CoCoRo

Mediocre food at best. Beef curry was more like grilled pieces of steak with sauce on the side.
4 stars for their shrimp tempura!
3 star for the spicy miso, would have liked some fresh scallions added to top it off with. Given a layer of freshness

I first stumbled into Cocoro after a very boozy work drinks on Friday night. I can’t actually remember what I had but it was phenomenally good.
Having visited a few times now, and with friends, the presentation has always been spot on. The food is good quality, and I can recommend curry, ramen and sushi dishes highly.
Unfortunately on my last visit, they were full and completely overwhelmed. The service, while friendly, practically ceased altogether. Desert of ice cream took about 20 minutes to arrive.
I want to think that was a one-​off because I’ve otherwise had good experiences at this little-​known place.

I have found the Candide of ramen: the best of all possible bowls.
I love the rich pork broth of a traditional tonkotsu, but find the actual pork pieces to be too much for someone who doesn’t eat a lot of meat.
CoCoRo allowed me to sub out the pork pieces for tofu, but keep the pork broth. Heaven.
And the kicker is that the tofu that came out was agedashi (fried with a deliciously chewy batter)! I was already debating ordering agedashi tofu as a side because I am pretty addicted to it. They must have read my mind.
The noodles were a great texture, as was the super silky soft-​boiled egg (next time I’m asking for an extra half).
My friend and I shared three mochi ice cream balls (mango, matcha, sesame), which were tiny but tasty. We were pretty full after the noodles, so it worked out perfectly.
Add citrusy-​sweet honey yuzu tea, and I want to bust out with my best Sound of Music chorus – these are a few of my favorite things!

Quality keeps going down since the change of menu. Gyoza is not crispy anymore. They canceled all bento months ago.

Crap food, plz see photos, the octopus ball is not authentic at all, every thing is put too much soy sauce and sugar, and the music in the restaurant is very unsettling, like in a pub. Not recommend, not cheap either.

Got recommended by a friend. Phenomenal ramen. The broth was rich, the noodles had a nice chew, and the assortment of bits in the dish made for an overall tasty experience. A nice find in an alleyway in an area that can overwhelm with underwhelming choices.

Went here because it was the closest place for ramen. I wouldn’t say I am a ramen snob, but I wouldn’t recommend this place if you want tasty ramen. I thought the broth was tasteless and ramen is just plain store brought ramen.

Back in the distant uncivilised days of no ramen bars in London, Cocoro in Marylebone was one of the few places which offered decent tonkotsu ramen. However, having a monopoly meant that they charged high prices, offered average service and gave dry chashu
Happily, the last few years have seen an explosion in ramen bars and even the international giant Ippudo is about to open shop soon (super excited!). I was curious to see whether Cocoro had upped its game and gave this sister branch a try
The service was noticeably better and there were happy smiles from the waiting staff. They also offered good value for money with a bowl of ramen at lunchime also coming with a choice of sides — I went for rice with chicken curry
The tonkotsu ramen broth remains among the top in London with a satisfying depth of fatty flavour. The chashu has been improved and is now moist and chewy and their onsen egg remains as good as ever. I would probably put this as my second favourite bowl of tonkotsu in London after Bone Daddies
The chicken curry was nice but sweet in the typical Japanese style
An excellent outpost of Cocoro

Phenomenal ramen. On the recommendation of our friend we ordered the tonkatsu (regular, not spicy) which he said was like pork with a side of pork. Porky. The broth was rich, the noodles had a nice chew, and the assortment of bits in the dish made for an overall tasty experience. We ordered some sort of combo that came with a small side, you could choose from four. I chose something with minced pork, rice, and a sweet and tangy sauce. Yes, more pork. Loved it. Usually I’m pretty frugal but for some reason the £10.80 for the two dishes didn’t spark any sort of wish that it had been cheaper. A nice find in an alleyway in an area that can overwhelm with underwhelming choices.

A bit disappointed.
The three of us each ordered a ramen plus a salad and a small snacky dish, which is a good deal actually. I enjoyed my Takoyaki a lot, but the ramen, which was supposed to be the dude on the table, was somewhat quite a disappointment. I ordered the spicy tonkatsu ramen, which wasn’t spicy AT ALL. The portion was good though. My friends had the original tonkatsu ramen and a seafood ramen, which they both felt a bit disappointed at as well. We ended up paying around 15 per head plus our tips. Overall, I’ve had much better ramen at a cheaper price before. It’s not somewhere I’d go again.

