Saturday Brunch at Hélène Darroze at The Connaught, Mayfair

Well I've only gone and found the best brunch in London. A bold statement, but allow me to explain.

The Connaught is a prestigious five star hotel nestled in a quiet corner of Mayfair Village and is home to the two Michelin-starred Hélène Darroze restaurant. 

Each Saturday, in the dark wood panelled room with carpeted floor and Damien Hirst originals, you will find a feast available in the form of a buffet brunch. Or as I like to refer to it, 'two Michelin-starred all-you-can-eat'.  Yes, you heard. I suspect this needs no further sell. But indulge me.

There are three courses to this exercise of epicurean endurance. The first and final course are self-serve buffets. Take any preconceptions associated with the dirty b-word, and along with those dark and lingering memories of the petite mort experienced the last time you overindulged at Mr Woo's £12.95 all-you-can-eat-MSG offering, lock them in the basement of your mind. 

Instead take this word and elevate it to the highest pedestal in the land, because it's these dizzy heights of ingredient quality and exceptional front of house service we're dealing with. For your main (and middle) course, a menu is available to make a single selection from and this is prepared and delivered whenever you are damn well ready for it. No rush, no pressure. Just uninterrupted, unadulterated pleasure.

Pictures speak more than words can do justice to this meal, so I'll let them do most of the translation from the tangible we experienced to the viewable equivalent.

Starters
Charcuteries: Basque black pork from Pierre Oteiza; ham seasoned with Espelette pepper sliced 'a la minute' on the antique Berkel machine; saucissons; Jésus; chorizo (above).

Home-made pork terrines and galantines. Grilled vegetable antipasti and aubergine caviar. 
Assortment of fresh salads including a Mariette with orange citrus dressing; Mesclun (small young leaves) with chervil; The “Connaught” Caesar with parmesan and anchovies; bitter chicory and Stilton. 

My favourite was a beautiful pink beetroot and buffalo mozzarella of which I kept returning to.

Smoked Scottish salmon, smoked halibut and smoked eel with the choices of garnish from: capers, dill, spring onions, chives, confit tomatoes, olive tappenade, sour cream, Greek yoghurt. 

Scrambled eggs with Royal Bortago (cured fish roe).

Freshly baked breads and an assortment of Viennoiseries made by chef including pain au chocolats, croissants, raspberry or hazelnut chocolate filled brioches, the most incredible 'butter bread', small baguettes, rye buns.

my first plate

a shot of creamy artichoke soup

Recline and perhaps take a little stroll to the lobby and back for some tactical internal space making. Maybe order a pot of green tea to assist the digestive juices.

Ready for the next course? 

Mains
From the main menu, both Matt and I initially ordered the braised Aberdeen Angus beef ox cheek burger, mounted by a saddle of duck foie gras. What red-blooded human wouldn't order that? 

With the gathering benefit of hindsight realised half way through my second helping of starters, I decided to change to the oysters to ensure I had room for everything to follow. These were Maldon oysters from Kent served with shallot vinegar, apple and celery, lime emulsion, and French pork crepinettes (a type of flat sausage). 

In all honesty, these were not the best oysters I've had (the reigning title holders are those from The Wright Brothers Oyster and Porterhouse), but I should have known better. As they say, one should only eat oysters in a month containing the letter 'r' to get them at their peak (i.e. September - April) and we are indeed a whole four days into May. 

I doubt my palette is that attuned to the changing tides of seasonal produce, but I certainly found them lacking in that unmistakable flavour of the sea. But I find the slippery bastards difficult to resist when they flirt so outrageously with me from the menu. The hot porky balls of goodness served on a square of slate were delicious though.

my second plate

The burger was delivered in a package smaller than a usual burger, a welcome sight after a no holds barred round of starters. 

The braised cheek patty was thick and intense with the concentrated flavour from the prolonged low cooking and with the slab of fatty duck liver astride, the combination delivered wonderful rich and meaty flavours laced with a hint of iron, lightened by the small side salad that accompanied it. 

In addition was a pot of chips which were essentially a single potato cut into four large wedges and an espresso cup filled with home made tomato sauce. Some might say the chips were an unnecessary addition to the already hefty burger bundle, but they went well with my oysters.

