Sasuke

I have eaten here twice so far. The first time I ate here the ramen really didn’t impress me, it sent Sasuke to the very bottom of my London Ramen list — I was so disappointed as this place was full of Japanese people! What made the ramen bad was the watery broth, and the noodles were comparable to that of an instant-​noodle packet…
I had a free lunch on a Saturday and decided to try Sasuke again. The second time I picked a different ramen on the list and woah! It was good. It was really satisfying — Sasuke can do a good ramen! But, it still wasn’t as good as Kanada-​Ya (I feel like I’m advertising for Kanada-​Ya, wheres my free ramen vouchers?! Ha ha).
I would recommend any ramen fanatic to try here for a quick lunch or dinner in an informal setting, but don’t expect to be wowed.

Read the reviews here and I have a go in this restaurant. It is full of Japanese customer. I thought it would be authentic to attract the Japanese crowd. I have a shoryu chorsu ramen…£12.40 a bowl. not much ingredients inside. Taste of the soup is clear and salty and do not have a rich broth soup. It is down to your personal choice. I think I might cone again to try rice dishes but not ramen.

A two floor restaurant with a big focus on ramen and izakaya style dishes. It’s always packed with customers and mostly Japanese people which says a lot about the food. The décor is very similar to the typical Japanese restaurants in Japan with their lacquered wooden tables and stools. I highly recommend sitting upstairs if you could where it is a lot brighter and you can sit around the bar which is quite nostalgic of the ramen bars in Japan.
Staff were efficient although their with them not being fluent in English made it quite hard to communicate with.
Gyoza
These were lovely and a great example to gyoza out there. The pastry was moist, thin and firm filled generously with pork and abundance of greens enabling it to produce more flavour. The filling had obviously been marinated well as you can taste the sweetness and even the sharp kick from the onions inside. The only slightly problem is that the pastry stuck together so ripped upon breaking them apart.
Gyusu ji– beef tendon stew.
Not for the faint hearted as it was mainly pure fat with two pieces that contained meat. Should have ordered rice with this just so it can benefit from lovely sweet oily juices from the soy base. It was lovely and gooey, very similar to bone marrow carrying a lovely light savoury notes that were seasoned well too.
Oden of Kon jac and Hampen fish cake.
Great to get something so common in Japan in London again. You tend to find oden in all the popular convenience stores in Japan, right in front near the counter. It’s things like egg, tofu, fish cakes slowly simmering in a light soy dashi broth. Great for a night time snack or a quick lunch.
The Kon jac wasn’t too much of my liking being quite firm in texture like a really hard jelly that was very bland. It didn’t take much flavour from the soy dashi broth.
I much preferred the Hampen fishcake that was soft and spongy and therefore able to absorb the broth adding lovely savoury notes to its own sweetness and umami.
Salmon sashimi.
These were incredibly fresh highlighted by their firm bouncy texture. They were a joy to eat, silky and clean in taste. Great knife skills too being incredibly smooth along the sides. Came quite generously portioned for £7.50
Sasuke shoyu ramen
A satisfying bowl of ramen but I have definitely had better. The noodles could have been a bit softer as they were on the hard side. The added tea marinated egg was way too salty being marinated in too much soy sauce. But I enjoyed the broth, although light you can taste the complexity with a slight bitterness in there from some underlying herb. It was soothing and I drank it all even after finishing the noodles. The pork belly was beautifully tender and sweet. I added nori too just to add some umami and pak choi for a nice crunch and colour.
Hayashi rice.
A Japanese style western dish of a lovely rich red wine beef stew that was full of depth. The beef came as big chunks, juicy and tender paired with peas for a bit of colour. Topped with splashes of cream just to add some creaminess to it and to balance out the strong wine taste. It was lovely, especially with the comfort of the al dente sticky rice soaking up the sauce. To complete it was a creamy silky omelette on top of the rice just to balance out the richness further. Delicious!
Sasuke may not be the best place for ramen but it is a pretty reliable place if you are looking for some decent Japanese food. Even better if you are a Naruto fan. The atmosphere makes up for when the food isn’t perfect although saying that, I was very impressed with their freshness and quality of their ingredients used. A little tip though, they admitted they takoyako is brought frozen from a third party so if you want homemade food, better to avoid these.

Where to go after an evening at the cinema in the deepest West End of London? I’m a member the Picturehouse and although I genuinely do think it’s the best cinema in London the food does leave a little to be desired especially when the competition around it is so good.
This little place is just round the corner and hits the spot. The small little ramen café in a sea of ramen cafes has some great food with hot (or cold) sake, should you want it. The menu was pretty good but didn’t have any real surprised compared to the other Ramen places locally. No surprises that is, apart from perhaps the special nibble. Sadly this is far less exciting that the name intimates and is just a set of dry additives that would normally make it into a soup (curses!).
We also went for the Tonkotsu which had a lovely Unami taste along with the spicy miso soup. It was a meal that was good value and left us certainly satisfied. The service was also good, fast and polite. That said we are so spoilt in Soho for ramen that I cannot say I’d run here again though would certainly slap it down a good reliable venue.

