Food Review: Kanada Ya Japanese Ramen

I'm not just all about beauty and fashion. I do love my food! 

I am a ramen lover but if I am honest, I've never tried Japanese ramen during my time in London. So that is why I was very excited to hear that Kanada Ya has opened a place on Central London. 

For those that have not heard of Kanada Ya, they come from Yukuhashi, Japan where it was set up by Kanada Kazuhiro in 2009 and has a popular outpost in Hong Kong too (Causeway Bay, if you must know!) This opening is the first in Europe - and apparently they are also planning some pop-ups around the country soon. How exciting! 

They are famous for their signature creamy and smooth pork broth, and it takes a whopping 15 hours to make the tonkotsu and getting it to the right consistency. It must take some skill! 

I went to their soft launch on Monday (since I got a 50% off discount email kekeke). 

Upon arrival, I immediately saw a line of people patiently (or not) waiting outside the premises. Obviously, to be expected, as it was a soft launch. The shop inside was small but it looked very cosy and modern. 

We were lucky that we came at the right time as our spot was quite near the front. We waited for roughly 30 minutes... Just staring at people slurping their noodles by the window! I was secretly hoping I wouldn't be placed by the window....

... YEP I was seated by the window but luckily on the other side which I did not mind. However, I did get frustrated with lots of passer by's trying to peek through the window and stare at what I'm eating =_= I guess the queue did make people curious.

The menu was a place-mat type of menu. See below:

We both ordered the Charsiu-men ramen which replaces the standard charsui pork belly with large slices of charsui pork collar. As you can see, the prices for the ramen are pretty reasonable, ranging from £10  - £12.50. We also ordered some extra toppings!


This is my final bowl.

Charsiu-men Ramen with Hanjuku egg and extra nori (seaweed)!

They asked what type of noodles did I want, I did not know so the waiter said they personally recommend firm noodles. Firm noodles it was!

Kev went for the Hanjuku egg and black garlic sauce:

The black garlic sauce tasted amazing. It just adds that extra bit of flavour to the noodles! I ended up asking for some myself as well hehe!

Half way through the meal:

A japanese meal is not complete with sake Ramune Soda aka Marble Soda!

I usually get the original flavour but decided to give strawberry a try. It pretty much tasted the same as the original but a tiny hint of strawbery (obv!) Still tasted good.


Here is my verdict:
Soup base: Very flavourful! It went went with the seaweed and black garlic sauce
Noodles: Wasn't as firm as I thought, but it was not soggy either so I was happy.
Charsui Meat: Probably my least favourite part of the meal. It felt a bit dry. They do give you plenty, I did not finish it. However, I'm not a big pork fan so I could be biased. Kev seemed to enjoy it and ate the remainder of my meat!
Toppings: I must admit, I'm not a big fan of Hanjuku egg but I decided to give it a go anyway as apparently it's a MUST for ramen. It did taste okay, but not the highlight of the meal.
Portion size: I personally thought the portion was very good for me. However, Kev was not satisfied with the amount of noodles. So if you love noodles, I suggest you to order extra from the 'Extra toppings' section! It's worth it!

Interior:

I really love the lights on the reflecting ceiling! It just makes the place a lot more appealing and interesting, especially looking from outside. The place is small so they really needed to do something different to attract customers, as it would just looked over crowded and off-putting!


As you can see, the place is PACKED from inside and out but it still looks pleasant to be in. I like how it's not your average looking Japanese noodle bar.
 It's a pretty much an eat-and-go place, you wouldn't want to hang around with all the people staring at you from outside!


Would I come again?

 

Well, considering I cleared my bowl (could not finish soup, I was too full!) I will definitely come again in the near future. The food was yummy and the price is not extortionate! 

Leaving the place at 8pm, the queue seemed even longer! Busy busy busy!

I would recommend this place, but be prepare to queue as it is a new place and I can tell it's getting quite popular too! :) Worth a try!

The restaurant will seat just 24 and will open for lunch and dinner Monday - Saturday.

Where is it? 
64 St Giles High Street, London WC2H 8LE - very close to Tottenham Court Road and Holborn tube station and easily accessible from Central London.We walked from Soho, takes 10 minutes.

If you are visiting, make sure you check out their twitter for latest deals and opening information. That's were I found out about the discount code and luckily I checked prior visiting as I realised they were closed on Sunday, hence we went the next day instead!

If you do visit London and have not been to their other international branches before, why not give it a try ^_^

Hope you enjoyed my review.