Other options from the main menu included eggs Benedict with York ham and black truffle from Perigord (£5 supplement); macaroni and cheese with an aged Comté and Bellota ham gratin; and a chicken based one I alas can't recall.

Dessert

You'll likely be a good hour and a half to two into this marathon by now. Hopefully you've paced yourself, strategically not filled up on the incredible breads, gone for a short jog around the block, and have room for yet more. And quite a bit more there is.

My third plate consisted of sourdough filled with hazelnut and raisins enjoyed with the assortment of cheeses, grapes and cubes of quince. Generous slabs of Manchego and Comté along trinket sized mounds of goats cheese. The nutty sheep's cheese of Manchego is one of my favourites and I indulged in a couple more visits back to the board.

my third plate

A wonderfully friendly French man of statuesque Amazonian proportions guarded the dessert corner - tables laden with fresh fruit, cookies and cheesecakes, brownies and mini-cup cakes, poised ready to slice and plate up as small or large a portion as you desired. 

But probably more importantly, he stood behind a large bowl of waffle batter and a waffle maker. Say hello to freshly made waffles with your topping of choice at the wink of an eye. Matt built up such a rapport with this gentleman that after a huge first portion, that was all the communication needed for a second plate of hot and quartered waffle excellence to be delivered. 

Maple syrup and honey our drizzling of choice, but also available was quince jam, Greek yoghurt and more. The aroma of these freshly cooked permeated the whole room - if you didn't think you had any room yet, tap into the reaches of your second stomach for these.

my fourth plate, plus a quarter of a waffle

Matt's second waffle round

the waffle man

Coffee

If you haven't already had your caffeine hit during this meal, now would be a good time. Short of injecting a double espresso straight into the jugular, you're going to need some help fighting the onset of fatigue induced by your blood directing itself straight to your gut by this point. 

And all the espressos, cappuccinos, Americano's, flat whites, special blend teas and fresh juices you could possibly want come as part of the buffet brunch. The coffee was not only of superb quality, but served in beautiful Hermès crockery. The silver service and heavy deep-cut crystal water glasses were touches of finesse that helped sharpen the whole experience.

A special mention must be given to the front of house staff as they were without fault. From the maitre d', to the waiters, to the  waffle man they were all attentive and smiling and raconteuring with the clientèle.

We were there for around three hours and at no point did we feel rushed - we were positively encouraged to make further visits to the buffet bars, frequently asked if we would like any further drinks, and I was fully indulged when I requested to photograph the displays with responses of 'please madame, of course'.

the first to be seated - it soon became full

The whole experience as you would hope from a double starred venue was exceptional. A classy yet leisurely and informal way to start the the weekend.

The room quickly filled with an array of first time diners, couples on birthday treats, anniversary brunches, tourists, gathered families and morning shoppers alike.

My advice would be to reserve a table close to opening, request a paper from the lobby and savour the full term of the brunch. The hours of service are from 11am - 2.30pm. Our table was for 11am and we somehow managed to roll ourselves out at around 2.15pm.

When considering the quality and abundance of food on offer, the service you receive, the duration of the stay and the setting you're housed in, I regard this meal to be of exceptional value despite what may initially seem to be a hefty price tag.

The food consumed during this meal prevented me from feeling hungry again until around 8pm - and if you know me, that's saying something.

This makes a wonderful alternative to a dinner treat for someone close or for that special occasion. Who wouldn't appreciate such quality ingredients on tap, all morning long. What special Saturdays were made for.

Three courses £55.00
Three courses for children £39

Liked lots - quality of ingredients; impeccable service; unlimited tea, coffee and juice; unlimited starters and desserts; waffles made to order; the outstanding butter bread; grand setting; the beautiful Hermes crockery
Liked less - people on neighbouring tables chewing with their mouth open; the oysters
Good for - a special occasion; whiling away a Saturday morning; not needing to eat for the rest of the day

Alfiyet olsun.

lahmacun - turkish street food

If you haven't visited Turkey, then you need to rectify that situation as soon as possible. And if I were to usher you towards any particular destination for your first visit, it would be Istanbul. Biased sentiments aside, it is one of the most stunning cities I have visited - glorious in its aesthetics and architecture; rich in cultural heritage intertwined with the modernities of the west; and with some of the best food you are ever going to get your chops around.

