Located in a small alley, at the top of a flight of stairs, is a place you may never have known existed – unless you are a ramen enthusiast. I had never tasted ramen before. It is a Japanese noodle soup, usually made with a meat based stock as the base, which doesn’t make it very vegetarian friendly. Fukuryu Ramen however, has developed a vegetarian ramen, made with a vegan broth and miso paste, which meant that I could taste it!
We got there for a late dinner one Saturday night. The restaurant was fairly large and only about half full, so finding a table was not an issue. All the ordering is done first at the counter and paid for before you take your seats. I was sure I was going to try the ramen, but the other half is not a soup fan, so instead he decided to try a variety of small dishes.
We sat down, got ourselves some self serve water (they have a choice of chilled, room temperature and sparkling!) and waited for our food. It wasn’t long before the dishes started to arrive.
Our first dish was some okonomi balls. These were fried balls filled with egg and pork belly and served with Japanese BBQ sauce and kewpie mayo. The other half said these were ok, but he wasn’t blown away. There were very heavy, and he didn’t manage to finish them all.
Next to arrive was the chicken karaage, which seemed to be the Japanese take on KFC. With Korean fried chicken, one of the latest fads, it seems only fair that the Japanese put their spin on it too. The chicken was served with citrus mayo and some fresh cabbage salad. In what was becoming a theme for the night, it was deemed to be OK, but again, nothing special.
My ramen arrived next and I was excited. On the tables there were a variety of condiments that you could add to your dish, so I added some chilli flakes. There was also a variety of sauces and oils, but I decided to take the conservative approach because nothing seemed to be labelled and I am sure that some of the condiments would have had fish sauce in them.
The vegetarian miso ramen came with buttered corn, grilled pumpkin and a gooey egg. There was also some soft noodles, mushrooms and sunflower seeds. The broth was lovely and light, and very comforting. The egg was perfect, and whilst I may not be a ramen connoisseur, I know a good egg when I taste one. I had ordered a regular size ramen which was perfect for me. They also do a large size, but I think this would be too much for most people.
The other half still had another side dish to eat. He had ordered soft shell crab mini sandwiches. These were soft shell crabs served with cabbage and spicy mayo in a steamed bun. These were deemed to be delicious, but way too spicy. I think there were equal proportions of crab to spicy mayo and it was just too much. In the end the other half tried to scrape off as much of the mayo as possible, but it was still too spicy.
We also ordered some curry chips. I am a sucker for anything deep fried and I can rarely go past chips. In line with the latest craze of loaded fries, Fukuryu Ramen and loaded they fries up with some Japanese potato curry (yes, potato with potato) and cheese. The chips weren’t bad, but like all loaded fries, it was a very heavy dish, and because of the curry, the chips went soggy very quickly.
We also ordered a green tea parfait to finish off the meal. Unfortunately I am not a matcha fan, so I really didn’t like this dessert. It was basically matcha soft serve topped with cream. I forgot to take a photo of this one too, so you’re just going to have to trust me on this.
Fukuryu Ramen are also on the social media train. For any selfie you share of your food with their hashtags on Instagram, you can score yourself a free green tea soft serve. Once again, I’m not a fan, so not worth it for me, but for matcha lovers, I’m thinking this is a good deal!
On the whole we weren’t blown away by the meal. The ramen was lovely, but none of the sides were anything special. Still, if you are on the hunt for a decent ramen, perhaps Fukuryu Ramen is worth a visit.
We got there for a late dinner one Saturday night. The restaurant was fairly large and only about half full, so finding a table was not an issue. All the ordering is done first at the counter and paid for before you take your seats. I was sure I was going to try the ramen, but the other half is not a soup fan, so instead he decided to try a variety of small dishes.
We sat down, got ourselves some self serve water (they have a choice of chilled, room temperature and sparkling!) and waited for our food. It wasn’t long before the dishes started to arrive.
Our first dish was some okonomi balls. These were fried balls filled with egg and pork belly and served with Japanese BBQ sauce and kewpie mayo. The other half said these were ok, but he wasn’t blown away. There were very heavy, and he didn’t manage to finish them all.
Next to arrive was the chicken karaage, which seemed to be the Japanese take on KFC. With Korean fried chicken, one of the latest fads, it seems only fair that the Japanese put their spin on it too. The chicken was served with citrus mayo and some fresh cabbage salad. In what was becoming a theme for the night, it was deemed to be OK, but again, nothing special.
My ramen arrived next and I was excited. On the tables there were a variety of condiments that you could add to your dish, so I added some chilli flakes. There was also a variety of sauces and oils, but I decided to take the conservative approach because nothing seemed to be labelled and I am sure that some of the condiments would have had fish sauce in them.
The vegetarian miso ramen came with buttered corn, grilled pumpkin and a gooey egg. There was also some soft noodles, mushrooms and sunflower seeds. The broth was lovely and light, and very comforting. The egg was perfect, and whilst I may not be a ramen connoisseur, I know a good egg when I taste one. I had ordered a regular size ramen which was perfect for me. They also do a large size, but I think this would be too much for most people.
The other half still had another side dish to eat. He had ordered soft shell crab mini sandwiches. These were soft shell crabs served with cabbage and spicy mayo in a steamed bun. These were deemed to be delicious, but way too spicy. I think there were equal proportions of crab to spicy mayo and it was just too much. In the end the other half tried to scrape off as much of the mayo as possible, but it was still too spicy.
We also ordered some curry chips. I am a sucker for anything deep fried and I can rarely go past chips. In line with the latest craze of loaded fries, Fukuryu Ramen and loaded they fries up with some Japanese potato curry (yes, potato with potato) and cheese. The chips weren’t bad, but like all loaded fries, it was a very heavy dish, and because of the curry, the chips went soggy very quickly.
We also ordered a green tea parfait to finish off the meal. Unfortunately I am not a matcha fan, so I really didn’t like this dessert. It was basically matcha soft serve topped with cream. I forgot to take a photo of this one too, so you’re just going to have to trust me on this.
Fukuryu Ramen are also on the social media train. For any selfie you share of your food with their hashtags on Instagram, you can score yourself a free green tea soft serve. Once again, I’m not a fan, so not worth it for me, but for matcha lovers, I’m thinking this is a good deal!
On the whole we weren’t blown away by the meal. The ramen was lovely, but none of the sides were anything special. Still, if you are on the hunt for a decent ramen, perhaps Fukuryu Ramen is worth a visit.
Disclaimer: I dined here courtesy of Zomato and Fukuryu Ramen, however I was not paid for this post and all opinions are my own.
0 comments:
Post a Comment