Very reasonably priced and quick – a great place to grab a meal before a show in the West End.
We had tickets to The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime right around the corner and chose Sasuke because of its proximity and its vegetarian options for a member of our party. The ramen were excellent and the broths very tasty and savory. Highly recommended.

A good place to go on a cold Saturday, sasuke is the only ramen I’ve had in London that’s worth speaking of as actual ramen. Prices were semi-​reasonable also and service was friendly (very filling 3 appetizers –gyoza: decent, karaage: decent and very large, squid rings: decent minus) –and two bowls of ramen for 49 quid) so value star granted.
Will be back in future to try the very intriguing rotating daily special menu and also more of the very very nice ramen here
Low key atmosphere, I played a game of cribbage during and after the lunch which was no big deal with the staff

I love this little ramen place; it feels so homey and you see quite a few Japanese customers so it must be good :)
The prices are decent and the ramen is delicious. The texture of the noodles are thicker than some others I have had. I had the spicy miso, which is a perfect, hearty, waming ramen for these cold winter nights.

Rob and Katie let all us Unilocal-​y ramen lovers know about these noodles last spring, and I have been a fan ever since.
— This is my favourite place in London for spicy miso ramen. Seriously… the broth is just lovely.
— Their gyoza and karaage are both decent
— The staff are always lovely and are happy to let you order in English, or Japanese, or a mix of the two.
— They have calpis chuhai (yatta!)
— This is the only place in London I know of that serves oden. I didn’t love the oden as much as I thought I would… but it is nice to know the option is there if you have any Japanese friends that miss it!
Don’t give up if it looks full downstairs as there is more room upstairs as well!

I tried a number of ramen shops in Soho, and this is probably my favorite one. The special shoyu ramen with seafood and tonkatsu is pretty much perfect. Well-​stewed broth, al dente noodles, loads of toppings and an affordable price to boot. Combined with friendly staff, and this is the perfect lunch spot.

Ramen is probably my fav japanese food ever, glad to find another good ramen bar in London, although Sasuke doesn’t seem to have more options than bone daddies and kanada-​ya, but the quality of food is impressive.

Ramen is probably my favourite food ever. And I am so happy to see more and more Ramen places pop up around London.
I actually ended up here by surprise, and never heard of it before. It’s small, cosy, and very Japanese-​y, staff were nice as well.
The ramen itself however was a bit disappointing. Not bad, just a bit bland and uneventful, with not a lot happening.
All in all not a bad experience, but nothing really to go head over heels for either.

This joint seems fairly new and is catering towards the Ramen craze, which is slowly seeping out of London. Its cute and small. The staff is nice. The ramen broth is ok, but nothing write home to. The goyoza is something to avoid. My friend had chicken with curry sauce and rice. Not a lot of chicken on it, but alright taste.

FOOD & DRINKS
I had the spicy miso ramen. It was a pretty good ramen. The broth was thick and fatty but also flavorful. For someone who is used to eat spicy it was not really spicy. It had a little kick but didn’t make my head turn red. There were way too many soy bean sprouts to make the bowl look loaded.
SERVICE
The service staff was friendly and nice. They said some words in Japanese like «Welcome» but went back to Chinese when they talked to each other. There was nothing to complain really. Especially when you compare it to some service staff in Chinese restaurants…
ATMOSPHERE
We went here for some dinner. The restaurant was empty when we walked in but after a couple of minutes more customers joined us. The place itself was ok? The atmosphere is rather Chinese than Japanese. Probably because the staff was Chinese and the background music as well. If you sell Japanese ramen at least play some Japanese songs or go neutral with classical…
RATING
This place is lacking a bit everywhere to be one of my favorite places for ramen. The whole atmosphere and the food quality could step up a bit. I probably wouldn’t come back here because it was just not special enough.

Despite having eaten Japanese many times before, this was my very first ramen experience so I really don’t have a lot to compare it to.
The place is tiny and cosy, not particularly pretty in terms of details but I quite like that as it gives me an authenticity feel, if it makes sense.
There were three of us and we ordered all similar dishes: a bowl of ramen and gyoza dumplings on the side.
The dumplings were nice, though a bit on the oily /​over-​fried side. The ramen was really nice and I could have eaten 2 bowls of it easily!
It had two massive slices of pork (which I was told should not be as fatty as it was) and it was topped up with an egg (that is added as an extra… is this normal?).
It’s in a nice spot if you’re about to venture into Soho for nightlife shenanigans and don’t want to end up in an overly crowded restaurant, we were served quickly and I wouldn’t mind going back should I end up in the area.
Nice if you need a quick dinner and are already around the block, probably not worthy a tube journey just to get there.

The main event at Sasuke is the ramen, probably the best I have had in London. It takes me back to Tokyo, I’m not boasting that I’ve been to Tokyo though. You can add all the extras you like but there is no real need, the noodles are spot on. They have a spicy option too for the brave. Lunch menus are available with chicken katsu curry and the like. You can add a small plate of really fresh dumplings or crispy chicken for £1.50, and they have Asahi too, even the black stuff.
Service is very quick and friendly. I guess it’s not exactly cheap — noodles with extra meat, and dumplings, and a beer, was around £18 with service, but in London it’s hard to complain too hard at that.
Come for the noodles.

