfectly and delicious.
We sat outside on their terrace, which is located on a path off the main roads, so it was nice and quiet but we could still feel the bustling of the city. Service was great, friendly and helpful. In total, really enjoyed our time here and would definitely come back whenever we're in the area again.
The food was delicious, went in for the Chilli Chicken Ramen and it was as to be expected. Full of flavour and a good portion size.
A solid ramen, lighter than some others I’ve tried so you don’t feel bloated and groggy afterwards.
The downside is the price. At this price point I’d expect a bit more volume (especially in terms of meat).
Had a very pleasant experience here. Served very swiftly and efficiently by Ash and Maltio and the chicken ramen was delicious and the broth was very clean and flavourful. Would definitely return again
santiago gomez alvarez
+5
Excellent food and service. Gyozas were flavourful and brilliant ramen. The tonkotsu was a nice option, perfect for the London gray weather.
Definitely a good place to stop by for a meal before or after a visit near Tate Modern. Customer service is very good, I was there in the late afternoon/early dinner and was served by a lady named Nicoletta. Had the Tokyo Ramen which was excellent, the broth was at the right temperature which is nicely hot as it should, I've had some ramen elsewhere where the soup is near room temperature. The pork was also well cooked, soft and melts in your mouth, as it should. Also had the Curry Chicken Katsu which was nicely done. The rice was a bit cold and hard but if you cover it with the hot curry sauce, it isn't so bad. The Chicken and Veg Katsu was nice and crispy. Overall, a pleasant experience at Tonkotsu Bankside, and will go back again when I can. The dinner crowd filled up quite quickly approaching 6pm which shows that you can't go wrong with this restaurant. The Shitake gyoza seems more flavourful than the pork one, but both worth trying. Thank you for the food and service.
We went during lunch, they have lunch deals and we opted for the chicken ramen.
Really very impressed by the lovely staff they were so nice and checked in on us a few times during our short stay.
I found that the staff made the experience nice, the area is pretty and very convenient when visiting the museum.
Easy ordering with the scanning code & fast service.
One of the best chicken Karaage I had in London!
The ramen was really good, very rich broth. We had added a bit of chilli oil and it tasted lovely!
However, the chicken Karaage completely blew our minds! It was really really good, super crispy on the outside and still juicy inside. You must ask for the mayonnaise, it’s the Japanese mayonnaise, complete compliments the chicken!
Tonkotsu ramen were really tasty, but the soup was little bit salty. The taste pretty close to the one I had in Japan. Highly recommended.
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We really enjoyed our visit. Gyoza were hot and fresh, and the ramen was really satisfying, in a big bowl. We had the Soya Tantanmen; the soya mince was nicely fine-ground, and seemingly marinated with some sweet soy sauce, or similar, so wasn’t just a pack of soya protein lobbed straight in. Flavours were very nice indeed. I’d quite like an option to add green chillies (not sure if that would b authentic) but their own chilli oil is excellent, so I used that, you can buy it as well (note, a bit odd to have an open jar at the table, perhaps). I’d also prefer the prawn ramen option made with veg stock rather than chicken (for pescatarian reasons). The desserts are from a chosen supplier and delicious, I had the chocolate and miso salted caramel sando; “salted caramel miso ice cream sandwiched between Guinness chocolate cake” – and yes it was as good as it sounds!! The sake was excellent; it’s only a small flask though, so for a big drinker like me it could get expensive, but it’s same as anywhere else in that respect. There were three things not available on the menu and perhaps they could have sourced these during the day when stocks were running low; we wanted kimchi, tenderstem broccoli and to try the mushroom ramen, but the food seems very fresh so perhaps they’re strict over suppliers. Staff were really warm and friendly, and the atmosphere was splendid, even on a Sunday evening there were plenty of customers. I look forward to visiting again!
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