Ichiryu

I love this Japanese lunch spot! Their Udon is so yummy!!! And they have 3 different options: matcha, whole grain or original. They have a good variety of options at a pretty reasonable price point. The inside is really small — so at lunch it can be really hard to find a spot to sit. Service was great — we were given a free mochi as we had to move tables once.

Dinner at Ichiryu Udon. Arrived at the restaurant around 8:30pm, I didn’t need to make a reservation and I was seated immediately upon arrival! But do be aware this place does get busy!
This is my second time at Ichiry Udon. This time I had the Niku Beef Udon which was very yummy. Alongside a delicious Inu sauvignon blanc. The Udon is great, everything you could possibly want from a bowl of healthy udon. There was some interesting sides at this restaurant, the deep fried vegetables were good. However the ice-​cream mochi wasn’t great (never a fan of frozen mochi).
I ended up paying £40 for 2 mains, 2 sides, 1 dessert and drinks.
Out of 10? I give a 7. The dessert wasn’t for me!
More reviews on my Instagram: mattzard

This time, I tried hot Prawn Udon. The stock was less salty, but wasn’t hot enough. The udon was unevely cut and some bits were thinner or narrower. Tempura was pre-​cooked, so I didn’t think it could justify the £11 price tag.

Ichiryu, where have you been all my life? The older, more grown-​up alternative to ramen, udon, has finally made its mark with this dedicated udon bar on New Oxford Street. I regularly stop in for lunch and a big fan of the sukiyaki beef udon. The noodles are made on the premises and have a lovely, yielding quality to them similar to the authentic udon in Japan. I also love the matcha-​themed desserts (in fact, you can opt to have matcha udon noodles if you’d like, for an extra charge), especially the matcha cheesecake. Nom-​worthy.

The propaganda is much better than its taste. Nothing special. Plain taste. Matcha cheesecake is very disappointing. Matcha doesn’t work well with cheesecake, sour and bitter. It should have been a good combination. Service: ok. Environment: very neat and clean. Food: so poor!

Everything in the store is nice and beautifully packaged — from the furniture all the way to the colors/​font used on the menu.
There’s so much choice on the menu! The staff try their best to help you narrow down what might be nice to eat so I chose the niku beef udon based on their recommendation.
I was a bit disappointed by the beef — it was very dry and had the similar taste to beef jerky. The udon itself was good and the portion size generous. I think I’ll have to try tempura or something else next time.
There was a good weekday dinner deal on for beer, udon, and bun for 15 pounds in case you’re looking for value!

Hmm, it’s a bit difficult to write a review about Ichiryu udon restaurant.
First of all, their udon was quite authentic and delicious. I liked their concept of using natural dashi (fish stock) and hand-​made Udon!
However the tempura was a bit too oily for me so I had an upset stomach for a couple of hours after that. (Maybe my stomach is a bit delicate? Because I sometimes have that upset stomach after I eat ‘fish and chips’ as well…)
I ordered Kakiage Udon which was quite filling. The Udon came in 5 mins after order so you don’t need to be anxious about long hours of waiting for a dish!
Second, I was a bit surprised at the boom of Taiko (Japanese large drum) when I entered the restaurant. Yes, I agree Taiko is one of Japanese traditional culture but it was a bit strange for me to hear that whenever new diner came in.
Lastly, I should say I really liked an idea of bag hunger below the table! It reminded me of Japan! haha I thought the owner of the restaurant put her effort to research and incorporate Japanese culture into the restaurant. It was amazing.
In short, I enjoyed their Udon and atmosphere of the restaurant. I just need to be careful how many and what kind of tempura I will order next time!