One staple of these and almost ubiquitous in its presence across the city is the humble but incredibly excellent lahmacun (pronounced la-mah-jun) - a Turkish flat bread topped with spiced minced lamb and diced peppers, layered with parsley and red onion, doused in lemon, rolled up into a taste bud torpedo and devoured. Mention this word to any Turk you may know and watch their eyes glaze over as they recall the wonderful simplicity and delicious flavour of one of the best loved Turkish street foods going.

If you happen to live in North London where a large Turkish community thrives, then lucky you. You'll be surrounded by excellent Turkish supermarkets and authentic restaurants, and you'll also be able to buy lahmacuns at about £2 a pop, so Matt tells me. He makes a beeline to the nearest vendor as soon as he steps out of Seven Sisters tube station when he's due to watch Spurs play at White Hart Lane, like a homing missile on a collision course - I can only imagine shoulder barging any obstacles in his way in the fervent frenzy that accompanies the anticipation of knowing you're about to eat one of these.

If you don't happen to be blessed with a lahmacun maker on your doorstep, then I strongly recommend you try making these at home. Once you've created your basic dough, the rest is as simple as deciding if you want go in for seconds or not. Obviously, you do.

Lahmacun

Makes 4 portions

For the flat breads
350g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp salt
2 tsp easy-blend yeast
250ml warm water
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

For the topping
500g lean lamb mince
2 x green peppers, seeds removed
2 x red peppers, seeds removed
2 x garlic cloves
4 x tbsp tomato puree
1/2 red onion, finely sliced
2 x tbsp sumac, plus extra for sprinkling
2 x tbsp smoked hot paprika (or pimenton), plus extra for sprinkling
Dried chilli flakes
Large bunch of flat leaf parsley
Salt and pepper
Strained yoghurt (optional)

Sieve your flour into a bowl. On one side add the salt, on the other side add the yeast. Make a well in the centre and pour in the olive oil. Pour in the warm water and combine with your hand until it comes together.

On a floured surface, knead the dough until it no longer sticks to your hands or the surface and is smooth and elastic - about 10-15 minutes. Shape into a ball then cup your hands around the dough with your little fingers against the table, and drag the dough to pull the skin taught. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and keep in a warm place until it has doubled in size.

While waiting for your dough to rise, you can prepare your topping. Brown the lamb mince in a pan and then drain most of the fat off - leave a little left. Remove the lamb from the pan and set aside. 

Finely dice your peppers and garlic (if you have a food processor use this as it gets them nice and small). Tip the contents onto a clean tea towel, then twist and squeeze as much of the moisture out as you can. Put the peppers and garlic into the pan and sweat in the remaining lamb fat until soft.

Add the lamb back to the pan and add the sumac, paprika and tomato purée.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes. Take off the heat and stir in half of the chopped parsley.

Pre-heat your oven to 180C and if you have a pizza stone, place it in there so it heats up with the oven.

Tip A pizza stone transfers heat to flat bread very well in the oven. But don't worry if you don't have one, you can just place your bread on some non-stick baking paper on an oven tray.

When your dough has at least doubled in size, tip it out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and fold in half a few times to knock the air out. Divide into four and roll one out into an oval or rectangle, relatively thin but not too thin. Place on a hot pizza stone (or hot oven tray) and partly cook for a few minutes so that it's not raw, but hasn't got any colour yet. While one is cooking, roll out the next piece of dough and continue until all four are partially cooked. If you want to save some bread and topping for the following day, wrap the partially cooked bread in some foil and keep the mince in the fridge. Then just continue with the steps below when you're ready to eat them again.

Raise your oven temperature to 200C. Now take each piece of bread you plan to eat in this sitting, and cover the surface with the mince topping - be sure to push the meat right into the dough with the back of a spoon.  Cook the topped bread in the oven until golden. 

Place a generous amount of parsley and red onion down the centre of your lahmacun, and douse with a load of lemon. Finish off with a sprinkling of paprika and chilli flakes, and you can add a few dollops of strained yoghurt if you fancy it. Roll the bread up, eat it, and then come back on here and thank me for introducing you to this wonderful food.

If you fancy watching one being made by a reputable chef and see just how easy it is, there's a YouTube video of Rick Stein rustling one up from his Mediterranean series a while back. The recipe is similar with the same main components. I'm glad he felt it a dish worthy of his show. I'm also glad that he acknowledges 'If I was 20 years younger, I'd open up a chain of lahmacun restaurants around the country - these would sell so well'. It is the perfect fast food. Maybe there's a business opportunity there - anyone want to go in with me?

