Ittenbari

RAMEN 3.0! Woohoo! It was a perfect day for Ramen – cold, rainy, and generally all around miserable. So a steaming pot of noodles and pork with some awesome Yelpers was just what the doctor ordered (and probably would have given I was soaked and chilled from our wonderful freak London rainstorms).

Some of the Ramen Club OGs

Josy had graciously organised for us to try Ittenbari as a counterpoint to the tonkotsu ramen we’ve opted for the previous two times. This place offers a Shoyu ramen which is a soy sauce based ramen (tonkotsu is a pork broth base for those not in the know). I admit, that does sound a bit odd, but it’s not like drinking soy sauce. Rather, think a rich hearty broth that’s a mix between beef and miso soup.

We got luckily and managed to get a table for 7 as we walked in. Given that there seemed to be a line of 10 people both immediately before and after we got there, I think someone up there must have liked us. There is a pretty high turnover (this is more a get in, eat, get out type of place mostly) so the wait isn’t that long as long as your group is fairly small. The line appears to be a wait there until seated without an option to put your name down and come back. I can understand why given the high turnover but it does mean you will have to wait until after your meal to browse the cute little grocery store next door where English is a rarity. I wandered through and had to go back later with Josy as a guide to work out what the popular items were. I do know their red bean paste mochi was delicious.

Alright, let’s get cracking on the food and drink. Our sub-group ordered gyoza, kara-age, edamame, and of course the Shoyu Ramen. I also opted for the umeshu (plum wine) since Josy raved about the servings. As a note, my ice came with a black spongy thing in it and when they noticed it they quickly replaced my glass with fresh ice (and I hope fresh umeshu too!).

A selection of starters to fill the belly!

Our food came in short order (and a lot faster than the other sub-group’s…must have been my dazzling smile) with the gyoza, edamame, and kara-age piling on one after another. The gyoza were perfectly steamed to just shy of painfully hot and pan fried to a golden brown crisp. As noted by other reviewers, the gyoza comes in batches of 6 stuck together. Now I don’t think this is because they couldn’t be bothered to thaw them properly (and since I saw them making a batch by hand I doubt they are ever frozen), but rather for efficiency they’ve batched them by serving size. A bit annoying given the extra effort but the taste more than makes up for it.

The edamame comes in fantastically large portions (none of this tiny miso bowl holding a bare handful of beans) and is generously covered in rock salt. We ate our fill and then some and still there were a few beans to be had. The kara-age deserves special mention as it hit that perfect balance of crispy breading and tender succulent meat. I think they marinate the chicken in some soy/ginger concoction before deep frying (excellent idea!) which gives it a deeper fuller flavour.

Shoyu Ramen Delux!

Finally, the Shoyu Ramen. It’s beautiful. Don’t believe me? See the pictures above and tell me you don’t want to shove that down your gullet as fast as possible and like Oliver T ask for just a bit more. As I mentioned above, it’s a rich lip-smacking broth (there is a word for this but it escapes me this early in the morning) based on soy-sauce. This helps it avoid the slightly oily after taste you sometimes get with its meatier cousins (I’m looking at you, Tonkotsu). You can get the regular or deluxe version (go deluxe…for just under 2 squids more you get extra meat, egg, and noodles) both of which include large slices of pork with succulent fat, crunchy green veggies, and a generous serving of noodles. These are the thin noodles which have been pan friend briefly to give it a slightly chewier texture than you would expect. I’m a fan of this technique and will be copying it the next time I attempt homemade ramen. Think of it this way. We were getting full on the starters but once the ramen arrived all was forgotton. We luxuriated in the tender mouthfuls of noodle and melt in the mouth pork. We happily crunched our way through the verdant spring onions, low moans of food-induced happiness emanating whenever our mouths were full of rameny goodness. And we slurped (it’s only proper manner to do so) savoury soy stock which filled our bellies with fire and fuzziness.

All this washed down with generous gulps of sweet plum wine while chatting to some great people. How can life get any better?

Go to Ittenbari. You’ll be happy you did. I’m already thinking of when to go back…