Supa Ya Ramen finally has a permanent home.
The nomadic life of a supper club and cult pop-up doesn’t always end in a shiny new bricks and mortar site, but when it does, it’s an achievement well worth celebrating. So, please join me in giving a big hand to Supa Ya Ramen, which has joined the massed ranks of London restaurants after throwing open the doors to their new joint on Kingsland Road earlier this month. It’s long overdue, especially when you consider that their original plans for a restaurant were thrown into disarray by the lockdowns.
Obviously, London doesn’t lack for ramen restaurants, but the addition of Supa Ya Ramen to that list is a truly welcome one. Let’s start with the pedigree behind these noodles; founder Luke Findlay carved out an impressive career at The Hand & Flowers, Berber & Q, and Patty & Bun before turning his focus to “traditionally inauthentic” ramen. You may have already slurped those divine noodles during pop-ups at Mortimer House and Snackbar, and now’s your chance to head to the twenty-seater venue for a second helping.
The menu is concise but packed with carefully-cooked ingredients. My stomach yearns for the Iberico pork fat, salt beef, Supa Ya pickles, and chicken soup noodles, flavoured with hot mustard, house soy, and chilli paste, and topped with a fudgy egg. Meanwhile, celeriac chashu, green onions, fried garlic and another oozing egg sit upon a broth of root vegetables, olive oil, and sea salt in a sterling vegetarian option, whilst others make use of lesser-seen ramen ingredients like buttered chilli corn and parmesan.
An equally brief array of small plates will supplement your ramen slurping, with the roast chicken skin or the cold fennel and hot pepper sausage looking like winners. But it’s hard to look away from dessert, a single dish but a truly intriguing one: noodle ice cream with miso caramel. I don’t know about you, but I have to know what that tastes like!
Supa Ya Ramen is initially functioning as a BYOB restaurant, before introducing a drinks menu that complements their bowls nicely. So pop down, take a seat at the counter, watch the chefs cook up a feast from the open kitchen, and of course, slurp that soup to your heart’s content.