Afiyet olsun.

rosemary and garlic focaccia

This weekend has been most pleasant. Partly because of the sunshine, partly because I've been able to fully indulge in my hobbies. A combination of it being the weekend, spring (optimal planting time) and the sun donning its hat has meant an inevitable trip to my local nursery in Merton. I once again spent too much time and money on plants, but few things give me more satisfaction than putting something in the ground and watching it live and transform, attract wildlife, die back into the earth, and return next year. I can, and do, spend hours just observing my garden. There is always something going on, especially at this time of year. Watching fat furry bees heavy and drunk on pollen meandering from one petal platform to the next; pulsating peristaltic worms burrowing into the dark and cool depths of the borders; watching a male robin 'courtship feed' his mate from the sunflower seed feeder, getting her ready for imminent egg-laying. The list goes on. I don't have a large garden, but the life within it and the immense pleasure it gives me is deeply comforting.

So I got to do a lot of digging, lifting, planting, sitting, watching, listening in it today. The wonderful weather called for sustenance to match, and so in between admiring my anemones and pandering over my passionflower, I decided to rustle up a foccacia to have with dinner, thus allowing me to satisfy another slightly more obvious hobby of mine, cooking (and subsequently, eating). A focaccia is a flat oven baked Italian bread, wonderfully savoury and full with the flavour of good olive oil. It can be topped with a variety of typically Mediterranean toppings of your choice and is one of the easiest breads to make. It's also made from ingredients you're likely to already have in stock - a perfect impulse bake.

Rosemary and garlic focaccia

Makes one large focaccia, serves 8-10

500g strong bread flour, plus extra for dusting

1½ tsp salt

Pinch of caster sugar

Extra-virgin olive oil

2 x 7g sachets fast-action dried yeast

Olives (whatever colour you like)

Small handful fresh rosemary leaves

A bulb of garlic

Put the flour into a large bowl, tip the sugar and yeast on one side, and the salt on the opposite side. Make a well in the centre and pour in one tablespoon of the extra-virgin olive oil. Add 300ml of lukewarm water into the well and combine with your hand until it all comes together.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for around 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Shape into a round and drag across the surface with your hands cupped around it to make the skin of the dough ball taught. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave in warm place until the dough has at least doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Tip You can incorporate other ingredients into the dough when you knead it if you wish, such as chopped up sun dried tomatoes.

before first prove

doubled in size

Once the dough has risen, tip it out into an oiled large sandwich tin or a shallow baking tray (the former will give you a smaller and thicker focaccia, the latter will make it larger and thinner - I did the latter). Push the dough flat and right into the corners with your fingertips so it fills the space. Cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for its second prove, until it's doubled in size again.

Preheat your oven to 250°C/Gas Mark 10, or as high as it will go. When the bread looks puffed up and airy, use your thumb to poke deep holes across the whole surface, almost to the bottom. Fill these holes with olives and garlic cloves. Drizzle the top generously (but not swimmingly) with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt flakes. Pierce the dough all over with rosemary leaves. 

 

Tip Tilt the tray so the oil covers the whole surface. Also use the back of a teaspoon to ensure the oil has coated the rosemary too.

Bake for about 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to about 200°C/Gas Mark 6 and bake for a further 10 minutes until golden brown.

Focaccia is best eaten warm, but not hot; leave to cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before serving, or leave to cool completely.

I also managed to fulfil a third hobby today - blog writing. All in, quite a productive and satisfying weekend.

Alfiyet olsun.

pearl barley, pork mince and saffron orzotto

Well, I've finally managed to get back into the kitchen - it's been a while. Where I belong, some may say. Also, where I'm in my element. I think the lack of culinary exercise of late is down to a combination of a few nights spent in town trying out possibilities for the 'London Cheap Eats' part of the blog (some have made it, some haven't) and Matt making most of our meals when I have been around, just because I haven't had a chance to or I've been down right lazy when it comes to cooking up a storm. A bit of a hindrance for a food blogger, but it happens.

