Shoryu Ramen Review

Tuesday last week, we went to try out this cool authentic ramen restaurant in Piccadilly Gardens, Shoryu Ramen has been open for nearly 2 years now, and this is their first restaurant outside of London. Shoryu Ramen specialises in Hakata tonkotsu ramen from the Hakata district of Fukuoka city on the southern island of Kyushu, Japan. Hakata tonkotsu ramen is a style of ramen made with a thick, rich, white pork soup and thin, straight ramen noodles. The owner Tak Tokumine is a native of Fukuoka city and is dedicated to championing his hometown’s local speciality.

Drinks

You know I love cocktails, so what a better way than start with their signature drinks. I had the Yuzu mojito, made with fresh strawberries and watermelon, and the tang from the Yuzu gave a great twist on this classic cocktail. Liam had the dirty lychee, a silky and smooth cocktail with a stronger taste and scent to lavender.

Starters

Apart from making amazing ramen, for anyone particularly hungry, as the portion sizes are not mean, you can order a side as a starter which we went for. We had the tempura prawns which were pretty long, nearly the size of my hand! 5 perfectly lightly battered crispy golden prawns which were crunchy and soft inside, they come with soya sauce but honestly, I prefer to eat them on their own, I could have easily eaten another portion. Liam had the Wagyu Beef Shoryu Bun, this super soft fluffy bun was filled with thin slices of medium-cooked wagyu which practically melted in your mouth, it comes topped with Shoryu spicy sauce and greens to add a perfect crunch, I haven't had many buns in Manchester, but this is the best one that I ever had, it was like a party in your mouth.

Mains

Obviously, we were at Shoryu Ramen and we had Ramen! It was difficult for me to choose as two of them really catch my attention and thanks to Lisa, I had a combination of them. I went for the Kotteri Hakata Tonkotsu Ramen, which is a richer meatier broth with double nitamago egg, I was struggling between this one and the Dracula Ramen which has similar ingredients but the Dracula includes black garlic. As I said, the lovely waitress helped me and recommended to go for the Kotteri Hakata Tonkotsu and she brought me a pot of black garlic sauce on the side. You can choose the texture of your noodles, I had them extra hard as they tend to go soft with a big ramen by the time you eat them. The broth was amazing on its own, very rich and smooth, like a stew almost, the nitamago egg was perfectly cooked, firm but the yolk was still gooey…. I was in ramen heaven.

Liam, who loves ramen and it is one of his favourite food, went for the Kimchi Seafood Tonkotsu, again the rich broth is standard with all the ramens, but this one had an array of seafood, from crunch gorgeous tiger prawns to scallops and muscles, finished with fresh spring onion, bean sprouts and shallots, it does not say in the menu but this one is a bit spicy.

Dessert

If you have been following my blog or Instagram for a while now, you will know that I always find room for a dessert if something catches my eyes, and today was not an exception. I went for the yuzu Cheesecake and Liam had the Match Chocolate sundae, I was so excited for this, a perfect sphere of soft fluffy cheesecake arrives with a continuous swirl of yuzu on top. First impressions were good, soft velvety cheesecake and the crunch from the base come through, but the yuzu flavour for me was lacking, the base was great, it comes with sesame seeds and I love them.

Liam ordered the matcha sundae and it was spectacular, bright green ice cream and green chunks of brownie finished with Mikado sticks and wafer drizzled in chocolate sauce……now who wouldn’t want this. The ice-cream was surprisingly refreshing and soft as with ice cream you expect a hint of vanilla or sweet, but the matcha shone through with the sweetness of the chocolate worked perfectly, I highly recommend this dessert for anyone who loves a sundae.

Have you visited Shoryu Ramen before? If no, what are you waiting for? If yes, let me know your thoughts about this beautiful restaurant.