Ichiryu, New Oxford Street — despite being a largish place (about 40 people) I find it surprising that Ichiryu has a policy of not seating you until everyone has arrived. So, it was predictable that they do not take reservations too. Unless you are someone important; the table next to us was reserved for a group of nine — Japanese speaking and also seemed to have special dishes served. Was the seating policy more of a selling point?
My company and I were normal and we chose from the menu of hot or cold udon dishes (from £7.00), additional tempura toppings (from £1.80), side dishes (from £4.00) and onigiri rice balls. It was plentiful to choose from. Which always bring a predicament to have either the hot or cold udon. «It’s cold outside, have a hot udon», my diner advised but the weather has never been a consideration. I waited for her to order and I knew I wanted a cold udon. Just to have a variety in the meal and for the purpose of blogging.
However, their main selling point was the udon; freshly made by a chef behind the glass window. It makes a fantastic window display as well as providing the entertainment factor for those who needed to wait for their rest of the company to arrive — standing. The communal dining area was high but they also have standard height seating.
I had a notion that fried food tend to be healthier in a Japanese eatery. Hence, we had our noodles along with some extra fried dishes to satiate the fried food craving.
kakiage tempura £2.00 — a nest of fried vegetables.
chicken cutlet £4.50 — the meat had a good balance of crunch and was still moist but it did look a little tired on the plate.
beef curry £12.00 — japanese curry, sukiyaki beef, spring onion in tsuyu bonito soup. Thumbs up from my diner companion.
zaru with assorted tempura £14.50 — prawn tempura, seafood and vegetable tempura, spring onion, wasabi, with dipping tsuyu bonito sauce (non-​soup). Although the vegetables were a chunky cut, they were thoroughly cooked. The tempura batter looked like an out-​of-​the packet mix and didn’t have that touch of lightness. And the fish tempura was not as fresh and had a noticeable fishy smell, I suspect it was already beginning to be past its good time.
If you have seen the matcha noodles going round on social media, Ichiryu is one of the places in London where you can try it. I am slightly bedazzled as to why I did not order it because I had wanted to. At £1.50 extra, I thought it was definitely worth a try. But we skipped dessert because I was not a big fan of cheesecakes (although I love making them) or mochi.
Overall, I find Ichiryu’s fresh udon noodles fairly average but I say this comparing it to my other favourite place, Koya Bar. I was bound to. Koya Bar has set the yardstick for me. Ichiryu’s ambiance is very much a cross like a canteen feel of Wagamama and a takeaway like Pret. Service was better, surprisingly good with their friendliness. Ichiryu is good for a friendly, casual week night evening with reasonable pricing.

Good udon and dumplings! Cozy environment. Easy to find on one of the busiest streets, just across the street of Tottenham court road

Came here for their Metro 50% off offer last week and am impressed with the food.
The place is quite tiny and if you come in groups of more than 2 be prepared to wait as you will have to wait for people next to each other to finish eating and leave. Really strong heating on at the door and nice décor throughout.
I ordered the niku beef udon and it did not disappoint. The noodles were at just the right consistency and the niku beef melts in your mouth (although not as wonderful as the wagyu beef in Japan of course! But it’s close!). Ordered ontama egg to go with it and wasn’t as impressed with my egg here. I think it’s just me though.
Take a look at my pictures where my friend ordered a matcha tea and it came in a soup bowl. It’s hilarious.
The waiters need extra training and the tempura is pre-​cooked but otherwise I would definitely come back for more. Oh there’s only one toilet in this restaurant btw. As in — one person can use it at a time.

I used to frequent Koya before they closed and loved their mackerel udon. Tried Ichiryu based on the Unilocal reviews. I enjoyed it very much and will return. The setting is pleasant and the servers are helpful, attentive and friendly. Much better than average service. For a starter, I had the Kashiwa chicken, which resembled a large sushi triangle. Good but not great. I then had the Niku Beef hot udon. The sukiyaki beef was tender and the tsuyu bonito soup flavorful. Really delicious! Hit the spot for sure. I also had the Genmai Cha (brown rice and green) tea.

Calm nice atmosphere to have a quick bite and a cup of green tea. Great wifi. Have their plum tea!

As always… I was excited to find a new udon place!
(*sob*…R.I.P Koya and Den — I miss your udon-​y goodness)
There is a lot that I really like about Ichiryu. It looks like it’d be a brilliant spot to grab some take-​away noodles at lunch time, and it was a good canteen-​like place to eat speedily in the evening.
Noodle joys:
— The udon are lovely and fat, and perfectly al dente.
— I *LOVED* the kakiage tempura.
— The egg was lovely and gooey.
— The staff were really friendly and helpful.
— It was clean, speedy and I did enjoy my bowl of udon.
Noodle woes:
— Maybe I ordered badly, but I was not a fan of the tonkotsu soup. I love Kansai-​style udon, so tonkotsu just seems too rich a flavour to go with tempura and udon. Having said that, the soup wasn’t as thick as I would expect from boiled bones… so it was both too thick, and not thick enough.
— I did like the tori ten (chicken tempura) — but whenever I have had this in Kyushu it was lots of small pieces, rather than one flat lump. I guess this can’t be helped when they design it to be served speedily.
— The meat was really tasty, although it was very cold. I realise that they need to prepare this in advance, but this would be *so* much better if they dip it in hot water or something to warm it up before adding it to the bowl.
I’ll give them another try with one of the lighter soups and see if I can bump it up a star.

lovely noodles. Finally another udon place though koya is still a tad better. A tad pricey for what it is though. £11 of tonkotsu udon. hakata bun was lovely. The feel of the place a bit cold, more like Wasabi than a restaurant, but good for a quick meal.

