8.0
Great
Restaurants

Neil Frame 04/09/22


Kanada-Ya

Kanada-Ya | Ramen Restaurant

They’ve had alphabet soup in Japan for years.

It’s called Times New Ramen.

And in Japan, the island of Kyushu – Kanada-Ya’s birthplace – is the Graceland of ramen. How lucky for London then, that Kazuhiro Kanada opened up his second, then third shop, not back home, but in our own backyard.

Both the Piccadilly and Covent Garden branches are quintessentially Japanese – white-washed walls, shared wooden table tops, and a very smart use of space. However, their broth does bring all the boys (and girls) to the Ya, so even with such spacial efficiency, expect queues.

THE BOWLS

Kanada Ya

Pork bones are simmered for a whopping 18 hours to create their award-winning broth, then combined with authentic wheat noodles made fresh on site every day. Using their high tech noodle gizmo from back home they can even offer them up in differing levels of hardness. You can have anything from Andrex Puppy to Popeye, meaning each and every bowl is made to measure for you. The options all riff on a common theme – pig. On top of your ramen you can have pork collar, pork belly or minced pork belly, but if you’re not much bothered about boar, their Piccadilly branch also offers a vegetarian option. Finally there’s a number of add ons to pimp your bowl including charred black garlic, yuzu paste, and soft boiled marinated eggs.

THE BEVERAGES

At Covent Garden they focus on the basics, so expect to wash down your broth with green tea, sodas, and of course, Kirin. At Piccadilly, they branch out, adding to the roster a selection of Japanese whiskies, fruit liqueurs, and hot, chilled and sparkling sake.

After all that, don’t be surprised if your Times New Ramen looks more like Windings.

 

NOTE: Kanada Ya’s three Central London branches are open all week. They’re walk-in only: just turn up.

Kanada-Ya Piccadilly | 3 Panton Street, SW1Y 4DL

Kanada-Ya Covent Garden | 64 St Giles High Street, WC2H 8LE

Kanada-Ya Carnaby | 28 Foubert’s Place, London, W1F 7PR


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Kanada-Ya


64 St. Giles High Street, Covent Garden, Central London, WC2H 8LE

8.0 | Great