This recipe is incredibly simple. It is an orzotto which is essentially a risotto but made with pearl barley instead of rice. Pearl barley is my preference for this type of dish as it has a nutty flavour and retains a wonderful bite, unlike rice which can get a bit too mushy if you're not careful. You also don't need to follow the somewhat laborious process of adding one ladle of stock at a time - just pour most of the stock in, stir occasionally and keep an eye on the liquid level. A sprinkle of luxury is added to this dish in the form of delicate golden saffron strands which gives the whole thing a wonderful glow.

Pearl barley, pork mince and saffron orzotto 

Makes 4 portions

Extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
150g pork mince
200g pearl barley
120g spinach, roughly chopped
1 litre stock (vegetable or meat, or combine)
A bunch of flatleaf parsley, finely chopped including the stalks
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A large pinch of saffron strands (optional)

Tip Pork mince often comes in packs of 500g. If you want to use up the whole lot, scale up all the other ingredients to make more portions which freeze really well. Great mid-weak saviours when you can't be bothered to cook anything.

Heat about one tablespoon of the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and pork and cook, stirring, until the onion is soft and the pork browned.

Stir in the pearl barley and spinach and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add most of the stock (leaving some behind) and the saffron and give everything a good stir. Put the lid on with a slight gap and leave to simmer until the pearl barley is cooked - check the packet timings for an estimation of how long it will take. Keep an eye on the water level - if it gets low before the grains are cooked, add the remaining stock. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the saucepan with a wooden spoon every now and then to prevent the pearl barley sticking and burning at the base.

Tip The saffron adds a wonderful rich colouring to the orzotto but if you don't want to make a special trip to buy some, then you can leave it out.

Remove from the heat, mix in the remaining oil and parsley and season with salt and black pepper. Plate up and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately or allow to cool and portion up to keep in the freezer.

This is one of my favourite mid-week recipes. Enjoy.

Alfiyet olsun.

quesadillas - a mexican start to the day

It's been a while since I've cooked up a storm. The past six posts I've written have been about restaurant reviews rather than kitchen concoctions. And ashamedly, today has been no different. There are few better ways to start the weekend than with a hearty breakfast and one of my favourites is this Mexican number. This is not something I ever make as it's Matt's recipe, and it's excellent. I urge you to combine this with a coffee - I've discovered that a hot mouth from the chillies combined with coffee is a flavour combination that works spectacularly together.

Matt's Breakfast Quesadillas

Makes enough for six wraps, each cut into three resulting in 18 triangles.
This will feed two for two mornings.

Guacamole
4 avocados
1/2 small red onion, finely diced
2 tomatoes, pulp removed and diced
2 large red chillies, finely chopped
Handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
Lime
Salt and pepper

Remaining ingredients
180g strong mature cheddar, grated
1 red chilli, finely chopped
Handful of fresh coriander, roughly chopped
Soft flour tortillas

To make the guacamole, remove the flesh from the avocados into a bowl. Add the onion, chillies, coriander, lime, tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Use a fork to mash up the avocados and mix everything together - you can make this as smooth or rough and chunky as you like. I prefer the latter.

In another bowl, mix the grated cheese, chopped chilli and coriander. Heat a frying pan on a low to medium heat, don't use any oil. When hot, place a tortilla in it and cover half of it with guacamole and sprinkle the cheese mixture on top of this. Fold the uncovered side over and turn over so both sides have browned and the cheese has melted. Cut into three triangles and eat immediately. Repeat and enjoy. Serve this with a strong coffee.

If you think eating chillies at breakfast time is a bit strange, give it a try. The slight heat combined with the sour punch from the lime is a perfect way to wake you up and get the blood flowing. Make like the Mexicans - olé!

Alfiyet olsun.

This recipe can also be found on the Your Local Guardian website.

roti joupa caribbean - review

  

'When de drink de rum, when de girl drink de rum
Dey only want roti, mix it up with some curry' 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGMpr-quR7Q

Trinidadians love their curry and roti, it turns out. They even sing songs about it, which I highly approve of. Catchy ones too; I challenge you to listen to that and not move. Tonight, I was certainly drinking. Not rum, although it could have turned out that way if I had stayed out longer than I did. Mine's a vodka lime and soda if we're on the spirits. It was a good friends last day at work - he is moving to the country to start a new chapter in his life. It was his leaving drinks, and my stomach needed some lining.

