Ippudo London

A total rip off

Ippudo London

Ippudo London, yet another global ramen operation entering the UK market, opened just opposite of its business rivial Kanada Ya on St Giles High Street. I will not mention too much about the whole business side of the operation as I already covered that in my Kanada Ya post not so long ago. Ippudo London has a lot to offer on its menu beside ramen, with a full starters and ALC options too, with some traditional Japanese dishes with a western twist such as wagyu tatki and hakata tonpu yaki. With a no booking policy, it took me about 30 mins to get a table on a Friday night.



Grilled black cod, a Japanese classic was done decently with a nice soft texture and a well blended saikyo miso. However there were a few sharp bones in the cod, personally I've got no issue with bones in fish but surely there should be a warning on the menu in case of any accident? Also at £16 for such a small portion and it was just not worth it, for the same price you can get an outstanding main course elsewhere easily such as 10 Greek Street. 

chicken gyoza

Grilled black cod

And the dinner just kept on reaching a new low with the Shiromaru Hakata ramen, a tradtional tonkotsu noodle in pork broth with a piece of tasteless loin chashu and a few garnishes of mushrooms and bean sprouts, everything else you would expect in a tonkotsu would cost you extra, either the Ippudo team hasn't done their research on other ramen bars in London or they are just greedy, why charged such a premium with so little value to offer?

Shiromaru Hakata ramen

Akamaru Modern

The whole evening was a disaster, on top of the long wait to get a table, the business model of the staff shouting in Japanese every time when diners entered or left was rather unpleasant which made it difficult to have a conversation. Plus the outrageous price for such average food in tiny portions was just totally not worth it and a total rip off in both of my time and money. Ippudo for me it is by far one of the worst restaurants opening in London this year, a place to avoid.

Food 1/5

What I paid: 
£25 per head

Average cost without drinks and services :
£20 - £30



Central St Giles Piazza, London WC2H 8AG

http://www.ippudo.co.uk/