Matsudai Ramen — Restaurant in Grangetown

Below mediocre; we’re unsure as to how it has maintained such a high rating. Would avoid.

The countertop was sticky and the service was somewhat slow despite the relative lack of customers (it was late in the evening). The pacing of dishes was good.

The chicken karaage was the highlight of the meal, and perhaps the only recommendable dish. The chicken was juicy, crispy, tender — everything you’d expect — and paired nicely with the curry mayo sauce.

The mini chashu don was underwhelming for £6. The rice was barely seasoned and the grains didn’t stick to each other, unlike traditional Japanese rice. The chashu itself had a nice smoky flavor but it wasn’t particularly seasoned either, meaning the overall dish was bland.

The iekei-inspired ramen was average. Although the broth was too salty, it still had the depth expected of pork bone broth, and the chashu was tender (albeit very thinly sliced). Unfortunately, the shoyu ramen had no redeeming factors. The noodles were slightly undercooked, nearly crunchy, and the broth was exceptionally salty yet somehow simultaneously flavorless.

Both dishes were lukewarm when they arrived, likely because they had been waiting for a while on the countertop before a member of staff finally delivered them to the table. We couldn’t finish either bowl.

Nothing is more heartbreaking than spending a decent amount of money on disappointing food and service, and this place is expensive. To add insult to injury, one member of staff held out the tip machine, turning it so that he could also see our choice, and watched judgmentally as we pressed No Tip (having been put off by the entire dining experience and the additional 20% VAT). Do look elsewhere if you’re searching for a...

The reviews of the Ramen served at this restaurant speak for themselves, and based on those reviews I decided to come with a friend and try the place out. Unfortunately, we couldn't even get as far as ordering any food.

When we entered the place the first thing that struck us was the excessive volume of the music, which was of a genre that seemed to cater for the second thing that struck me - the number of young people that seemed to be "hanging out" there. We were shown to our table at which we sat down at and found that it rocked quite noticeably (so much so that had a bowl of Ramen been place on it, it would have likely spilled over the side), and when we put our hands on it we found that it was actually sticky, indicating poor cleaning methods. The menus we were given seemed to have splash marks of a previous customers food - again, indicating poor attention to hygiene. When a young man, who appeared to be a friend of some of the youths hanging about in the place, came to take our orders we found that he smelled strongly of cigarettes. I found that so offensive that I asked him to go and put a mint in his mouth. As well as the sticky tables and dirty menus, somebody taking orders while smelling of cigarettes yet was another indication of poor hygiene methods and routines. All of this we found too much and decided to leave before ordering food.

Matsudai Ramen may well do the best Ramen in the country, but if they are going to charge a premium price for it then they must provide a premium service. I sincerely hope that the management there read this review and do something about it, as I would dearly love to go back there and try out the food that so many...

We ordered Shoyu ramen with egg+pork+chicken toppings. The soup base is supposed to be chicken+seafood soup, but instead of a strong umami flavor, all we could taste was MSG and salt, certainly no essential ingredients such as katsuobushi. As for the toppings, the egg and pork met the minimum standard but the chicken, whilst undeniably nutritious was extremely bland, as if it was cooked by a personal trainer.

I would also have expected more vegetables such as corn and dry mushrooms, not just a skinny, solitary bamboo shoot. You may think that I am being overly critical but please remember this bowl cost £17+.

Matsudai has obviously compromised its authenticity to attract a local customer base and they have been undeniably successful in this. However, this is disappointing for real ramen lovers, who expect a menu where we can choose soup base or the hardness of noodles. When Matsudai was a pop-up restaurant, the knowledge, passion and quality of their ramen was self-evident. I remember speaking with the owner who proudly mentioned they look after the broth like a baby.

I also do not fully understand why Tantanmen, a Japanese style Chinese dish, is a big selling point on the menu. This is like selling Chinese lemon chicken in a sushi restaurant. You might start selling Tenshin Han as well.

If this is how the restaurant is going to take the marketing path, then why still bother giving a Japanese name, you should just call it Cardiff Pan Asian Noodle.

My initial experience of Matsudai was 5 stars, but now, after several visits, I sadly feel this is no longer the case.

I guess the real ramen here has come to its Matsudai, which in Japanese means the...