Michael Booth set himself the task of eating every variety of ramen on offer (about nine) and I wish I’d been able to do the same – unfortunately my travelling companion is not as enthused about ramen as I am.

Anyways, it’s immense – the nine varieties are from Sapporo, Asahikawa, Fukushima, Tokyo, Yokohama, Wakayama, Hakata, and Kumamoto.  I managed a few bowls but got nowhere near the 9 on offer.

this one was easily my favourite – sumire ramen from Hokkaido.  Miso base with garlic paste, ginger and soy.

Walked out of our hostel in Kamakura (that’s not me above) and immediately stumbled across this tiny unassuming restaurant called Bonzo.

Turns out it has a michelin star and serves up some of the best soba in Japan.  We sat down for lunch and asked for the chef to choose for us  (we couldn’t read the menu…)

First up some stunning tempura – the prawn was immense and the batter light and crispy.

 a warm duck & ginger broth came next (with soba for dipping)

the soba are handmade in the open kitchen just before they’re cooked – after making up the dough it’s flattened out into long sheets and then the noodles are all cut to the same length and thickness using a wooden multi-pronged knife-like contraption.

the soba noodles at Bonzo were perfectly chilled and nice and stringy, not clumped together or too soft and were the perfect accompaniment for the tsuyu dipping sauce/duck broth –  the whole restaurant was drowned in the sound of people getting their full slurp on the go (you get used to it)

the remaining broth / tsuyu was then mixed with the leftover water from cooking the soba and served up alongside some miso.

bout £15 each, absolute winner.

It looks like OFM is going with a full-on Dabbous appreciation this weekend so I thought I’d jump in on the act.  We managed to get a table there recently and it was never going to let us down.

The food was absolutely fantastic and Oliver Dabbous completely deserves all of the rave reviews (some good ones can be found  here and here)  The quality of the cooking is unquestionable and for just £50 a head it totally delivers.

First up was the asparagus with rapeseed oil mayonnaise and crushed hazelnuts (the recipe can be found here ) – no knives & forks, you simply ‘dip’ the asparagus in the mayo and then the hazelnuts and crack on, amazing!

The ‘mixed alliums in a chilled pine infusion’ came next and despite sounding quite dull on paper  it was an absolute treat,  perhaps the most daring dish on the menu.  The onions were  sweet and crunchy and were perfectly matched with the consomme. The small blobs of basil oil & fresh herbs added a nice touch too.

Everyone likes an egg –  ’coddled hen’s  egg with mushrooms and thyme’

Jay Rayner bangs on about this and he’s totally right, the smoked butter &  earthy mushrooms make this the perfect scramble.

Next up was chargrilled salmon with spring onions, almonds and an elder flower sauce – I’m convinced there was an avocado puree lurking in there somewhere too but I may be mistaken.  Either way it was great, the salmon had clearly been cured beforehand and the smokiness from the char grilling lifted it up a few notches.

The barbecued iberico pork was unlike any pork I’d ever tasted and sat on top of an almost satay-like sticky acorn praline.  The turnip tops (a first) and apple vinegar provided the much needed balance to the dish, a real winner for bout ten quid.

some cheese…

The iced lovage sorbet was reminiscent of chewing grass when I was a kid, I think I liked it but I’m not sure how necessary it was.

To finish up we had the  chocolate ganache, basil moss, dill, & sheep’s milk ice cream – all very nice (for me the basil moss was the highlight)

petits fours weren’t bad either although we didn’t need the two servings

Ok so that’s it, amazing.

My only real gripe was the house-baked bread being presented in a paper bag to “maintain the warmth and flavour of the bread” – this may be true but I felt it was a rather wanky touch, and seemed a bit out of place with the rest of the meal and the general vibe of the restaurant as a whole.

I’d definitely go back but it’s now booked-out until December and I imagine it will be fairly hard to get in to next year as well.  It’s also only fifty quid (wines from bout £25+/bottle) and you can’t fault that – I can’t think of anywhere that’s close to competing with this in London.  Best resto 2012?  Easily.

On Leather Lane DaddyDonkey’s time is up (I rarely see a queue there now…)  and at the Clerkenwell Rd end there’s a number of new stalls serving up gourmet ribs (and other roasted meat) in rolls, more up-market burritos (still just gloop though),  fancy kebabs  and also ZOU – a small Japanese okonomiyaki and katsu stall run by the two friendliest guys on the planet.

