Grace Dent reviews Kanada-Ya: I beat the queue to get in, but I'll go elsewhere next time

Grace Dent isn’t bowled over by the ramen at Kanada-Ya
Defying you to stay a moment longer than needed: the space has been decorated in a roaringly slapdash manner
Grace Dent28 November 2017

Ambience: ☆☆
Food: ☆☆☆

Haymarket, despite much recent investment, still teeters on the brink of lovability. The fashionable may indeed find their way to the new Dover Street Market, but one is still deep in Tiger Tiger territory; a dining doldrums containing Planet Hollywood, Prezzo, Spaghetti House, plus other joints where tourists sit sadly in the windows poking unappetising food. When I retire, I plan to invest in a small portable PA system, then lurk outside Angus Steakhouse shouting churlish remarks about their sirloin.

Still, there are moments of light. London’s second Kanada-Ya has just opened on Panton Street. The first one on St Giles High Street is perpetually crowded with earnest ramen devotees. I say ‘earnest’ because, for pit-stop food pivoting around noodles in porky stock, ramen attracts geek gourmands and food pedants like a jam sandwich next to an anthill.

"Real ramen, to the groupies, is only found in the Fukuoka region on the island of Kyushu, in a basement kitchen that simmers its bone broth for at least a week."

Safe to say, whatever ramen you’ve eaten previously will not be true, authentic ramen to ramen bores. They don’t care if you ate chef Benjie Garcia’s ramen at Rai Rai Ken in 1999. Pfffft, not real enough. So what if noodle guru David Chang personally slung you a bowl of shio at Momofuku Ko in 2008? Real ramen, to the groupies, is only found in the Fukuoka region on the island of Kyushu, in a basement kitchen that simmers its bone broth for at least a week.

At this point, I’d like to counter that London’s best ramen is probably served at Tonkotsu, Mare Street, Hackney. This place is fun. They serve plum sake cocktails and mayo-splattered okonomiyaki, that delicious calorific hinterland between pizza and egg foo yung. There’s even a little room where you can watch a man make gyoza. This experience is Kryptonite to ramen nerds — so why would so many of them rather queue outside Ippudo or Kanada-Ya in the rain?

Wish it was better: Grace Dent finds the food decent but not brilliant

We pitched up at the new Kanada-Ya at noon on Friday, just as the front doors opened. Fifteen people were waiting. This is a freshly refurbished space decorated in a roaringly slapdash manner. It defies you to stay a moment longer than needed. Cheap, unframed mirrors are glued on to rough, unvarnished wooden surfaces lit by those mock chandeliers you see reduced at B&Q. Downstairs is more spacious, yet still very much a work in progress. The toilets are wonkily concealed behind partition doors. I stepped over a staff member’s coat en route to pee. That said, it was 12.20pm and I was one cold Kirin Ichiban lager down, which took the edge off matters.

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1/128

I wish Kanada-Ya’s food was better, as I’m not averse to an assault course. It was decent, yet not brilliant. Noodles are cooked to order, hand-pulled and available in extra-firm, firm, regular or soft. We opted for medium, 18-hour bone broth ramen with chashu pork collar, spring onion and a porcini truffle paste. It is a gloriously rich, milky, salty broth, albeit entirely one-note. The original, safe-bet ramen with wood ear fungus and seaweed looked much more appealing. A side of chicken karaage with fried mayonnaise was edible yet forgettable. A side of fresh flaked salmon onigiri only arrived after much prodding. For curiosity I ordered a white asparagus and porcini-soya broth ramen with extra nori, which came with avocado sashimi. It was subtle, earthy and rather refreshing. The soft-serve ice creams of the day were either matcha or sweet potato. We ordered both and ate them while reminiscing about the much better matcha ice cream at Shackfuyu, Old Compton Street. I beat the queue at Kanada-Ya, yes, but I’ll still be beating a retreat to Tonkotsu when my ramen habit next comes knocking.

Kanada-Ya

1 Truffle ramen £14

1 Vegetarian ramen £11.50

1 Karaage £6.50

1 Onigiri £3

4 Kirin £16

2 Sake £4.25

2 Ice cream £8

Total: £67.25

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