Ramen was great. We came right at 12 and no one was here it was fast and delicious. A must for ramen lovers! Yummy yummy yum!
We also has green tea and edamame. The edamame was just ok. a few pieces were cold.

CoCoRo, as others have said, is the sister restaurant of the other Cocoro in Marlybone. This branch focuses primarily on curry and ramen, though they also have a massive menu of sushi and other Japanese usuals. In my opinion, this place would be better served by focusing on the cheaper foods, curry and ramen, and not offering such a full menu, cutting food costs and then knocking a pound or so off each dish’s price… but that’s just me. The décor is similar to the other one. Rather sterile and uninspired. But let’s be honest, its the food that really matters. For my first visit, I had the spicy miso ramen.
The ramen, I would say, was up to par with the ramen in the other Cocoro– not my favourite in London, but really tasty if not a wee bit expensive. Their noodles, however, are probably the best of my other favourites (Bone Daddies and Ittenbari) with perfect bite and chewiness to them. Really nice.
I got the lunch set which included ramen, a small salad, and a choice of a small dish. I had a hand roll, which was basically just a California roll. Not bad, but forgettable. This was all for around £13 or so if I remember correctly. For an additional… £3.50 maybe? I had a delicious Yuzu Honey Tea. On the sweet side, but really refreshing for a hot drink. My dining partner’s small dish was Karaage Chicken, which was quite tasty. Next time, I’d get that.
I look forward to coming back to try to curry! I wish this were a more inventive review, but alas. Perhaps this is just CoCoRo. Solid, tasty, and a place I am happy to patronise on a regular basis, but not awe inspiring in either food or value.

Cocoro’s new branch off New Oxford Street is a somewhat stripped-​down version of their main branch in Marylebone (henceforth referred to as CoCoLeBone) — judging by their menu, it looks like they’re taking some cues from Ittenbari — there’s a heavy focus on the ramen and the menu is much smaller than the other one, although there’s still more on offer than Ittenbari. The space itself is much more relaxed than CoCoLeBone, much more in a sort of canteen style, although there is a window into the kitchen (always a plus for me).
There are a number of different ramens available — tonkotsu, miso, soy, and tantan. I went for a tonkotsu (no surprise there) set which set me back £13 for a tonkotsu ramen and a karaage (fried chicken) rice bowl. This also comes with a salad. The karaage was good, nice and crisp and tasty, although the dish could have done with a little bit of dressing. The ramens are every bit as well presented as the ones from CoCoLeBone’s — again, you’re given a bowl of ramen in broth and the toppings are on a separate plate. In terms of taste, the soups are definitely up to standard. As far as tonkotsu ramens go, I rank this one above Shoryu /​below Bone Daddies. I also tried some of my dining partner’s spicy miso ramen which I did find to be quite salty, although there was a lot of flavour in it. I will go back and try some of their other things, but I do think that the menu needn’t be as extensive as it is — they could stand to cut out some of the dishes on offer and the sushi and focus on making the ramen as good as it can be.
The question for me is, will this compete with Ittenbari? This Cocoro does a pretty good job with their ramen in terms of quality and price — the fact they do a tonkotsu is a big draw for me; the noodles are also of better quality. I do love the simplicity and speed of Ittenbari, so if I need to have a bowl of noodles in 15 – 20 mins, Ittenbari is the clear winner. It’s also a little bit cheaper, and in terms of quality, there’s not a huge gulf for me. So it’s a bit of a wash, but unless I’m in a tonkotsu mood, I’m more likely to overlook Cocoro. The ace-​in-​the-​hole is the hot yuzu and honey drink which is really damn tasty — seriously, I don’t see why anyone would order any other drinks here.
All in all, I will come back here from time to time. Although not the best of its ilk, I do think highly of their ramen, and I’ll have to try some of their ricier dishes at some point. It is generally more affordable than CoCoLeBone too (£10 for tonkotsu, rather than £13) which is a big plus. Generally, I’m just happy to have such a good range of ramen options in London now. Exciting, soupy times we live in!

Wooooah. I thought I should update my review as I went back to try the ramen, and it was GORGEOUS!
It is just as good as the old CoCoRo (CoCoLeBone as Rob says) but a bit cheaper. Yum.