Nagomi Tonkotsu Ramen

Nagomi is a small Japanese restaurant in a very convenient location by Bond street and Oxford street, in the centre of shopping area.

They have range of items on the menu from Sushi to Izakaya style small dishes (like tapas). It caters for dinning occasion as well as drinking over many plates of dishes.

Of course I am not here for anything but Ramen. They have 3 styles, Kyusyu Tonkotsu (Kyushu is where I am from), Soy base, and Nagomi Tonkotsu. I went for Nagomi Tonkotsu because it has it’s restaurant name. This usually means they are throwing the ball as fast as they can (if he was a baseball pitcher).

Mind you, I usually say that – Don’t expect good Ramen from a Japanese restaurant that servers all kids of dish. How can they be good at some many things from Sushi to Udon to Ramen?

But anyhow I decided to give it a go.

Ramen came in a small bowl, and this tells me that it could be designed for customers who had few drinks of sake and they want to finish up with a bowl of noodle before they go home. This is called ‘Shime‘ – direct translation would be ‘Closing’.

So I ordered this as a main, but I also ordered salmon Onigiri (rice ball), so it was enough and this onigiri was good to!

Noodle – 5/5
This was close to what I get at home in Fukuoka! Hosomen (thin noodle) and a bit Katamen (Aldente – not still a bit hard).
I have to say this was the best thin-style Tonkotsu noodle in London. (You have different type for Tokyo style Soy flavour)
I am well impressed.

Soup 4/5
Again it’s pretty good. It is not as flat (weak) as the one from Shoryu which I presume it’s a tamed version of soup for western customers. These guys are going for what they like themselves.

Topping 3/5
Unfortunately topping was not the best but still good enough. They had Chyasu (pork) which is a bit too thick and not as tasty as the one from Cocoro. But of course it’s better than other trendy venues like Bone Daddies! They also offered extra topping of Takana. May be it would be the best combination with this bowl.

Atmosphere 5/5
Waitress was very nice and polite. Interior feels like you are in a warm Japanese house. They are not trying to be Shoreditch Ramen, which is relief…

Price 4/5
£10.50 + 12.5% service charge is not cheap but this place is off New Bond St, where luxury brands have their shops, so the rent can’t be that cheap.

Overall:4/ 5 
Very nice cute restaurant.Other food seemed authentic and tasty too. I would like to go back here to taste more of their range of menu.
It was a great surprise and I can say it is in the ‘best’ calibre of Ramen joint amongst Cocoro and Shoryu.(Top3!)

This place would not go bankrupt in Japan.

Nagomi
4 Blenheim Street, Mayfair
London, W1S 1LB

Overall rating