I’m yet to try the okonomiyaki as I can’t get past these sandwiches, they are just immense.  For £4.00 you choose from either chicken breast or super juicy pork cutlets which are coated with panko (breadcrumbs) and deep-fried before being served up in a lightly toasted roll and topped with shredded white cabbage and a tangy mustard dressing.  They’re so simple but that’s the point – they deliver big flavours and the quality of the meat is unquestionable – this is no small sandwich either and is fantastic value for money.  Props to the two guys running the stall as well – easily friendliest people on Leather Lane.

I’ve had the chicken katsu sando from Tsuru before (highly recommend the scotch eggs too) – it’s slightly smaller, served in white  bread with no crusts and also costs a mere £3.95.  I think it’s great but Zou is something else, this is a total feast for £4.00 and leaves you wanting more.

donuts go well with coffee..

xiao long bao

Din Tai Fung does the best Shanghai-style xiao long bau (soup dumplings) I’ve ever tasted and yet for some unknown reason they’ve never bothered to open up in the UK – I’m visiting Japan again in April and am just as excited about  going back to Din Tai as anything else I’ll be doing/eating (except for Tsukiji of course)

I’m convinced that soup dumplings will soon take over the world and yet weirdly London seems very far behind.

What’s on offer here is all pretty poor – Leong’s Legends is often mentioned as a safe bet (or their Sister resto Dumpling Legends) but it pales in comparison to Din Tai – the dumpling itself is way too thick, the filling is overly processed, the pork-broth soup not as tasty and even the black vinegar & shredded ginger used for dipping just isn’t quite right.

The only place that’s come close for me is Crystal Jade, but that’s in Hong Kong (fyi – the airport branch opens at breakfast…)

Anyways the reason I’m writing about this is to draw your attention to the dedicated ‘bring din Tai Fung to London‘ campaign set up by eatnoodleslovenoodles – this is a wonderful blog dedicated to getting a branch of Din Tai Fung opened up in the UK – check it out and add your support.

http://dtflondonfanclub.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/lets-bring-din-tai-fung-to-london.html

the place is called Men Baka Ichidai in Kyoto and I will definitely check it out next month and report back.

Amazing.

Fire Ramen

It’s set in the basement of an old town-house not far from Catalunya and whilst open all day it’s far better to go in the evening when it’s rammed (don’t worry about queuing here, it’s great –  we were given plenty of wine, olives & of cheese to help us while away the time)

Our first visit came at the end of an alcohol fuelled first-night-in-Barcelona dash about town and had us practically inhaling McFoie burgers, croquettes, slices of manchego, red wine and way too much pedro ximenez…

Following this rather blurry affair we only thought it right to return a few days later and keep eating our way through the menu

First up was the bikini – iberico ham and soft white cheese with shavings of black truffle – was a great take on a simple cheese & ham toastie

If I was a vegetarian I’d want to eat these everyday – whole leeks griddled on the hot plate and served with a fantastic romesco sauce

next up were the ‘Mexican’ soft tortillas with slow pulled pork and red onions

more of those fiery bombas – not quite up there with La Cova Fumada but great all the same

smashed eggs with chorizo on chips – it really shouldn’t work so well  but it does and was easily the most popular thing on the menu (apart from the next thing maybe…)

all hail the McFoie…

the only disappointment were the sticky chilli/ginger chicken wings (not pictured) – they really weren’t that great…

despite a fairly hefty carb-laden meal our waiter insisted that we couldn’t leave without having tried desert and so we opted for the scoops (quenelles if you must) of chocolate mousse with olive oil & sea salt – worked perfectly

this place is brilliant and leaves you with a massive smile on your face; for a relatively low price it offers something a bit different from inventive takes on standard tapas dishes to genius creations such as the Mc Foie – def warrants multiple return visits.

the family-run bodega claims to have invented fiery ‘bomba‘ croquette (see below) but that’s not the only stand-out dish on offer as the seafood was exceptional too and easily explains how the place is packed out well before 12:30 everyday

we ate a lot of seafood – pipis, mackerel, squid and it was all fantastic – no plate cost more than about 5euros.  A lot of people were eating the morcilla and a chickpea salad too  - definitely warrants a return visit…

calamar a la plancha was delicious – served up with parsely & garlic in oil

la bomba – enough said about this already

Barcelona even has a bit of surf – not quite up there with San Sebastian but absolute chills all the same.