London was calling out for somewhere like Ichiryu for a long time. Ever since the quality of Koya went downhill over the years and then closed completely. We’ve seen the sushi trend, the donburi and the ramen but no udon. Ichiryu seems to have filled that gap in the market.
No fuss simple and fresh made udon with simple toppings and broth, fast food style.
Of course some things cannot be imitated exactly like it is in Japan like the affordable prices, probably double here and the standing up bar style for the less than 15 minutes meal times. The manager here describes he was going for the ‘Nandos’ look. Order at the bar, pay, eat and then leave.
But the quality of the udon definitely delivers like it does in Japan. You can see them being made right here and then in the open kitchen. Long, thick, bouncy noodles made for slurping without breakage.
Between us we chose the hot niku beef udon with an extra ontama egg and the cold ontama udon. And for toppings we chose the prawn tempura, kakiage tempura, courgette tempura and the Goboten tempura.
The hot Niku beef udon was definitely preferred as the hot broth helped the udon take on more flavour. It was also a cold day after waiting 1.5 hours just to get a seat at their 50% soft launch so the warmth helped us warm up. The beef was incredibly tender, broth light but fragrant. The addition of the egg added that creaminess that held everything together and added that extra texture that made it all so comforting and moreish. We ordered the extra large (double portion of udon) by adding an extra £1.50 but I still wanted more.
The cold ontama egg udon could have definitely be saved for a summer’s day. You can definitely appreciate the fresh udon more, the bounciness and the al dente texture. But as it was cold the udon took on less flavour and I felt without some sort of meat, the broth lacked depth. Still the beautifully ontama egg did its job wrapping each udon with its creamy yolk.
Both the udon benefited from the range of tempura, adding extra flavour and texture. Sadly I found the batter slightly too crunchy and where I’m used to the batter being light and melting in my mouth, this one didn’t. Creating a lighter batter for the tempura is definitely they need to work on.
And a note, for those who want to try the Goboten tempura, it’s actually burdock and has that similar taste of ginseng, quite strong and with butter notes. Not for everyone but being familiar with ginseng I enjoyed it.
I’m really excited for Ichiryu and hope they do well and hopefully branch out like Shoryu did. I definitely see myself returning and maybe adding a few sides like their soft filled meat buns and uramaki rolls. Their udon are definitely the highlight of it all. Highly recommend for those who miss Japan.

From the brainchild of the people behind ramen joint Shoryu comes an all new dining experience — UDON.
Udon isn’t the usual choice of noodles for most people when thinking of Japanese fare, mostly because ramen tends to have more flavour and more meat (and who doesn’t like meat?) Udon tends to be the ‘healthier option”.
I came by here during the soft launch where everything was 50% off — that means the tempura and the udon! The restaurant itself isn’t very big, it seats probably 40 people or so at the most? It was very clean when we walked in, and the tempura on display looked absolutely tantalizing. To save on manpower, instead of waiters getting your order, you’ll be queuing up to make an order, and then sitting down to wait for it. I ordered a zaru udon for myself (that’s a cold udon with dipping sauce), as well as prawn, aubergine, courgette and cod tempuras.
The food took a while to arrive (15 minutes?), and the portion wasn’t very big. However, the udon itself was pretty tasty, and surprisingly, it filled me up really fast. The tempura on the other hand looked better than it tasted, and I was particularly disappointed with the cod, which was really small for the price. The aubergine was the surprising standout tempura (I love aubergine) and it was really juicy while crispy on the outside — the perfect combination.
The best thing about Ichiryu though? The free flow of tempura bits they put at every table. I was practically shoving bits into my mouth after my meal was over (thankfully nobody said anything). Definitely come by for a taste of the Udon, and preferably, try a hot one (with soup!). You’ll feel healthy after eating it (assuming you didn’t order tempura) and you’ll now have an alternative to ramen. Personally though, I’d still rather go to Koya.