Kanada-Ya 金田家 — Restaurant in London

My recent visit to Kanada-Ya left me with mixed feelings. The service was excellent—quick, attentive, and professional—and the food arrived impressively fast. But while the experience had its highlights, the quality and flavour across the menu were inconsistent.

Starters kicked off strong with the chicken karaage—hot, tender, and not overly greasy, paired beautifully with a bright yuzu sauce. The edamame was fine but felt a bit overhyped. The ebi prawns looked the part with large, juicy prawns, but the oily batter let them down. Gyoza were passable—nothing special—but again, the dipping sauce did a lot of heavy lifting.

Moving to mains, the katsu curry was a disappointment. The chicken was thin and coated in thick breadcrumbs, and both the curry sauce and the meat lacked flavour entirely. I would genuinely prefer the version served at Wagamama. The chicken ramen featured soft, succulent thigh meat, but the broth was underwhelming and left the dish feeling incomplete. The tonkotsu ramen was better, with a decent, creamy broth—though it could’ve used a little more punch. Unfortunately, the extra portion of pork belly I ordered came out cold. I’d recommend asking for it hot or having it placed directly into your ramen bowl.

Dessert, however, was a major redemption. The matcha fondant was exceptional—rich, warm, and packed with flavour. It was easily the standout dish of the night. The strawberry mochi was also delightful, featuring a lovely cake-like filling that added a unique twist. Highly recommend trying it.

Kanada-Ya delivers on speed, efficiency, and a few strong menu items, particularly the chicken karaage and desserts. But the lack of flavour in some key dishes holds it back. A good spot if you’re nearby, but not one I’d travel out...

Really miss Japanese food, and of course one of absolute favorites is ramen. It’s pretty hard to find a truly authentic and delicious ramen shop in the UK, lots of places are just pretending, and I’ve learned the hard way, getting disappointed quite a few times.

Kanada-ya, which originated in Fukuoka, gives a bit more confidence. The interior more towards a modern Western style, but the moment you step in and hear a cheerful ‘irasshaimase’, the vibe changes completely.

Tonkotsu X Ramen A London exclusive version, the broth is made by pork and chicken bones, it’s rich and aromatic. They add yuzu shoyu, which adds another layer of flavor. The chashu is made from pork belly, tender and flavorful with that nice fatty aroma. Delicious.

Origin Tonkotsu Ramen The broth is made from pork bones. Compared to the Tonkotsu X, it’s less rich, but still very good.

Chashu Chicken Ramen The chicken broth is just as rich and tasty, not greasy at all. The chicken itself isn’t quite as flavorful or complementary as pork chashu, but still well seasoned and tasty.

You must add a soft boiled egg, it’s not included, so you have to order it separately. The egg white with the gooey yolk, it’s absolutely delicious. Also, you can choose the firmness of the noodles, but the portion isn’t very big, friends with bigger appetites should consider adding extra noodles to feel full.

Although it’s not 100% the same as ramen from Japan, it’s about 80–90% close. Being able to find decent ramen in the UK is already moving. Unfortunately, it’s not cheap, three bowls of ramen came...

I visited during their soft launch, so I understand they’re still getting settled and were busy, but I’m puzzled by Kanada-Ya's popularity. Even instant noodles have more flavor. Perhaps there's a standout dish, but the chicken chashu isn’t one of them. The service was poor. I requested ice, but it never came, so I had to get it myself. We changed our starters to dumplings, but they took a while because the order was forgotten. The dumplings were ordinary and lacked flavor.

The ramen noodles were firm because the server didn’t ask our preference. The flavors were disappointing, and the chicken wasn’t tasty at all. We asked for soft noodles, and the waiter offered to bring them on the house, but a fresh bowl of ramen would have been better. The noodles took so long that our broth got cold. We also requested chili oil, which took about 10 minutes and was an extra charge.

We shared our experience with the manager, who kindly listened and offered something else plus not charging us for our meal. I visited Kanada-Ya years ago and didn’t understand the hype then, and I...