Tonkotsu Brighton — Restaurant in England

Fantastic Ramen and a good selection of sides, desserts and drinks - including Kirin Ichiban on draft. Interior / atmosphere is a bit too industrial chic / unremarkable for what could have been designed as a more authentic and nostalgic ramen restaurant.

I have travelled to Japan and also visited most of the Ramen chains in London and the UK - including Tonkotsu, Shoryu, Kanada-Ya and Bone Daddies. This by no means makes me an expert on Ramen but when deciding to visit Tonkotsu in Brighton I assumed it would be decent, if otherwise forgettable food, and not too expensive.

These low expectations therefore made the experience very pleasant and surprising. I ordered a regular size Chilli Tofu Ramen, with a side of Kimchi and a pint of Kirin. Everything came out quickly and I was immediately impressed by the ramen. There was a lot of noodles and toppings and not an absurd amount of broth. I also like that on your table you have access to as much soy sauce and chilli oil as you like - although it would be good to have a little spoon for the chilli oil as who knows how many chopsticks have gone into there.

The ramen itself was honestly fantastic. The broth didn't have as strong a taste and sense of umami flavour as the best ramens of Japan but the accompanying toppings and volume of noodles made up for it. You can also chase a richer broth using the soy sauce and chilli oil on the table. The tofu of the dish was nice and crunchy and added an additional element. The side of kimchi (priced at £4.25) was a generous portion rather than the thimble sized bowl you can be served at other restaurants.

My friend ordered one of the ice cream sandwiches for dessert. He was quite apprehensive due to the price (£6.50 a pop) but absolutely loved the dessert. If you're into that kind of thing I can't fault them.

The service was okay. We were served and ordered quickly but as the restaurant became busier, it increasingly became a battle to get the waiting staffs attention. It took us approximately 15-20 minutes to get our bill for example, irritating rather than infuriating.

The atmosphere and interior of the restaurant is similarly 'okay', if a tad soulless. I understand the draw of industrial chic but I don't see a problem with making the restaurant feel more authentically 'Japanese' - even if it's not. It could just be nostalgia for the ramen bars of Japan but if you're going to serve up ramen this good, why not aim to provide the...

First came here for an off-the-cuff lunch with my 14-year-old daughter while wandering The Lanes. I was very happy with my Kakugiri Ramen, while she was over the moon with her kids’ chicken katsu bento and a side of katsu prawns.

So happy was she, that it became our primary reason to come back to Brighton for dinner at the weekend. If you’ve got fussy kids, you know what a gem this is to find.

We were warmly greeted by every member of staff, Jonny took our order and eagerly shared recommendations. My daughter stuck to the same order while I switched it up to a Tokyo Ramen. Which, with a soy base, was delicious and offers that bit more of an umami kick than the Kakugiri (sea salt base). Luckily I wasn’t too full to eat it despite a side of flavourful, filling-packed Pork & Ginger Gyoza.

But, the star of the show was the Chef’s Special side of Enoki Karaage. This deep-fried cluster of slender mushrooms should come with an instruction manual on how to eat it with any manners. But the sticky fingers and mickey-taking from my teenage counterpart was worth every bite. A perfect balance of crunch and chew with a delicate flavour that needed no accompaniment.

Georgia looked after us in a friendly and attentive way throughout our meal, adding to the experience.

The 4 stars, rather than 5, for atmosphere is purely subjective because the family that were seated next to us were…a lot.

Love this place, will be back repeatedly through summer with the intention of trying the whole menu (and more karaage) while my daughter eats all the...

EDIT: Response to Owner. Thank you for replying however with all due respect, it shouldn't fall on the customer to provide your staff a liveable wage, that ownership should be on you. Increase menu prices if necessary so that it's transparent for the customer before ordering. Matter of fact is people DO get embarrassed to ask to take service charge off, regardless of whether there is judgement or not. In this economy, everyone is fighting for an increased living wage, not just restaurant staff.

REVIEW: Decided to try the vegan chilli tofu ramen because their website mentions that the noodles are handmade. Was left very disappointed, the noodles just tasted like packet noodles, broth was sweet and lacked the umami flavour Japanese food is known for. Even their chilli oil didn’t help much, for some reason it was just not spicy. I really really wanted to like this place, even went for their large portion and extra toppings, but it overpromised and undelivered, I’ve had better noodles and sides at chain restaurants which is saying something. I was also really annoyed by the 12.5% service charge they added. If customers want to AND can afford to, they will tip your staff, please stop enforcing it on your customers! People like me get too embarrassed to ask to take it off the bill, and restaurants know this and purposely use this tactic to get more money out of...