While colleagues had noticed and even sampled the Caribbean Roti Joupa in Clapham North before, it only caught my attention when I saw it featured on Paul Hollywood's Bread series which is currently being aired. He paid Roti Joupa a visit to take a look at how they made a certain type of roti there called Bus-Up-Shut (here's a recipe for it I've found online if you're interested in having a go). There was a lot of technique involved of which Paul attempted and spectacularly failed at, followed by vigorous hitting with long sticks so the bread became crumpled and slightly shredded - hence the name sounding like 'bust up shirt'. This place is around a 10 minute walk from where I work and so was a perfect option for a, cheap, speedy and quality meal for the evening - roti and curry was exactly what I fancied.

Roti Joupa is mostly a take-away establishment but does have a few bar seats inside if you would rather eat before moving on, two of which Matt and I managed to secure. Wanting to see what we could get for £8 each (for the purposes of the blog), we probably over ordered and were presented with a huge amount of food. I ordered a portion of goat curry, bus-up-shot (roti), and a macaroni pie (baked macaroni). Matt ordered a chicken curry roti, poulourie (little balls of split pea flour fried and served in a thin sweet chutney sauce, usually mango or tamarind) and a hot double (fried bread filled with curried chickpeas - like a hot chickpea sandwich). We of course tried each others food for future reference.

chicken curry roti

hot double

pholouri

macaroni pie

bus-up-shut

The goat curry was my favourite - succulent chunky pieces of moist meat wonderfully spiced and eaten with the thick but light and soft bus-up-shot roti. A very pleasing combination. The chicken curry roti had generous amounts of meat and while it had a good flavour, I had definitely come out top with the goat as it wasn't quite on a par with it. The polourie balls would be quite dry and dense on their own but worked very well with the sweet sauce they were presented with. I expected the hot double to be in the form of two rounds of fried bread with the channa sandwiched in between, but the chickpeas seemed to be wrapped up in roti instead - I didn't mind as the bread here is excellent. The macaroni pie was a welcome mediation away from everything else and I happily dipped a fork in and out between mouthfuls of curry. We packed parts of what we couldn't finish tightly back into their foil wrapping, asked for a carrier bag and marched on back to the pub laden with doggy bags to consume when we would eventually get home.

This is a great choice in place of a filth-burger from the chicken shop when the stomach starts to rumble, and for the following reasons: it's truly authentically Caribbean and full of native regulars taking home good food reminding them of sunshine; while there's quite a bit of frying involved, the ingredients are of quality; the roti is truly excellent (if Paul Hollywood visited, you know it must be good); you can get serious bang for your buck; ; they play soca music while you wait. I'm going tomorrow at lunch time before another evening of drinks - I'm already looking forward to it.

Liked lots - bus-up-shut; goat curry; soca music playing; smiling staff
Liked less - lack of seats; homeless person sometimes staring at people eating through the glass
Good for - quick bite to eat; lining the stomach; sampling traditional Trinidadian cuisine

The bill

Me 

goat curry £5.00

macaroni pie £1.50

bus-up-shut £1.50

Total £8.00

Matt
curry chicken roti £5.00

hot double £1.50

poulouri £1.50

Total £8.00

Alfiyet olsun.

tonkotsu - review

Soho Ramen

I’m not one to tempt fate from the sky-dwelling powers that be, but I think it may just about be safe to say that we are finally shrugging off the clinging cloak of winter. And by that I mean it is no longer snowing in April; about time. The daffs have picked up their drooping heads to point towards the source of the unfamiliar and hazy light from the sky, the birds are in full song and pimping out nests ready to lay, and blossom is breaking through buds on the trees. But this was not the case two weeks ago, for when this post applies. The temperature was biting and the wind was bitter, a combination of the two providing the perfect environment for very few activities other than eating ramen.

I shared my desire for a good hot slurping with Mel in the hope that she’d know of somewhere to satisfy these urges and prevent me from going into full hibernation – she always seems to know the best places to eat. And Mel of course did not disappoint – Tonkotsu in Soho had been recommended to her by her Japanese hairdresser and described as ‘excellent’. If you find natives eating in any restaurant, you know it’s going to be good.