Ah ramen, what a joy it is to have you in my belly.
Who could deny the deliciousness? Warm flavourful broth, long spongy noodles, tender meats, all the joys of life. So when there was another classic Unilocal Ramen Club outing here, I knew I would be there eagerly (five minutes before the opened even and had to stare hungrily through the window like a sad puppy).
It’s a small spot but with an upstairs for more tables. It’s got a very minimalist feel, white walls, wooden tables, even rectangular wooden stools for you to sit on.
I like this spot a lot. The staff is incredibly friendly (and audibly greets everyone who comes in) and takes your order right away. The food comes out quickly but not so quickly that it feels like it was pre-​made. Everything is damn resh.
I tried the Shoyu (or soy) broth with charshu (or pork) with sweet corn. And it was excellent. Rich, thick, so good. The flavours do sink to the bottom at bit so a little bland when I started but excellent by the time I finished. Yum.
We also had the excellent Karaage, or the fried chicken, which came hot and tender on a stick. Mmm.
Overall, one of the better spots in London’s ongoing ramen war and worth checking out for sure.

Hmm, I feel like I totally ordered the wrong items from the menu.
From Tim L’s raving of the goodness of the tsuke, my companion and I both ordered the dipping noodles. We even added the half egg and seaweed on top. With expectations being totally high coming into this place, we were severely disappointed.
I have no idea what dipping noodles were but was expecting something good. What I received was noodles, with a piece of pork slice, ½ egg, a piece of seaweed and some of those mushroom (?) slices. It came with a slightly salty and quite a thick sauce-​type broth in a separate bowl that you dip the noodles into, but for me, I didn’t really see the novelty nor appreciated what was so good about the taste. My companion thought the same, and wondered whether the noodles were really ramen noodles as they were thicker than usual, and she likened it to udon! Without drenching my noodles into the «broth» my noodles were too dry to eat. The seaweed I could not really dip, so ate it dry like a snack from my childhood days…
The gyoza didn’t taste that meaty and it came super fried at the bottom, a piece of brown dried up item (which we guessed were burnt egg?) was sticking out at the edge of the gyoza. Erm, whilst it was edible, it was not exactly amazing.
Service was passable, 3 nice ladies on the bottom floor serving about 6 tables. Upstairs they have more tables and the toilets are also located upstairs.
Will try to come again for other ramen dishes, will give the dipping noodles a miss.

The ramen revolution in London continues apace. Alerted by fellow Elite Unilocalers Katie B and Rob H to a new ramen restaurant opening on Great Windmill Street, I headed to Sasuke for lunch on Saturday
At the outset, I have to declare that tonkotsu is by far my favourite style of ramen. Unfortunately, Sasuke only offer miso, shoyu and shio but undeterred, I went with miso ramen, adding the marukotu option — £1 for soft yolk egg and seafood. The ramen was topped off with a bowl of roasted sesame seeds, which arrive in a separate mortar, which you grind with accompanying pestle and add on top
It was lovely bowl of ramen with crunchy beansprouts and just right noodles. I just miss the oh so deep depth of the tonkotsu broth. I may have to try the shoyu next time, which Katie and Rob raved about
I also got one skewer of chicken karaage, served up with a sliver of lemon to squeeze and mayo. This was great = crunchy on the outside and moist and moreish on the inside
I’ll definitely be back to try the shoyu when I may elevate my rating unless they decide to add tonkotsu to the menu in the meantime…

Sasuke is a great recent addition to the ramen bars in soho. I came here for a 2^nd dinner after a disappointing meal at the Rancho Grill where I could hardly eat anything. I followed the server’s recommendation of the Miso ramen (£9.90) and opted to add an egg (£1.50). The broth was rich and flavourful and a very generous portion, so big that I struggled to finish the bowl of noodles.
A Japanese friend recently told me that Sasuke is operated by the same team who were behind the ramen bar in the basement of Mitsukoshi, the Japanese department store previously around Piccadilly Circus. I was not keen on the ramen bar within Mitsukoshi but would highly recommend Sasuke.

They advertise as the «real ramen» experience. Not sure what that means but the experience was terrific! I’ve had ramen in the US and Tokyo, but certainly not a connoisseur. Still, this was one of the more delicious meals I’ve had in my life.
I had the Miso Ramen, recommended by the server, and the flavor was rich and delicious, with just a touch of spicey-​ness. There seemed to be layers of flavor. The ramen was tender and the broth was as hot as could be without being un-​eatable.
It’s a small shop, about 40 or less capacity; looks small but there’s an upstairs dining area as well. I like that it’s so intimate because I like getting the ramen quickly, freshly hot, and smaller places tend pick up from the kitchen faster for obvious reasons.
Their service was good. They had Japanese beers and saki available though I did not try them.
They are currently in their «soft opening» phase, which will end shortly. Perhaps your mileage may vary, given that they’re still setting things up and getting into a flow. Still, they seem off to great start.