Kokura — Restaurant in London

I find it a shame that I am having to write this review. Kokura (or Yamagoya as I knew it) used to be my restaurant of choice for if I wanted really good ramen at a good price in the city. It would still be my go to place were it not for the unpleasant and frankly unacceptable service that I received here after bringing a group of friends. We ordered 4 ramen bowls and unfortunately 1 member of our party was unable to eat anything on the menu due to cross contamination. Waiting staff were very helpful/ knowledgeable and gave us the allergen menu to review. However after being reccomended by staff that our friend should not order anything, we asked if we could get something from elsewhere to bring in for her to eat as we had planned to eat here, and we had already ordered a substantial amount of food and spent over £50. Granted, this is a strange request, but not unreasonable in my opinion due to the circumstances. The manager promptly came to the front of the restaurant to tell us that we could not bring any food in, with no further explanation as to why and no help for the member of our party with allergens. All in all I was quite shocked at how rude he was being, especially as it would have cost them nothing and simply allowed everyone to eat at the same time. Furthermore, we have never had a restaurant not even try to accommodate for my friend's allergies, despite similar situations occurring in the past. She then had to wait and watch as we ate our food, which ruined the experience for everyone and put a downer on the rest of the evening. The food was and still is good but I could not enjoy it knowing that not everyone was having a good time. I will be finding a new ramen spot, which will be hard as the food here was great, but I cannot justify such rude and unhelpful service from a manager...

I just had the displeasure of dining at Yamagoya.

After finishing a long shift at work (I work as an NHS oncology specialist) I wanted to enjoy a nice dinner with my girlfriend.

Upon entering, a male host, greeted us with moderate disregard, shaking his head in response to our asking for a table, quoting a 10-min wait. Fine. We eventually got a table.

The food is easy to order and comes relatively promptly. We had the fried chicken to share for a starter and then a bowl of ramen each. Food is of course subjective but the ramen was average; the broth subpar. The chicken was superb.

After finishing the meal, as is typically done, we wanted to enjoy each other’s company, let the food settle and take our time. After 5-10 mins of having finished the meal, we were essentially told to leave to allow other customers to sit and eat. This is not done. Paid customers should be allowed to take their time!

I understand it’s a peak time for the restaurant and a key opportunity for earnings but you just don’t tell people who’ve paid to have dinner to leave.

To compound an unpleasant experience, there is an electric sliding door that’s sensor activated and was open for 3/4 of our time there, leading many to wear coats.

Won’t go again.

And for anyone who’s read this far, there is FAR better ramen out there. Kanada Ya offer superior ramen but with much better customer service.

To the host this Friday night, mind...

Glad my partner convinced me to go to a ramen shop when in London, so I made it my enjoyable pit stop on the way to Waterloo station.

OMG. I thought I have tried ramen, given it's my go-to mains choice at Wagamamas, BUT NO.

My ramen life so far has been a lie.

Wagamamas is a fraudster because until today, I have not tried ramen. I tried soup with some over-grilled chicken in it and some bamboo shoots.

This is something else. A £9.50 bowlful of GOODNESS.

The broth is so rich and yummy I didn't know what hit me! The chicken doesn't need to be fought with, it just falls apart bit by bit to give your taste buds an orgasm. The seaweed? You can tell it's from the SEA and the egg is perfectly done. Don't even get me started on the noodles. Medium perfectly done, with flavour inside and out (not the starchy overcooked thing I ate until today at Wagas).

People... It's perfection.

And the waitress was a delight. Not only did she tell me very humbly how to act in an authentic ramen shop (just walk in and sit yourself down!), she also surprised me with some free water even though I didn't ask for a paid drink. I think she knew I don't know what I'm about to experience. Needed that palette cleansed a bit!

Simply said, you need...