First Taste of Ramen at Bone Daddies – Soho, London

Why it took me so long to visit Bone Daddies, I don't know. I have a tendency to think about a place for months on end, read a thousand reviews online, drool over photographs, umm and ahh, until eventually, there is nothing left to do but GO. I finally got the chance to eat at Bone Daddies when I visited my friend Elly in London a few weeks ago. Like me, she is a fan of essiebutton, who is a fan of ramen, and we had heard that Bone Daddies was the place to go. Elly was waiting in line for me when I arrived, and we were seated within minutes – not bad for a Friday night in Soho. 

One thing I had worried about after reading Miho's review was the level of noise in this place, and unfortunately it was loud – the party squished in next to us even asked the waitress to turn it down and she said no! Paired with the fact that we were packed in like sardines, it wasn't the best atmosphere for catching up over dinner – it felt more like a bar than a restaurant – but Elly and I were willing to let that slide because the food was incredible.

We ordered fried chicken to share, and two bowls of T22. I had a passionfruit, orange and mint juice which was so delicious. I have known a lot of places to skimp on the more expensive ingredients but Bone Daddies certainly did not – I enjoyed a dozen plump passionfruit pips with each sip.

The food arrived quickly and we, as typical ramen virgins, dove straight in, ignoring the foreign condiments in front of us. Later, we watched two girls next to us mix up their noodles, meat and egg and grind sesame into their broths. True ramen know-how. Next time I'll give it a go.

I loved my T22. The chicken was juicy and tender, the noodles reminded me of supernoodles – thin and slurpable – and the egg was soft boiled to gorgeous perfection. I didn't finish the broth – I found it a little salty – but everything else was spot on. The side of fried chicken was my favourite. Good on its own, but dipped in the chicken bone broth was just the best. 

I'm so glad I finally got to check out Bone Daddies – East Asian food is my absolute favourite – and I am now scouring the net for more ramen hangouts. Have you got any recommendations?