Remember when I went to Maneki Ramen in Worcester last December all in the name of research? Probably not. I’m struggling too, to be honest, though that’s more a sign of my age than a reflection of the restaurant. Yet go I did, writing about it to show some love, and then I waited along with the city for the opening date announcement, getting the opening date, before bombing it back from Hampshire for a kind of influencers preview night which made me remember why I stopped going to anything that has a room of influencers in. I should have stayed on the beach. The food was better than the people, though not as good as I remember it being in Worcester, plus it was free and I didn’t want that tainting this, so I waited a week and went back out of my own pocket. Good news; the food was back on the very good standard I recalled. Also good news; Saint Paul’s Square is a lot closer to my house than Worcester.
The room is a bonafide beaut. All hard wood and brick, the kitchen is elevated at the back so that the chef overlooks the room like a ramen Judge Jules. We order rice crackers dusted with nori, pungent smacked cucumber, pork belly pieces that still have bite and fattiness, and fried chicken that’s all brittle snap. More rice crackers. Then gyoza with pork that’s easily the pick of the small plates. Generously filled and packaged, with good texture on both the fried and steamed sides.
The ramen has to be good, right? It’s half of their name. It is. Creamy, unctuous stock full of collagen and other wobbly bits, lifted by the tare, it tastes like it’s the work of a patient hand like all good ramen does. The noodles are good, the egg is good, the pork is very good. It’s a solid eight-out-of-ten ramen, destined to be the go-to ramen in a city that didn’t do it that great previously. I have the katsu again. It’s good katsu. Lovely deep curry sauce that more than makes up for the slightly spongey bigger pieces of chicken. I think I’ll eat the katsu quite a bit this summer because, as Omar correctly points out, eating ramen outside on a hot day is plain weird. That said, and this is a very public beg, please put the chicken tantatam on and you’ll see me all of the time.
The four of us split the bill equally meaning that it’s £30 each with a soft drink, all agreeing that Maneki Ramen is a solid addition to the city. In a time when new openings are scarce and frequently not that great, it’s nice to have someone stride in confidently and just do what they know well. I expect they’ll do extremely well here.
8/10
Save me from having to post on social media. Subscribe to the newsletter
https://blog.us14.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=08c98db0e9d6eb9e5b54695a1&id=eda85ee6f4