Ramen makes up a large part of the Japanese offering when it comes to their excellent cuisine (one of my favourites in the world). It is comprised of a life-giving and deeply flavoursome stock, noodles, a ‘base’ (a concentrated liquor of soy, miso or salt) and toppings. Tonkotsu make no bones (pun intended) about the quality of their stock and the effort they put into making it. The website reveals: ‘Our restaurant Tonkotsu is named after the lip-smacking, creamy ramen typical in Kyushu, Japan’s southern-most island, but found all over Japan.  Tonkotsu ramen’s smooth, silky consistency is created by cooking pork bones for up to 18 hours, which allows collagen and other porky goodness to be emulsified into the stock.’ More of all of that please.

Tonkotsu interiors
- from The Guardian website

 
The result is a milky and life affirming bowl of liquid providing the perfect medium for their incredible homemade noodles to swim about in and compete for centre stage. There’s a great bit of insight plastered on the wall inside the restaurant, about how a noodle machine was shipped all the way from Japan for Tonkotsu to make theirs fresh each day, and how some of the front wall had to be demolished in order to get it through the door. A small amount of destruction a fair exchange for the promise of daily and impeccable fresh noodles, I think.

After an eventually successful but overly drawn out attempt to realise a misguided vision of trying to park in what seemed to be an entirely ‘parking suspended’ Soho (who knows what I was thinking) and joining Mel and Lea at the table half an hour late, I was more than ready to hang my head over a steaming bowl of nectar to ease away the aches and pains of a cold day in the office, also after having to leave my car on the other side of Soho and brave the arctic elements to reach this well-deserved broth. The restaurant does not take bookings and when Lea and Mel arrived (18.30), there was a short queue they had to wait in before being seated. By the time I arrived (19.00) the queue had disappeared and fortunately, there was space available next to my already seated friends. Even if there wasn’t I would have happily sat on my own as the anticipation to eat all of the ramen was almost overwhelming by this stage.

Mel and Lea’s batteries had almost reached full power by the time I joined, having made good headway with their bowls of bounty.  I speedily ordered without much thought as I just wanted something in front of me as soon as possible – ‘I’ll have what Mel’s having’ which turned out to be the Soho Ramen (£11) – a salt base, pork and chicken stock with medium think noodles topped with smoked haddock, pak choi, half an egg, menma (fermented bamboo shoots) and spring onions. After having previously read that the gyoza dumplings were made by hand on the premises fresh each day, leaving without sampling these in addition was not an option – a portion of pork gyozas too please.

pork gyoza

Both dishes arrived swiftly and there was no person in Soho happier than I at the moment they were presented to me (possibly exclude those involved in any ‘happy-ending’ massages). The dumplings were wonderful – fat, slippery, savoury, fresh, flavoursome and like some sort of magical Siamese quintuplet, joined at the base by a crisp layer of casing that had melted and merged when they hit the hot pan. The ramen was served with a large flat wooden spoon and chopsticks – a combination of both tools allowing for maximum slurping opportunity. The portion was generous and the flavours able to elevate even the most melancholy of souls – deep and warming and meaty and completely wonderful with still crunchy greens floating on the surface. 

After having placed my order in haste, I realised it was likely I would have preferred what Lea had chosen , the Tonkotsu Ramen (£11) where the choice of meat was pork belly. My bowl instead contained smoked haddock and while I was expecting a lack of meaty flavour, I was thankfully proved entirely wrong. All of the ramens on offer also contain half a soft boiled egg – this was almost my most favourite thing in the bowl. I believe they were marinated and were just so savoury. Few things go better with eggs than salt.

mochi ice cream

With a large bowl of broth, a pot of green tea and also water being consumed over the course of the meal, top buttons were discretely undone and my belly was swishing about with all of the fabulous liquid it had devoured. To wrap up the meal we each ordered a pretty trio of ice cream encased in a layer of mochi (glutinous rice). This lends to an almost rubbery outer texture with ice cream within and is certainly a novel dessert for me and quite fun to eat. The flavours if I recall correctly were black sesame, green tea and a third I can’t remember.

When next in town, be sure to pay this place a visit. If it’s a wet, cold or miserable day (often more likely than not), then all the better for it. There’s nothing like a quality ramen to help banish any lingering winter blues.

Liked lots - the outstanding egg; ramen broth; noodles; dumplings; location
Liked less - may need to wait for a table
Good for - catch-ups with friends; solitary meals; kicking out a cold; warming the cockles

Alfiyet olsun.