Bone Daddies

Daddies joy

Opened in 2012, Bone Daddies is a Japanese ramen restaurant by Ross Shonhan who used to be the head chef at Zuma, one of the most successful Japanese restaurants in London. Located in the heart of Soho, Bone Daddies has gained a loyal following with its signature ramen, with the current ramen boom in London, I was interested to see what is the real deal about Bone Daddies especially after a rather disappointing meal at another ramen place Shoryu.

salmon sashimi

Thanks to the no booking policy, I had to wait about 30 minutes before I managed to get a table, we were served some sake while we waited which was a nice little touch by the restaurant. Our dishes were served very quickly after placing our orders, we started off with a selection of starters. Maybe because I visited Sushi Tetsu recently, I found the salmon sashimi at Bone Daddies was decent at best, the salmon itself lacked the rich flavours I expected and the shiso failed to lift up the dish. The salmon and yellowtail tartar on the other hand was much better, chopped fishes served with a lime wasbi ponzu in a little tube, personally I found the oily and meaty flavours in the tartar was good enough on its own and the ponzu wasn't really needed.

salmon and yellowtail tartar

Fried chicken, a popular Japanese snack food was done brilliantly, the skin wasn't overly crispy and the meat has just enough seasoning. With a dash of lemon juice on top, it really does deliver a taste of Japanese fast food culture. Chashu pork and corn croquette was the star starter of the evening, the rich flavours of pork was robust and bursting with juicy flavours, loved it!

fried chicken

chashu pork and corn croquette

We all went for the classic Tonkotsu ramen as our main, a ramen with a pork bone broth that was cooked for 20 hours, a real traditional way of preparing ramen broth. The broth was really thick but it wasn't as rich as I expected it to be, it has just the right balance of saltiness but lacked the robustness of a pork bone broth. The ramen itself was very interesting, a lot thinner than your traditional ramen, smooth and silky. The chashu pork was a lot better than the one at Shoryu, not too dry and just enough fat to carry out the mild flavours of the pork.

Tonkotsu ramen

Tonkotsu ramen

Overall I found my dinner at Bone Daddies quite enjoyable, don't expect supreme quality over here, but rather a nice casual restaurant serving some good old Japanese flavours. Service here is friendly enough for a casual restaurant, if you are into ramen this is a great place to try with a few friends with its buzzing atmosphere and rock & roll vibe. 

Food 5
Service 4
Ambience 6
Value 6

£22

31 Peter St, London, Greater London W1F 0AR

http://bonedaddiesramen.com/